Across the globe, commercial journalism is under pressure due to declining advertising revenues and consumers’ reduced willingness to pay for news. These tensions are driving processes of media concentration, whereby media outlets are converging into the hands of a few owners. While media concentration may offer economic benefits, it is generally considered to pose substantial risks to news production, such as unfair competition and diminished pluralism.

This PhD project explores the consequences of ownership concentration for journalists, audiences, and journalism more broadly. Particular attention is paid to how journalists navigate pressures resulting from concentration and construct their own autonomy. The research focuses on the Netherlands, a democratic system where strong safeguards for editorial independence coexist with rapid market concentration.