Media Concentration and the Internet

Media Concentration and the Internet – Empirical, Business and Policy Research

A Symposium at the

Columbia Institute for Tele-Information (CITI)

Columbia Business School
309 Warren Hall

April 15th, 2004

The Columbia Institute for Tele-Information is holding a one-day conference devoted to the issue of “Media Concentration and the Internet”. Experts in the fields of business, economics, law and technology will closely examine empirical data regarding the use and distribution of online content to establish whether the Internet offsets the overall effects of media concentration, and whether this medium presents new problems, which require direct regulatory intervention.

Agenda:

9:15 AM	Opening Remarks: Eli Noam, Director of CITI
9:30 – 11:00 AM	Panel I Concentration trends in online content markets and consumption Research Presentations: Eli Noam, Columbia Business School and Director of CITI The Internet: Still Wide Open and Competitive? [presentation] Matt Hindman, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University The Concentration of Online Attention and Linking Trends [presentation] Eszter Hargittai, Northwestern University Internet "Gatekeepers" in Online Content Consumption [presentation] < The Internet provides vast amounts of content, and low costs for posting, searching and access. Nevertheless, recent studies have questioned whether, in the online world, websites and Internet content providers are indeed equal. Addressing these matters, speakers will present their research, which includes substantial empirical data work regarding concentration trends in the Internet markets, concentration of online attention, and the role of Internet portals in shaping trends of online use. Questions for this panel include: (1) How should online concentration be measured? What are its trends? (2) How is content organized and distributed online, and what is the role of distributors in forming possible concentrated trends of consumption? (3) How do these forms of concentration compare with trends of concentration in other media markets?
11:00 – 12:00 AM	Panel II The Online Content Market: Entry barriers and business strategies Research Presentations: William Raduchel, Former CTO, AOL/TW Incumbents’ Strategies in Online Content Market [presentation] Cliff Friedman, Constellation Ventures Breaking Into a Concentrated Market: Can Content-based Internet Business Ventures Succeed? [presentation] John Pavlik, Rutgers University Overcoming the Barriers to Entry: Experiences from Start-ups and Alternative News Organizations in the Online Content Market [presentation] Moderator: Heather Hudson, University of San Francisco; Scholar in Residence, CITI This panel first explores business strategies for upstart companies to penetrate the online content market and examines the barriers of entry. Second, it examines how the leading media providers currently dominating the online attention market are likely to try and maintain their leading position. Panelists will also address Wall Street projections as to the outcome of online content ventures.
12:00 – 1:00 PM	Lunch Break at Feldberg lounge
1:00 – 2:30 PM	Panel III *Is the Internet changing the effects of concentration in broadcast media?* Research Presentations: Robert Crandall, Brookings Institute Confusing Success with Access: Correctly Measuring Online Content Concentration Erin Dozier, FCC, Media Bureau Concentration in Media Ownership and the Availability of online Content Leonard Baynes, St. Johns Law School Internet Concentration and the Voice of Minorities Mark Stahlman, Caris Company Is Television Doomed? The shift from TV to the World of Online Interactive Content Moderator: Robert Atkinson, CITI The emergence of the Internet medium coincides with a public and policy debate as to today’s constraints on broadcast media firms’ expansion, and other limits on media ownership. The following panel will address this debate, in view of the empirical evidence. Questions before this panel include: (1) Does content available online mitigate concerns arising from concentrated ownership in other forms of media? (2) Are these two different forms of media interchangeable? (3) Will the Internet eventually converge with other forms of media, and how will such convergence affect the trends of concentration previously addressed?
2:45 – 4:30 PM	Panel IV The implications of concentration trends, and policy recommendations Research Presentations: Stefaan Verhulst, Markle Foundation The Role and Responsibilities of the new interMediators [presentation] Eben Moglen, Columbia Law School Unconcentrating the Media: Free Software and the Destruction of Spectrum Allocation Adam Thierer, CATO Institute Let Them Merge: The Benefits of Vertically Integrating Online Content Providers Tal Zarsky, Information Society Project, Yale Law School “Content Layer” Gate Keepers and Internet Concentration: A Case of Cause and Effect? [presentation] Moderator: Monroe Price, Cardozo Law School Panelists will address the conclusions of the previous panels and attempt to establish policy recommendations. Questions include: 1. Do the trends of concentration described amount to a policy problem or to a policy solution? Will these trends impair free speech and democracy? Will they create inefficient markets? 2. What is the role of the various means of online content distribution and other intermediaries in forming concentration trends? Where are the potential “bottlenecks” in the flow of online content? 3. Are there antitrust concerns in mergers involving online content providers or distributors? What is the role of “open access? 4. Where do we go from here? (a) In business strategies? (b) In innovation? (c) In policy? (d) In research?