Networks of power: Media and internet concentration, platform capitalism, and the future of democracy

Abstract

This essay introduces the Global Media and Internet Concentration Project (GMICP), and some of its findings as well as ten articles by project contributors that make up this special double issue of the International Communication Gazette. It begins by setting the topic of media and internet concentration within the long durée of communication and capitalism, reviews a slice of the contemporary literature on the topic, and then presents the project's shared conceptual and methodological framework. The last half of the essay presents snapshots of the world's largest media economies and companies, along with select international comparisons. It closes by reviewing some of Noam’s (2016) key findings from a decade ago, showing where things have stayed consistent and where they are now wildly different. The essay concludes by proposing that the critique of media and internet concentration augment the conventional focus on “opinion power” with: architecture control; gatekeeping power; pricing; standards setting; and regulatory capture.