EOTO on Policy: Sherman Antitrust Act and Media Consolidation

 In today's Media Law and Literacy blog post, we will be discussing the Sherman Antitrust Act as well as Media Consolidation.  

The Sherman Antitrust Act 

Photo Credit (US National Archives)

The Sherman Antitrust Act was a measure passed the United States congress to ban "Trusts." The act itself was passed under the Secretary of Treasury in the President Hayes administration on July 2, 1890. Trusts themselves are "arrangements by which stockholders in several companies transfer their shares to a single set of trustees. In exchange, the stockholders receive a certificate entitling them to a specified share of the consolidated earnings of the jointly managed companies. " (Archives.gov) The act itself allowed the government to dissolve trusts and charge those involved.  Those involved in trusts were subject to a one year sentence in jail as well as a 5,000 dollar fine. The original meaning of the act was designed to restore competition in all business markets but because of the loose wording of the  act itself. Five years after it was signed into law, the Supreme Court dismantled the act. More recently, the federal government used the Sherman Antitrust act against against then media giant, Microsoft. "The investigation aimed to determine whether Microsoft was trying to monopolize the personal computer market. The federal agency soon ended its investigation, only to be brought up against the company by the US Department of Justice in 1998. The charges brought against the company "involved sections of the Sherman Antitrust act, which included laws designed by governments in order to ensure fair competition in the market." (corporatefinanceinstitutue.com) All in all, Microsoft lost the case against the government, the judge presiding, the late and Honorable Thomas Penfield Jackson, "ruled that the company violated multiple sections of the Sherman Antitrust act."  This decision was landmark for competition in "big tech" as it paved the way for companies like Google and Apple. 

Media Consolidation

Photo Credit (WJLA/Wikipedia)

Media consolidation is the collection of ownership of news stations and channels that have been purchased by massive and monetarily well off corporations. For something that sounds so positive, especially if you are in a company that holds an apparent monopoly, "only about 20 percent of Americans have confidence in television and in newspapers." (billmoyers.com) Those who even view their news online have less trust than most in what they read from their preferable sources. A true issue of Media Consolidation is the creation of narrative's by the ownership companies as well as home/national headquarters of the news agency the local station is contracted by.  An example of the media consolidation and narrative making is the Sinclair broadcasting message regarding "fake news and social media" The ownership company made all of its contracted stations read the same statement at the beginning of a news hour in their "fight" against fake news. The compilation of the stations delivering Sinclair's message went viral on Twitter, a well known social media website/app. This was a honestly hilarious way to deliver a message when all the company had to do was release a statement and tell the news stations to mention it on the air and in online media, instead they embarrassed themselves.