Politicians must break up Britain’s media monopolies

Lord and Lady Rothermere. ‘The British press is already dominated by a tiny handful of billionaire media moguls,’ writes Dr Tom Chivers. Photograph: Finnbarr Webster/PA

David Davis is right to warn against a potential takeover of the Telegraph newspapers by Lord Rothermere’s DMGT (The Mail and the Telegraph owned by the same man? It would be a disaster for the UK’s free press, 28 September). However, he is wrong to say that this would be “another step towards an uncompetitive press dominated by the powerful few”. The British press is already dominated by a tiny handful of billionaire media moguls and global “big tech” tycoons, from national and local newspapers to broadcasters and new online platforms.

As a report published last month by the Media Reform Coalition demonstrates, nine in every 10 newspapers sold in the UK are controlled by just three companies – Rothermere’s DMGT, Rupert Murdoch’s News UK, and Reach (publishers of the Mirror, Express and Star titles). These same companies account for 40% of the total online reach of the UK’s top 50 news websites, giving Rothermere and Murdoch an even tighter grip over the news agenda.