Concentration of media ownership in the United States has increased throughout the 20th century and threatens to dilute competition between press outlets and to reduce the quality of news coverage available to the audience as a result. Several scholars have identified mass advertising as a major culprit in this concentration as well as in the resulting superficiality of news coverage.

In the 1940s, a group of scholars formed the Commission on Freedom of the Press (COFOP) to discuss the perceived problem of irresponsible media and to prescribe remedies in the form of greater emphasis on the issues of the day and greater access to the press for individuals and groups not normally allowed a voice. Since COFOP published its recommendations, some scholars have argued that the press has adopted the "social responsibility" doctrine, thus replacing libertarianism. Others argue that an advertising model has become the natural heir to libertarianism in the press.