When media tycoon Rupert Murdoch's company purchased
America's premier financial newspaper,The Wall Str-eet Jouma1,it stirred up a hornet's nest of controversy that has yet to abate.Critics of the purchase say that too many of the world's media outlets are now controlled by too few people.Murdoch's News Corporation is the second-largest media empire in the world,with controlling interests in companies representing film,television,newspapers,magazines,book publishing,pay TV,and the Internet.It is also one of six corporations that,between them,own90 percent of media outlets in the United States.Consumers and activists fear that if the government doesn't stop further conglomeration,the near monopolization of today's information sources may undermine the democratic process itself.