> -----Original Message-----
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On
> Behalf Of Robert Shaw
[snip]
> Any problems with newpaper monopolies in the US are not due solely
> to the free market, but must be caused in part by the social factors
> differing between it and the UK.
That doesn't follow at all, since the United States and the U.K. are not
politically or economically identical. They are far from identical with
regard to newspaper monopolies. Please see http://www.vii.org/PCMLP/UK.html
Excerpt: "... [t]here are special provisions for press concentration under
the 1973 Fair Trading Act. A transfer in ownership of a newspaper with more
than 500,000 copies daily circulation must be approved by the Minister for
Trade and Industry. The Minister can also block a transfer of a newspaper
with less than 50,000 daily circulation. In making a decision, the Minister
must take into consideration the public interest (this is called a 'public
interest test')."
There's more. This is very, very different from the U.S. situation. In the
United States, newspapers are far less fettered than anywhere else, largely
thanks to the First Amendment.
Nick
