Abstract
The characteristics and scope of media concentration are of great concern to media and communication studies, especially in relation to media diversity and pluralism, considered key in democratic societies. However, to date, there have been few analyses of audiences’ knowledge of media ownership. This contribution explores knowledge of media ownership structures, and how it relates to media use and socio-demographics amongst a representative online sample of the Flemish population (N = 1100). Findings reveal limited knowledge of ownership structures, with significant differences relating to gender, age, education and media consumption. The implications hereof are discussed from a perspective of democratic citizenship, political economy studies, media literacy studies and media literacy programs, and result in a call for more research into this specific area.
©2016 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin Boston
