An exploration of the future of media pluralism policies for online news.

In the transition to a media landscape increasingly dominated by broadband internet distribution and the dominance of US-centric new media behemoths Google, Facebook, Apple, Amazon, and Netflix, Media Pluralism and Online News investigates measures that can be taken to reduce this ongoing march of concentration and the attenuation of media voices. The authors argue that there is an urgent need for revitalized thinking for a media policy agenda to deal with the trend of concentrated media power, which is an ongoing global risk to public interest journalism. Securing the public interest in a vibrant and sustainable news media sector will require that merger decisions assess whether there is a reduction in diversity, calling for a new public interest test and a more expansive policy focus than in the past.
 

Tim Dwyer is degree director of the Master of Media Practice at the University of Sydney and visiting foreign professor at the College of Media and International Culture, Zhejiang University. Derek Wilding is codirector of the Centre for Media Transition at the University of Technology Sydney.