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A 'media proprietor' is a person who controls, either through personal ownership or a dominant position in a public company, a significant part of the mass media. Media proprietors are commonly called "media moguls", "tycoons", "barons", or "bosses".
The figure of the media proprietor first became prominent in the 19th century with the development of mass circulation newspapers. In the United Kingdom they included Lord Northcliffe, Lord Rothermere and Lord Beaverbrook, and were known as "press barons" since most of them were given peerages. In the United States the best known press tycoon was William Randolph Hearst.
In the 20th century the definition of proprietorship expanded to include ownership of radio and television networks, as well as film studios, publishing houses and more recently internet and other forms of multimedia companies. The term "press baron" was replaced by "media" baron, reflecting this. Some of the most prominent media proprietors of recent decades have been Rupert Murdoch, Robert Maxwell, Conrad Black, Silvio Berlusconi, Axel Springer and Ted Turner.
Media proprietors are frequently accused of using their positions to further political agendas, and some of them have in fact done so. The British press barons exercised personal control over their papers and used them to wage political campaigns, usually though not always in the interests of the Conservative Party. British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin once accused the London press of "exercising the prerogative of the harlot through the ages: power without responsibility." In recent years Rupert Murdoch has been frequently accused of abusing his media power to support such politicians as Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, John Howard and George W. Bush. In Italy Silvio Berlusconi used his almost total control of the country's commercial television system to make himself Prime Minister.

Contents

List of media proprietors

See also

External links

List of media proprietors

★ Emilio Azcárraga, Grupo Televisa

★ Bill Bresnan

★ Silvio Berlusconi, Fininvest, Mediaset

★ W. Jeffrey Brown, All Headline News, AHN Media Corp

★ Edgar Bronfman, Jr., Warner Music

★ Serge Dassault, Dassault Group

★ Jesús de Polanco, PRISA, Sogecable

★ Richard Desmond, Northern and Shell, Express Newspapers

★ Barry Diller, IAC/InterActiveCorp CEO

★ Michael Eisner, Walt Disney Company Chairman

★ Jonathan Harmsworth, 4th Viscount Rothermere, Daily Mail and General Trust plc

★ William Randolph Hearst, newspaperman

★ Robert Hersant, newspaperman

★ Samir Jain & Vineet Jain of The Times Group

★ Narendra Mohan of The Jagran Group

★ Silvio Santos, SBT

★ Roberto Marinho, Rede Globo

★ Leo Kirch, of KirchMedia

★ Jean-Luc and his son Arnaud Lagardère, Lagardère Group

★ John Malone of Liberty Media

★ Victor Collin Matthews, Baron Matthews

★ Jean-Marie Messier, former head of Vivendi Universal

★ Robert Maxwell, politician and newspaperman

★ Thomas Middelhoff of Bertelsmann

★ Rupert Murdoch of News Corporation

★ Tony O'Reilly, Independent News & Media Group

★ Kerry Packer and his son James Packer of Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (PBL)

★ Generoso Pope Jr., founder of The National Enquirer & American Media, Inc.

★ Sumner Redstone, Viacom Chief

★ Axel Springer, of Axel-Springer-Verlag

★ Howard Stern, of Sirius Satellite Radio and On Demand Television

★ Martha Stewart, of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia

★ Ted Turner, former Time Warner Vice President

★ Jeremy Sebbag, Captivision Media President

See also

★ Citizen Kane

★ Media conglomerate

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External links

★ Website for the UK 'Media Mogul' board game