Convergence in Media Ownership
(from "Convergence Defined," Online Journalism Review, November 2003)

The companies producing this digital content are more and more likely to own multiple content and/or distribution channels.

Indeed, the ability to create "synergy" among products and channels is a prime motivation for corporate mergers and partnerships. The corporate goal here is to own both the content and the means of disseminating that content. For instance, think of the merger between AoL (enormous ISP) and Time Warner (owner of an enormous amount of content that can be distributed through that ISP). Synergy was, and is, the goal (although it hasn't worked out all that well so far).

This situation raises some concerns. Among them:

Fewer people control what the rest of us see. (Of course, new formats such as blogs offer a counter-trend. But the vast majority of users still turn to the recognized media "brands" for information.)
Big companies are interested in preserving a status quo that has served them well (to the tune of profits topping 20 percent a year in many cases). This potentially stifles the diversity of voices necessary in a true democracy.
When the company that owns the means of getting information to the public also owns the means of producing that information in the first place...well, that's a lot of power.
What regulatory framework applies or should apply? For instance, print publishers have significantly more freedom from government restriction than broadcasters, who must be licensed. Whose rules dominate in a multi-platform digital environment?