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Rodney Benson
@rodneybenson.bsky.social
470 followers 370 following 20 posts

professor NYU Media, Culture, & Comm, & Sociology; new book How Media Ownership Matters (Oxford, April '25), https://global.oup.com/academic/product/how-media-ownership-matters-9780199931316?lang=en&cc=us

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Rodney Benson is an American sociologist and professor of media, culture, and communication at New York University. He is also an affiliated faculty member in the NYU Department of Sociology and has been a visiting scholar or invited lecturer at universities in France, Germany, Denmark, Finland, and Norway. Before joining the NYU faculty, he was an assistant professor of international communications and sociology at the American University of Paris. He holds a PhD in sociology from the University of California, Berkeley. .. more

Communication & Media Studies 39%
Political science 25%
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rodneybenson.bsky.social
Rodney Benson @rodneybenson.bsky.social · 1d
Trying to find something - here is the link to Le Monde in English (and I can also send you by email) www.lemonde.fr/en/about-us/...
Le Monde Group: Press releases from the Independence Pole and the Fund for the Independence of the Press
The Le Monde Group's Independence Pole welcomes the acquisition by the Fund for the Independence of the Press of Xavier Niel's holding company NJJ Presse, which, via Le Monde Libre, controls the major...
www.lemonde.fr

Reposted by Rodney Benson

rodneybenson.bsky.social
Rodney Benson @rodneybenson.bsky.social · 1d
Yes! @jayrosen.bsky.social - Bezos should follow the example of fellow billionaire Xavier Niel, previous sole owner of Le Monde, who moved his capital into an independent endowment. Check out: www.thewrap.com/le-monde-acq...

rodneybenson.bsky.social
Rodney Benson @rodneybenson.bsky.social · 1d
The challenge for a new Wash Post (if Bezos could be convinced to part w/ it) or for a startup competing w/the Post is to combine independence w/ scale. That's where the Phil Inquirer (Lenfest Institute) or Le Monde (w/ an endowment owner) provide the best models See www.thewrap.com/le-monde-acq...
Le Monde Acquired by Press Protection Endowment Fund
The fund “has a general interest mission to defend freedom of opinion and expression in France,” and protect editorial independence
www.thewrap.com

rodneybenson.bsky.social
Rodney Benson @rodneybenson.bsky.social · 3d
Exactly! This is the threat of "economic instrumentalism" that I and my colleagues describe in our book How Media Ownership Matters: use of a media outlet to promote or protect an owner's business interests. It's why we need trust or endowment ownership like at The Guardian, Le Monde, Phil. Inquirer
arusbridger.bsky.social Alan Rusbridger @arusbridger.bsky.social · 4d
Bezos could retrieve something from the disaster of his ownership of the @washingtonpost.com by emulating the Scott family in 1932. Give the paper away and endow it with, say, $1.5 bn. And have an independent trust run it in the public interest.

rodneybenson.bsky.social
Rodney Benson @rodneybenson.bsky.social · 3d
This is the threat of "economic instrumentalism" that I describe w/ colleagues in our 2025 book How Media Ownership Matters: the use of a media outlet to promote or protect an owner's business interests. It's why we need alternative forms of nonprofit ownership. global.oup.com/academic/pro...
global.oup.com

rodneybenson.bsky.social
Rodney Benson @rodneybenson.bsky.social · 3d
'In his Post ownership early years, Bezos was seen as a steward of quality journalism. But he has carefully shifted his public tone in the Trump era. This shift is the fundamental risk of news outlets being bought by individuals w/ business interests outside of news.'
www.axios.com/2026/02/05/w...
Washington Post cuts reignite concerns over Bezos ownership
The Post's financial struggles predate Lewis' tenure, but have been compounded by a series of unforced errors over the past two years.
www.axios.com

Reposted by Rodney Benson

Reposted by Axel Bruns, Rodney Benson

arusbridger.bsky.social
Alan Rusbridger @arusbridger.bsky.social · 3d
Bezos could retrieve something from the disaster of his ownership of the @washingtonpost.com by emulating the Scott family in 1932. Give the paper away and endow it with, say, $1.5 bn. And have an independent trust run it in the public interest.

rodneybenson.bsky.social
Rodney Benson @rodneybenson.bsky.social · 14d
Thank you @froomkin.bsky.social for this much needed parsing of which news organizations are speaking truth to power and which are buckling, under the phony pretense of both-sideism
froomkin.bsky.social Dan Froomkin/Press Watch/Heads Up News @froomkin.bsky.social · 14d
It’s been incredibly sad to see the news industry struggle so publicly with whether and how to tell the truth about the wanton, brutal killing of Alex Pretti--someone who did absolutely nothing wrong--at the hands of the masked federal agents terrorizing his city. presswatchers.org/2026/01/mome...
Moments of bravery and cowardice in the news coverage of Alex Pretti’s killing | Press Watch
Truth-telling is hard when your bosses are bootlickers
presswatchers.org

Reposted by Rodney Benson

froomkin.bsky.social
Dan Froomkin/Press Watch/Heads Up News @froomkin.bsky.social · 14d
It’s been incredibly sad to see the news industry struggle so publicly with whether and how to tell the truth about the wanton, brutal killing of Alex Pretti--someone who did absolutely nothing wrong--at the hands of the masked federal agents terrorizing his city. presswatchers.org/2026/01/mome...
Moments of bravery and cowardice in the news coverage of Alex Pretti’s killing | Press Watch
Truth-telling is hard when your bosses are bootlickers
presswatchers.org

Reposted by Rodney Benson

Reposted by Rodney Benson, Glenn H. Shepard, Brian Keegan

joshshepperd.bsky.social
Josh Shepperd @joshshepperd.bsky.social · Jan 7
I was interviewed at CJR about the closure of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Along with the excellent @rodneybenson.bsky.social.
What the dissolution of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting means.
The parent organization of NPR and PBS, already defunded, is shutting down—and claims that’s for the best. But there are dangers ahead.
www.cjr.org

Reposted by Rodney Benson

Reposted by Rodney Benson

Reposted by Stephen Cushion

rodneybenson.bsky.social
Rodney Benson @rodneybenson.bsky.social · Sep 6
Glad to see our findings in How Media Ownership Matters confirmed and extended - will read this closely ! global.oup.com/academic/pro...

rodneybenson.bsky.social
Rodney Benson @rodneybenson.bsky.social · Sep 6
Looks fascinating and definitely worth checking out !
talestomaz.bsky.social Tales Tomaz @talestomaz.bsky.social · Sep 5
How should we measure media power and concentration in hybrid media systems?

Mariia Aleksevych and I just published a new open-access article in Media and Communication @cogitatiomac.bsky.social with a methodological proposal: www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcomm...
Journalism in the Hybrid Media System
Thematic Issue, Vol 13 (2025)
www.cogitatiopress.com

Reposted by Rodney Benson

talestomaz.bsky.social
Tales Tomaz @talestomaz.bsky.social · Sep 5
How should we measure media power and concentration in hybrid media systems?

Mariia Aleksevych and I just published a new open-access article in Media and Communication @cogitatiomac.bsky.social with a methodological proposal: www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcomm...
Journalism in the Hybrid Media System
Thematic Issue, Vol 13 (2025)
www.cogitatiopress.com

rodneybenson.bsky.social
Rodney Benson @rodneybenson.bsky.social · Sep 2
Thanks @lisafung.bsky.social ! I’m glad you liked it!

Reposted by Rodney Benson

lisafung.bsky.social
Lisa Fung @lisafung.bsky.social · Sep 1
Interesting Q&A with @rodneybenson.bsky.social (a college classmate!) on what U.S. media can learn from European ownership structure

Via @columjournreview.bsky.social
www.cjr.org/the-intervie...
Rodney Benson on the Value of Publicly Backed Journalism
A recent book suggests American media can learn from European ownership structures.
www.cjr.org

Reposted by Rodney Benson

niemanlab.org
Nieman Lab @niemanlab.org · Aug 16
“This is a nut that no one else in the country has cracked — how to translate what nonprofit newsrooms are doing for commercial TV.” www.niemanlab.org/2025/08/can-...
Can nonprofit news mix with local TV? A Pennsylvania partnership aims to find out
“This is a nut that no one else in the country has cracked — how to translate what nonprofit newsrooms are doing for commercial TV.”
www.niemanlab.org

rodneybenson.bsky.social
Rodney Benson @rodneybenson.bsky.social · Jul 31
So true - all of it!
lportwoodstacer.bsky.social Laura Portwood-Stacer @lportwoodstacer.bsky.social · Jul 31
I “finished” writing my book last November. But I still had 50+ hours of work to do before it actually went to print. Here’s what that included:

1. Reading the final manuscript out loud to myself to catch any weird wording or sentences that needed to be clearer

2. Prepping the files for submission

Reposted by Rodney Benson

lportwoodstacer.bsky.social
Laura Portwood-Stacer @lportwoodstacer.bsky.social · Jul 31
I “finished” writing my book last November. But I still had 50+ hours of work to do before it actually went to print. Here’s what that included:

1. Reading the final manuscript out loud to myself to catch any weird wording or sentences that needed to be clearer

2. Prepping the files for submission

Reposted by Rodney Benson

joshshepperd.bsky.social
Josh Shepperd @joshshepperd.bsky.social · Jul 28
I enjoyed talking to UCLA's Luskin Center for History and Policy podcast "Then and Now" about the origins and possible future of public media. Thanks to Ben Zdencanovic.
Defunding Big Bird: The Politics and History of Public Broadcasting. A Conversation with Josh Shepperd. - Then & Now
In this episode of then & now, guest host Dr. Ben Zdencanovic welcomes Professor Josh Shepperd, Associate Professor of Media Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder and Director of the Libra...
www.buzzsprout.com

Reposted by Rodney Benson

ipk.bsky.social
Institute for Public Knowledge @ipk.bsky.social · Apr 9
Join the Institute for Public Knowledge on Wednesday, April 23rd (5:30-7:00 PM) for a book talk with Rodney Benson. He will discuss his new book How Media Ownership Matters with Anya Schiffrin and @stevenwaldman.bsky.social.

ipk.nyu.edu/events/book-...