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Mainstream media (MSM) is a term used to refer collectively to the various largemass news media that influence many people and both reflect and shape prevailing currents of thought.[1] The term is used to contrast withalternative media.
The term is often used for largenews conglomerates, includingnewspapers andbroadcast media, that underwent successivemergers in many countries. Theconcentration of media ownership has raised concerns of a homogenization of viewpoints presented to news consumers. Consequently, the termmainstream media has been used in conversation and theblogosphere, sometimes in oppositional, pejorative or dismissive senses, in discussion of themass media andmedia bias.
In the United States, movie production is known to have been dominated bymajor studios since the early 20th century; before that, there was a period in time whichEdison's Trust monopolized the industry.[citation needed] In the early 21st century, the music and television industries was subject to media consolidation, withSony Music Entertainment's parent company merging their music division withBertelsmann AG'sBMG to formSony BMG, and Warner Bros. Entertainment'sThe WB and CBS Corp.'sUPN merging to formThe CW. In the case of Sony BMG there existed a "Big Five", later "Big Four", of majorrecord companies, while The CW's creation was an attempt to consolidate ratings and stand up to the "Big Four" of Americannetwork (terrestrial) television (although the CW was actually partially owned by one of the Big Four in CBS). In television, the vast majority of broadcast and basic cable networks, over a hundred in all, are controlled by eight corporations:Fox Corporation,The Walt Disney Company (which includes the ABC, ESPN, FX and Disney brands),National Amusements (which ownsParamount Global),Comcast (which ownsNBCUniversal),Warner Bros. Discovery,E. W. Scripps Company,Altice USA, or some combination thereof.[2]
Over time the rate of media mergers has increased, while the number ofmedia outlets has also increased. This has resulted in a higherconcentration of media ownership, with fewer companies owning more media outlets.[3]
Some critics, such asBen Bagdikian, assailed concentration of ownership, arguing that large media acquisitions limit the information accessible to the public.[4] Other commentators, such asBen Compaine andJack Shafer, find Bagdikian's critique overblown.[4] Shafer noted that American media consumers have a wide variety of news sources, including independent national and local sources.[4] Compaine argues that, based on economic metrics such as theHerfindahl-Hirschman Index, the media industry is not very highly concentrated and did not become more concentrated during the 1990s and 2000s.[4] Compaine also points out that most media mergers are not purely acquisitions, but also include divestitures.[4]
One of the biggest mergers/acquisitions in the mainstream media world wasDisney acquiring21st Century Fox and all of their assets. One of the main things that was accomplished with this merger was completing the rights to the rest of the Marvel movie franchise. Previously Disney did not have the rights to franchises such asX-Men and certainSpider-Man movie rights. With the acquisition they now do. 21st Century Fox was purchased for 71.3 billion dollars in March 2019.
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Trust in the media declined in the 1970s, and then again in the 2000s. Since the 2000s, distrust in the media has been polarized, as Republicans have grown substantially more distrustful of the media than Democrats.[12]
As of 2022, only a reported 56% of 18-27 year olds report that they trust information from US-based mainstream media.[13] Growing distrust of the media is linked to a host of different indicators, with those who subscribe to more radical ideologies or populist followings more likely to harbor a distrust of the media.[14] Other identifying information such as age, race, and gender have been found to produce different levels of trust in the media regarding specific issues as well.[14]
In the UK, during 1922, after the closure of many radio stations, theBritish Broadcasting Corporation started its first daily radio transmission and started to grow an audience.[15] Later that yearJohn Reith, a Scottish engineer, would be appointed the first General Manager for the BBC.[15] Later on January 1, 1927, theBBC was fully established by Royal Charter and renamed the British Broadcasting Corporation with Reith as the first Director-General.[15] During November 1936 the BBC began to expand into television broadcasting and was the first broadcaster to start the trend of a regularly scheduled TV service.[16]
Today the BBC is one of two chartered public broadcasting companies in the United Kingdom. The second isITV, Independent Television, which was established in 1955 as the first public commercial television company after the Television act of 1954 in an effort to break up the monopoly the BBC had on television broadcasting, gaining fifteen regional broadcasting licenses in less than twenty years.[17][18] Today the BBC and ITV are the two free to air digital services offered to everyone in the United Kingdom and each other's biggest competitors. The BBC has nine national television channels, BBC three, the first channel to switch from television to online, an interactive channel, ten national and forty local radio stations, BBC Online, and BBC Worldwide.[19] ITV currently holds thirteen of the fifteen regional broadcasting licenses in the United Kingdom that carries their multiple channels including ITV, ITVhub, ITV2, ITVBe, ITV 3, ITV4, CITV, ITV Encore, Britbox, a video-on-demand service in collaboration with the BBC to bring British television content to the United States and Canada, and Cirkus, their own video-on-demand service.[20]
News consumption has shifted with age demographics along the rise of digital platforms such associal media. Traditional outlets like television and newspapers commonly associated with "mainstream media" face declining audiences as younger users increasingly turn to platforms such asTikTok,Instagram, andFacebook for news. According to Pew Research Center,[21] these platforms are a primary source of information for Millennials and Gen Z, a change that moves away from traditional media towards more online-focused platforms.
| Television | Radio | Print publications | Digital devices | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ages 18–29 | 8% | 2% | 3% | 36% |
| Ages 30–49 | 18% | 6% | 3% | 72% |
| Ages 50–64 | 42% | 8% | 3% | 46% |
| 65+ | 86% | 72% | 46% | 27% |
This shift in consumer platform taste has led to a crisis in the smaller local news scene, with an estimated average of 2 newspapers going out of business per week.[22] Larger mainstream media companies with greater budgets will also be forced to navigate the technological shift, with large news companies such asThe New York Times andFox News having dedicated teams work on high quality online websites.
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