Government-Fostered Ownership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Government-Fostered Ownership - Essay Example The so called concentration of media is a term given to the concentration of ownership rights into the hands of few individuals or entities which control the major chunk of the media including radio. The question of whether the US government allowed the concentration of ownership into the monopoly or oligopoly ownership structure with the radio industry is question of great debate because over the period of time, radio industry has been subject to various regulations. The FCC’s verdicts also indicated that the US government was more than willing to consolidate the ownership of radio industry in few hands apparently for reasons which may not be fully understood. (Compaine, 2005). The radio and other allied industries such as railways as well as TV in US evolved under the private ownership as against in UK and elsewhere. The fact that the radio industry evolved under the private ownership has provided much flexibility as well freedom to operate. It is also important to note that the radio as a private invention and as such the ownership of broadcasting also remained within the hands of the private owners. The policy of the US government has been to allow the flourishing of the radio industry under the private ownership. It is also however, critical to note that the US government has over the period of time regulated the industry in a bid to keep it under the tight control however, the ownership of the industry remained within the private owners, and as such it was also gradually culminated into the monopoly or oligopoly. One of the reasons for this which is often cited is the assumption that the strict government control over the radio may be a barrier to entry and as such the freedom of speech as well as other fundamental rights may be subjugated by the government. Further, the government control might have resulted into the barriers to creativity as strict government control could have resulted into