By Andrea Estrada

When the framers of the Constitution listed the rights and freedoms that would define the fledgling United States, they included freedom of speech in the First Amendment, second only to the free exercise of religion and just ahead of freedom of the press. They believed an unfettered exchange of ideas––even those of dissent or discord––would help keep government in the hands of the people.

Recent trends and developments in social values, political ideologies, media policies, economic conditions, globalization, media technologies, and telecommunications networks have all interacted to generate significant changes in the nature of media industries, production, content, distribution, exhibition, and use.

A new book edited by Ronald Rice, the Arthur N. Rupe Professor of the Social Effects of Mass Communication and co-director of UCSB’s Carsey-Wolf Center for Film, Television, and New Media, takes an interdisciplinary approach to various perspectives on media ownership. The book, titled “Media Ownership: Research and Regulation” (Hampton Press, Inc. 2008), includes contributions from scholars, industry professionals, and other experts in the field, and covers historical, legal, cultural policy, research, professional, oppositional, and ethical aspects of the topic.

“Many people are deeply concerned about the increasing concentration of media production and distribution in the hands of a few, highly interconnected corporations,” Rice states. “They worry about the effect of such consolidation on diversity of opinion and content, creativity, commercialization, and democratic access to the marketplace of ideas.”

One of the fundamental questions driving the chapters in the book is what roles media have played––and do and should play––in the marketplace, society, and culture, and what consequences follow from these roles.

“The founding fathers saw freedom of speech as a fundamental principle and believed the marketplace of ideas would issue its own controls to separate fact from fiction,” said Rice. “But to be informed citizens, people need access to information. So it really matters how the media are owned.”

He added: “The constitutional role of the media was to monitor and challenge the government. People have realized that it is also important to monitor and challenge corporate control. But to the extent that corporations own the media, this oversight may be suppressed.”

The book includes chapters by Rice as well as UCSB faculty members Mark Rose, William B. Warner, Denise Bielby, Jennifer Holt, and Ken Harwood.