REGULATING OWNERSHIP: A TRANSATLANTIC COMPARISON

Media policy formation and outcomes can usefully be analyzed as the consequences of the interactions of key actors, including politicians, civil servants, regulatory bodies, media organizations and citizens. At different junctures some of these actors are more important than others, but outcomes cannot always be predicted accurately. With that approach in mind, this paper will consider how concentration of ownership issues have recently been approached in Britain and Canada. The paper will seek to consider the processes which have subsequently led to some impediments being placed in the way of media consolidation in both the U.K. and Canada, and will discuss whether or not turning points have been reached in media policy as a result.