Two Misplaced Objections C. Edwin Baker Bob McChesney and I have previously worked together on media policy initiatives and are in general agreement on principles and strategies. Some critics argue that deregulated markets lead to the best media order. Normal antitrust rules, applicable to all industries, will prevent monopolization from going too far. Media-specific proposals like McChesney's are unwarranted.
Free markets allow people to purchase the media content they want.
Even advertisers and oligopolistic media giants respond to audiences' desires. Under some circumstances, media giants even respond better than smaller competing media firms. Governmental intervention represents elite paternalism at best-often it merely supports liberal propaganda. This paternalism disrespects personal choices and, in the end, wastes money or distorts media markets in objectionably elitist ways. This critique is fundamentally wrong.