To those who don’t know – most outside of the media industry have little familiarity with this – there has been a tragedy of the commons going on for a couple of decades now that has ultimately resulted in the elimination of diverse voices in media. The tragedy of the commons is belied by the seeming proliferation of minority and conservative media personalities on television. However, the shift away from diversity of viewpoint is taking place at a much more subtle and fundamental level.
The shift started around the late 1990s, as the Internet and broadband companies started to vie for telecommunication frequency spectrum against the television and radio industries. Traditional telecommunications carriers like AT&T, Sprint and Verizon began to consolidate, merging with smaller carriers and diversifying their businesses into cable and Internet services. They had a distinct advantage over traditional mass media companies because they had a wire into the home – rather than an over-the-air, one-way signal – which enabled them to deliver higher signal quality for content, telephone services and high-speed Internet data bundles, which broadcast could not.
The shift started around the late 1990s, as the Internet and broadband companies started to vie for telecommunication frequency spectrum against the television and radio industries. Traditional telecommunications carriers like AT&T, Sprint and Verizon began to consolidate, merging with smaller carriers and diversifying their businesses into cable and Internet services. They had a distinct advantage over traditional mass media companies because they had a wire into the home – rather than an over-the-air, one-way signal – which enabled them to deliver higher signal quality for content, telephone services and high-speed Internet data bundles, which broadcast could not.
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