The ownership of the media and issues related to the governance of global media institutions are of immense public significance. Not only are the cultural industries a major source of contemporary power — economic, political, social — they are also the primary definers of consciousness in most parts of the contemporary world.

Media ownership patterns and permutations today are a direct consequence of the globalisation of neo-liberal economics. While there are some regional variations in the ownership "mix" the trend, from South Africa to Argentina and India to East and Central Europe, is towards privatisation, deregulation, retreat from the state's public media responsibilities and the contraction of space for non-commercial, community-based media efforts.

This collection of critical writings on media ownership from different parts of the world by leading scholars, including Robert McChesney, Dan Schiller, Cees Hamelink, Sean O'Siochru, Zhao Yuezhi and others, offers a richly textured, contextual reading of the political economy of contemporary media ownership. Issues addressed include convergence, global media governance, intellectual property, telecommunications regulation and deregulation, censorship, the role of the state, with a strong accent on the need for transparency, accountability and media diversity.