National and local newspaper ownership
Murdoch-owned American mass media company News Corp publishes several major papers in the UK via its subsidiaries, including The Times and The Sun newspapers. DMGT owns free paper Metro, the daily newspaper with the highest circulation in the UK, as well as the Daily Mail, which ranks top in terms of paid circulation. Reach Plc not only has several national dailies, but also their Sunday counterparts. With the exception of the Sunday Mirror, Reach owns all of the UK’s top Sunday newspapers by circulation.Collectively, these three companies have a substantial amount of influence and clout within the UK newspaper market. Reach Plc is also among the UK’s leading local newspaper publishers with a hefty number of local and regional titles across the country and a market share of over 20 percent. The biggest local newspaper owner, Gannett UK (Newsquest), holds a similar market share at just over 23 percent, meaning that nearly half of the UK’s local news publications are owned by just two companies.
The effects of ownership concentration
Concentration of news ownership is a growing problem in terms of media plurality, and this affects consumer opinions of the press. In fact, a survey on bias in news found that close to 70 percent of UK adults doubted the media’s ability to be objective and nonpartisan. Additionally, over half felt that most news organizations are less concerned with keeping the public informed and more focused on supporting an ideology or political stance.Meanwhile, the most recently available data revealed that out of the top 10 highest paid national news media executives in the UK, seven were employed at DMGT, News Corp UK, or Reach, with employees at the latter accounting for the top four highest earners. Whilst it is to be expected that those in senior roles enjoy larger salaries, the smaller the pool of newspaper owners and the higher their income, could further alienate the public from the news they disseminate, particularly in times of economic crisis.