It has been assumed that minorities and women are always at the bottom when it comes to media ownership. In the case study, it gives more details to about this topic. In 1996 the telecommunications act paved way for big media companies to consolidate, minorities and female media ownership declined. By the year 2014 the racial and ethnic minorities owned only 3% of full power broadcast commercial television in the United States.
Majority ownership of full power commercial television stations (By Gender)
- Joint Male/Female – 1.7%
- Male – 72.5%
- No majority Interest – 19.6%
- Female – 6.3%
Majority ownership of full power commercial television stations (By Race)
- No Majority interest – 19.4%
- White – 77.2%
- Asian – 1.4%
- Black – 0.6%
- Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander – 0.1%
- American Indian or Alaska Native
- Two or More races – 0.1%
Majority ownership of Commercial FM Radio stations (By Gender)
- Joint Male/Female – 2.5%
- No Majority Interest – 16.8%
- Female – 6.7%
- Male – 74.0%
Majority ownership of Commercial Radio stations (By Race)
- White – 80.0%
- No Majority – 17.1%
- Asian – 0.7%
- Black – 1.3%
- Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander – 5%
- American Indian or Alaska Native – 0.4%
- Two or more races – 0.1%
The breakdown above explains in detail on how ownership consists between both genders and race. In our country women consists of 50% of the population, blacks are 13% and Hispanics and Latinos are 17% of the population in television and radio broadcasting ownership. Diversity and women ownership has been on one the main topic of discussion in media and hopefully as the world gets into more of the digital space things would change for the future.
Nene Kabutey Lander 