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The behemoths of broadcasting are growing larger every day. AT&T Broadband recently merged with Comcast. Three formerly independent companies now operate under AOL Time Warner. The lesser known Clear Channel has already gobbled up more than 10% of the nation's commercial radio stations, and print media moguls are busy collecting local newspapers and niche magazines. Industry executives claim that it is a matter of economic necessity; media watchdog groups warn that the mergers are not in the public interest. Since the deregulation of the communications industry in 1996, the consolidation of news and information sources along with music and entertainment venues has accelerated at a rapid pace. Is the industry simply adjusting to new technological and financial realities? Or does diminished diversity of media sources dangerously chip away at our democracy's Fourth Estate?

Monopolistic media?

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