“Another recent trend relating to control and authority in American politics is regulation of media. In the past, the media sector has been regulated in order to avoid concentration of power, which would threaten the freedom of information and opinion. However, large media companies in the United States have lobbied lawmakers, especially Republicans, to make changes to media legislation that have allowed unprecedented concentration of most media production into a few companies. This is contrary to the principles of American democracy, for which freedom of the press has always been seen as fundamental.

In the early 1980’s, 80% of U.S book, newspaper, magazine, radio, television and film production was under the control of 46 large companies. In 1983, with the creation of the Federal Communications Commission, the rigid legislation was amended. The process of fusion and formation of conglomerates progressed with changes in law, and a group of 46 companies was reduced to 23 by 1990. In 2003, no less than 90% of all that Americans saw, heard, and read was produced by only six large companies (AOL, Time Warner, Viacom, Disney, General Electric, News Corp and Vivendi Universal). This 90% of American cultural production included over 1,800 newspapers, 11,000 magazines, 11,000 radio stations, 2,000 television stations and 3,000 publishers, as well as Internet sites.” (Vanderlei Dorneles, The Last Empire, 2015, pages, 169-170)