Broken Promises

The Writers Guild of America West makes the case for media un-consolidation.

40 years ago, the Reagan administration decided that monopolies were good, actually. Rather than preventing the kinds of mega-mergers that increased corporate power (over workers, regulators, customers and competitors), Reagan decreed that monopolies were “efficient” and should be left alone.

40 years later, every one of our industries has consolidated and consolidated and consolidated, dwindling to a handful of companies that dominate sectors from tech to law to pro wrestling to beer. These companies now rule the roost, to the great detriment of the customers who patronize them, and the workers who produce their products and services.

Media was the canary in monopoly’s coalmine. The media baron is an archetypal Ur-monopolist, along with the coal baron, the oil baron, the railroad baron. Media companies understand that eliminating competition and owning the whole supply chain lets them shape the narrative, underpay creators, charge audiences more, and bring politicians to heel.

Media consolidation has only accelerated since Reagan’s time, but the 2010s were a bonanza for monopoly formation. Both Obama and Trump presided over five “megamergers” that resulted in companies on a scale never seen, in America or the…