Ultra-rich media owners are tightening their grip on democracy. It’s time to wrest our power back; The Guardian, November 13, 2025

Robert Reich , The Guardian; Ultra-rich media owners are tightening their grip on democracy. It’s time to wrest our power back

"The richest man on Earth owns X.

The family of the second-richest man owns Paramount, which owns CBS, and could soon own Warner Bros, which owns CNN.

The third-richest man owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

The fourth-richest man owns the Washington Post and Amazon MGM Studios.

Another billionaire owns Fox News, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post.

Why are the ultra-rich buying up so much of the media? Vanity may play a part, but there’s a more pragmatic – some might say sinister – reason.

If you’re a multibillionaire, you might view democracy as a potential threat to your net worth. Control over a significant share of the dwindling number of media outlets would enable you to effectively hedge against democracy by suppressing criticism of you and other plutocrats, and discouraging any attempt to – for example – tax away your wealth...

As the Washington Post’s slogan still says, democracy dies in darkness. Today, darkness is closing in because a demagogue sits in the Oval Office and so much of the US’s wealth and media ownership is concentrated in the hands of a few people easily manipulated by that demagogue.

We must fight to get our democracy back. Supporting the Guardian is one good place to begin."

Vice blocked an article criticising Saudi Arabia. This is why we published it instead; The Guardian, August 18, 2023

Jemimah Steinfeld , The Guardian; Vice blocked an article criticising Saudi Arabia. This is why we published it instead

"If you want proof Saudi Arabia is trying to improve its reputation, visit the website of the Saudi Tourism Authority. There you will find the Q&A section has recently been updated to state that LGBTQ visitors to the country are welcome. This from a country that executed five men for same-sex relationships just four years ago. The hubris is astonishing. And yet to directly challenge those contradictions isn’t easy, something John Lubbock, Daisy Steinhardt and Max Colbert recently learned.

As reported by the Guardian on Tuesday, the journalists had co-written an article for Vice World News, which looked at how LGBTQ Saudis face threats from their families and state authorities. It was commissioned after Vice signed a partnership deal with the MBC Group, a media company controlled by the Saudi government. The article’s publication was first delayed and eventually spiked. The reason given? To protect staff at Vice’s offices in Riyadh."