Who Owns the Media
A small cartel of billionaires and conglomerates dominates the U.S. media landscape. Through a history of mergers and acquisitions, they’ve concentrated their control over much of what Americans see, read and hear. Free Press rates the independence of each of these giants and analyzes their ability to defend democracy at a time of domestic and international authoritarianism.
In the following profiles, Free Press captures what the 35 largest media and tech companies control, and examines how their ownership influences public discourse and political outcomes across the United States. This concentration of ownership in the hands of billionaires, private-equity firms and sprawling conglomerates poses a fundamental threat to our functioning democracy.
- Online Platforms & Streaming
- Alphabet (Google) 🐔🐔
- Amazon 🐔🐔🐔🐔
- Apple 🐔🐔
- Meta 🐔🐔🐔🐔
- Microsoft 🐔
- Netflix ⚝
- Snap 🐔🐔
- TikTok (tbd)
- Trump Media 🐔🐔🐔🐔🐔
- X / SpaceX 🐔🐔🐔🐔🐔
- Broadcasting & Entertainment
- Audacy (tbd)
- Comcast 🐔
- Cox Media Group 🐔
- Disney 🐔🐔🐔
- Fox Corporation 🐔🐔🐔🐔
- Gray Media 🐔🐔🐔
- Hearst 🐔🐔
- iHeartMedia, Inc. 🐔🐔
- Nexstar 🐔🐔🐔🐔
- Paramount Global 🐔🐔🐔🐔
- Sinclair, Inc. 🐔🐔🐔🐔
- TEGNA 🐔🐔
- TelevisaUnivision 🐔🐔
- Warner Bros. Discovery 🐔🐔🐔
- Cable & Telecom
- AT&T 🐔🐔🐔
- Charter Communications 🐔
- Comcast 🐔
- T-Mobile US 🐔🐔
- Verizon 🐔🐔🐔
- Newspapers & Publishing
This resource also tracks the deep entanglements these companies have with government interests, including their dependency on government contracts and other official favors. In most cases, these ties explain why so many of these media companies have bent the knee to the political powers that be — a deeply concerning development at a time when the Trump regime is attacking journalism and undermining free speech.
Free Press rates the degree — on a scale of one to five chickens (🐔) — to which each media company has compromised its commitment to independent news and information in exchange for political favors and higher profits, or simply to get the Trump administration off its back. In the rare instance where a company displays admirable independence from the political pressures of Washington, it earns a star (⚝), an ideal of autonomy to which all media must aspire if our democracy is to survive.
In many cases, the question is not “who owns the media?” but “who owns the media owners?” This tracker provides readers with an often disturbing answer.
Legend
⚝ = Independent
🐔 = Vulnerable
🐔🐔 = Compromising
🐔🐔🐔 = Capitulating
🐔🐔🐔🐔 = Obeying
🐔🐔🐔🐔🐔 = Propaganda