"Information," Jefferson told us, "is the currency of democracy." What is the impact on democracy when currency is owned, printed, packaged and distributed by a handful of megacorporations? Corporate control of media is at unprecedented levels. Bottom-line considerations dumb down the news and narrow the range of opinion. Politically, the powerful broadcasting lobby pretty much gets what it wants. Conservative NewYorkTimes columnist William Safire decried "the giveaway of our digital spectrum" to the media moguls.

Robert McChesney
Robert McChesney is president and co-founder of the Free Press, an organization working to increase public participation in media policy debates, and to generate policies that will produce a more democratic media. He is also professor of communications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and author of numerous books including "Rich Media, Poor Democracy" and "The Problem of the Media."