Blog Post #9: Sherman Anti-Trust Act & Media Consolidation

In 1890, the first Federal act that outlawed monopolistic business practices was established, known as the Sherman Antitrust Act. Before this act was implemented, there were only a few companies in each industry which caused them to dominate their industries. By putting the Sherman Antitrust Act into place, the government finally had a way to control the economy and avoid eliminating competition, which would eventually harm both American consumers and the American economy.

President Benjamin Harris was the president that signed this bill into law on July 2nd, 1890, with the goal of the Sherman Antitrust Act to protect consumers' rights, control the economy, and eliminate monopolistic business practices. Additionally, its purpose was to restore competition and end possible trade and commerce with unlawful restraints and monopolies. Before Benjamin Harris put this act into place, although monopolies were legal, they were highly frowned upon. This allowed both good and bad monopolies to be created. You might be thinking that no matter the law or the situation, there will be some good and some bad, but the continuous creation of monopolies was crushing our economy.

This act was not only able to save our economy from going under, but overall, it prevented other industries from obtaining too much power in one place. Although this was a great idea, the Sherman Antitrust Act was less efficient than most would have liked. The vagueness and the lack of specificity in this document regarding words such as "trust," "combination," "conspiracy," and "monopoly" made it very easy for many companies to find easy and legal loopholes to create their monopolies.

Code #1 in the Sherman Antitrust Act:

"Every contract combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, is declared illegal."

Code #2 in the Sherman Antitrust Act:

"Prohibits monopolization or attempts at monopolizing any aspect of interstate trade or commerce and makes the act a felony."

Five years later, in 1895, the Supreme Court dismantled the Sherman Antitrust Act in the United States V. E.C. Knight Company case due to the lack of success. Then, even later, in 1914, since many people still agreed the Sherman Antitrust Act was essential, they decided to try again and create a modified version. This was known as the Clayton Antitrust Act. This act specifically "defined it as illegal for certain business practices that were conducive to the formation of monopolies or that result from them." It also addressed specific topics that the Sherman Antitrust Act did not ban and closed possible loopholes.

Like most other laws, the Sherman Antitrust Act has pros and cons. Some of the pros of this act were it allowed its consumers or citizens to feel as if they were protected in the economy. This is because before this act was passed in 1890, many consumers struggled with unfair pricing, unsafe work environments, and a lack of available jobs. The antitrust act supporters believed this law was necessary because to have a thriving open marketplace, you need protection from the Sherman Antitrust Act and protection against monopolies. Many even believe you must have healthy competition to have a healthy economy. This is because it gives the possible consumers the option for lower priced products, higher priced and higher quality services, a wide variety of selections, and the opportunity for higher levels of innovation,

On the contrary, some believe that the opportunity for competition within businesses allows the consumer to get the best deal or price rather than regulating the competition. Some critics also pointed out, like I stated before, its lack of specificity with certain words made it unclear on both the goal and the purpose of the act. Another adverse effect that came about because of the clause was narrow judicial interpretations regarding what could be considered trade or commerce within the states.

There are also possible penalties for violating the Sherman Antitrust Act. Although these cases would be considered civil cases, the Department of Justice would prosecute people who violated this act. Things. For example, anyone who monopolizes tries to monopolize, or even conspires with another person can be found guilty of a felony. This felony will consist of a fine between 1 million dollars and 100 million dollars or the possibility of being imprisoned for up to 10 years.

Media consolidation is not only linked to the Sherman Antitrust Act, but it is also related to it. Media consolidation, simply defined, is the concentration of ownership of our news sources into the hands of fewer corporations. The goal of the common cause is to help stop the spread of media monopolization by pressing for possible innovative reforms. The goal of these would be to put the people first and second to help ensure more diverse voices and perspectives in our society.

Media consolidation continues to happen frantically fast, causing a horrific impact on our local news sources. The purpose of the media is not only to keep its citizens informed but also to show its citizens essential issues going on around the world, such as healthcare, economic justice, immigration, and politics. This is why it is essential to have a diverse array of opinions and voices in our news and our everyday conversations. This becomes more difficult when our traditional media and social media platforms are owned by fewer, if not the same, corporations.

This narrowed the possible perspective and restricted the variety of journalism our democracy depends on. As this continues in our society today, places such as local newsrooms are shielded, and thousands of journalists get fired. Additionally, investigative reporting diminishes, and millions of Americans begin getting left out of the democratic process.