International Communication Gazette Special Issue “Networks of Power: Media and Internet Concentration, Platform Capitalism, and the Future of Democracy” (2026)
Volume 88 Issue 1-2, February–March 2026
Special Issue: Networks of Power: Media and Internet Concentration, Platform Capitalism, and the Future of Democracy
- Guest Editor: Dwayne Winseck
- Guest Editor: Guy Hoskins
- Guest Editor: Min Jiang
- Guest Editor: Philippe Bouquillion
- Guest Editor: Terry Flew
- Guest Editor: Ana Bizberge
Networks of power: Media and internet concentration, platform capitalism, and the future of democracy
This essay introduces the Global Media and Internet Concentration Project (GMICP), and some of its findings as well as ten articles by project contributors that make up this special double issue of the International Communication Gazette. It begins by setting the topic of media and internet concentration within the long durée of communication and capitalism, reviews a slice of the contemporary literature on the topic, and then presents the project’s shared conceptual and methodological framework. The last half of the essay presents snapshots of the world’s largest media economies and companies, along with select international comparisons. It closes by reviewing some of Noam’s (2016) key findings from a decade ago, showing where things have stayed consistent and where they are now wildly different. The essay concludes by proposing that the critique of media and internet concentration augment the conventional focus on “opinion power” with: architecture control; gatekeeping power; pricing; standards setting; and regulatory capture.
Contributions of GMICP to the analysis of concentration dynamics in France and their political issues
From laissez-faire to regulatory winter? Regulating Chinese platforms at the crossroads of antitrust, industrial policy, and geopolitics (Free Access)
This paper examines China’s platform antitrust actions between 2019 and 2023, situating them within the broader contexts of industrial policy and geopolitical tensions. Between March 2021 and July 2022, SAMR issued 126 antitrust penalties against 12 leading tech firms including Tencent, ByteDance, Meituan, and Baidu. While these moves reflect state concerns over market concentration, they also expose tensions in China’s political economy, as these firms are key actors in industrial upgrading and digital transformation targeted by policies such as Made in China 2025 and the Manufacturing Power Strategy (zhizao qiangguo) in an intensified geopolitical environment. Drawing on regulatory documents, policy texts, and SAMR penalty decisions, this paper addresses a gap in platform and policy studies by highlighting the role of private internet companies in advancing state industrial policy and geopolitical goals and offers empirical insights into two decades of market integration in China’s internet sector through mergers and joint ventures.
Performative competition: The U.S. wireless communication market and the T-Mobile/Sprint merger
Continuity and change in media and telecom concentration and regulation: Unpacking the complexity of the Mexican Case
How do platforms matter? Media power, platform power and the digital domination of Australian media
South Korea’s network media economy: Growth, concentration and upheaval, 2010–2022
- Dal Yong Jin
- Seoyeon Park
Sub-Saharan African region: Dominant firms in the Pay TV markets by Tokunbo Ojo
Concentration in the media ecosystem: The case of the Spanish media and telecommunications industries
A way out of the Twentieth century. Reviewing the evolution of the Italian media industries from the perspective of an (inter)national media company: The case of Sky Italia
Streaming against the current: Reframing media power in Central and Eastern Europe through the rise of a regional media giant
Australia’s television streaming market and the battle over prominence
Policy & Internet Special Issue “Social Media & Big Data in China” (2018)
Editorial (Free Access)
Chinese Social Media and Big Data: Big Data, Big Brother, Big Profit?
Chinese social media and big data represent an important share of the global Internet, but have received relatively less attention. This editorial examines three dominant discourses based on China’s distinctive and complex political, economic and social realities: “Big Data” (technical focus), “Big Brother” (political focus), and “Big Profit” (economic focus).
Articles
International Communication Gazette Special Issue “The politics and economics of Chinese Internet Industry” (2018)
Volume 80 Issue 1, January 2018
Special issue: The politics and economics of Chinese Internet Industry
Editorial
With the global reach of Chinese Information Technology (IT) companies and the international ambition of Chinese government, it is imperative to understand how the new developments in Chinese digital media industries are influencing the politics and the economics of information and communication technologies (ICTs).
From modernization to neoliberalism? How IT opinion leaders imagine the information society
The political economy of Chinese internet companies: Financialization, concentration, and capitalization
From divergence to convergence: Institutionalization of copyright and the decline of online video piracy in China
How local journalists interpret and evaluate media convergence: An empirical study of journalists from four press groups in Fujian
- Hui Xiong
- Jian Zhang
International Communication of Communication Special Issue “(Un)civil Society in Digital China” (2018, Free Access)
Special Section on (Un)civil Society in Digital China (Free Access)
Is China becoming an uncivil society? How have state policies and online incivility contributed to new forms of intra-societal conflict? How can civility (or incivility) be reconceptualized to facilitate comparative analysis across countries, regime types, and cultures?
Uncivil Society in Digital China: Incivility, Fragmentation, and Political Stability
- Min Jiang, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
- Ashley Esarey, University of Alberta
Demobilizing the Emotions of Online Activism in China: A Civilizing Process
- Guobin Yang, University of Pennsylvania
Withering Gongzhi: Cyber Criticism of Chinese Public Intellectuals
- Rongbin Han, University of Georgia
Slogans and Slurs, Misogyny and Nationalism: A Case Study of Anti-Japanese Sentiment by Chinese Netizens in Contentious Social Media Comments
- Jason Q. Ng, Citizen Lab, University of Toronto
- Eileen Le Han, Michigan State University
Wenming Bu Wenming: The Socialization of Incivility in Postdigital China
- Gabriele de Seta, Academia Sinica Institute of Ethnology, Taiwan