But their urgency is much greater. Media have changed in unimaginable ways in just a few years. The Web has grown beyond anyone's expectations. Companies like America Online, which most people didn't even think would survive a few years ago, are now acquiring, and becoming, the most powerful media corporations on Earth. Modern media already push individuals to the margins.
Corporatized media is bland, fearful, profit-centered.
Even a cursory look at modern media history provides an answer. This, then, becomes a question that transcends business concerns and goes to the nature of the kind of country we wish to be, and the kind of free press we will or won't have. In fact, the accusations against Microsoft seem trivial when weighed against the impact of the megamerger announced on Jan. 10. Small, independent media voices are already being marginalized. Others might use the term monopoly.