The Telecommunications Act of 1996 revised radio station ownership restrictions in a manner that allowed marketplace-driven growth among group owners. This study focuses on changes to the market structure of the top 50 radio markets in the United States between 1992 and 1997. The author found horizontal concentration as measured by the Hirschman-Herfindahl Index to have nearly doubled, and vertical integration also had increased. Whereas radio was once classified as "monopolistic competition," many markets now may meet the definition of oligopoly. Increased concentration does not appear to have led to increased listener choice, but does appear related to higher advertising rates.
The prospects for online social networks as sites of information-gathering and affiliation for persons with AIDS and others concerned about HIV/AIDS not only represent the latest development in a trend toward circumventing traditional media and official information sources, but also may offer hope for a revitalization of HIV/AIDS discourse in the public sphere. This article provides an overview of three decades of information-seeking on the pandemic and its social and personal implications, as well as case studies of three examples of social networking surrounding HIV/AIDS. It finds preliminary evidence of the formation of strong and weak ties as described in Social Network Theory and suggests that the online accumulation of social capital by opinion leaders could facilitate dissemination of messages on HIV/AIDS awareness and testing.
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