I prefer knowing whom to hold accountable when I read news, especially when trying to ensure democracy prevails. So I built an index. Actually, three.

In 1983, fifty corporations dominated most of every mass medium and the biggest media merger in history was a $340 million deal. … [I]n 1987, the fifty companies had shrunk to twenty-nine. … ...

"Did you know this was happening? Have you heard about it in the local or national news?" wrote Federal Communications Commissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein in the San Francisco Chronicle on April 24.

Disney wants to buy much of 21st Century Fox; AT&T is fighting for approval of a merger with Time Warner. Who owns what these days? We built a chart of the many brands of some major media companies.