Answer to Question 1
Answer: An ideal response will:
1. Describe the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which deregulated whole sectors of electronic media in the hope of balancing corporate interests with technological innovation and consumer needs.
2. Explain that the effect was to allow for the consolidation of previously distinct forms of electronic media. These consolidations created a multimedia approach to communicating information and entertainment, illustrated by the rise of companies like Viacom, Time Warner, and Comcast.
3. Explain that consolidation has limited the sources of political information, which can threaten the viability of democracy.
Answer to Question 2
Answer: An ideal response will:
1. Define media consolidation as the process of having a smaller number of companies own an increasing number of outlets, which is a product of a profit-driven media structure.
2. Explain that because of media consolidation, a handful of companies now control 90 percent of the news media content in the United States.
3. Explain how this can threaten the democratic foundation of the nation by limiting the flow of information.
A hypothetical example of the bottleneck effect.
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