Image: Rupert Murdoch, who this week sold his entertainment empire - but not his news empire - to Disney
Two seminal events that took place this week – the FCC’s vote to scrap net neutrality rules and Rupert Murdoch’s sale of vast chunks of his empire to Disney – are a stark reminder of what really matters in the contemporary media economy: size and influence. The Trump-era Federal Communications Commission has eagerly succumbed to a lie peddled by internet service providers and their Republican friends that net neutrality is an outdated impediment to price discrimination and increased corporate profits. Meanwhile the Murdoch deal provides yet more evidence of a top-heavy and hyper-commercial communications sector in which even a $75 billion company like 21st Century Fox is deemed to be too fragile in comparison to its competitors.
