27th Annual Policy Conference – Competition Policy, Journalism, and “the Promotion of Truth Regarding Public Matters”

Welcome and Overview

Randy Stutz, President, American Antitrust Institute

Panel 1: An Insider’s Perspective on the Competitive Forces Shaping Journalism

Journalists have unique insights into how market dynamics affect their industry. This panel will examine these insights through first-hand accounts from leaders in the field and analysis from academic experts who study it. Panelists will share their observations on a variety of subjects, including the appropriate goals of journalism and antitrust; current obstacles to achieving those goals; how competitive forces currently shape reporting across new and old media; and the challenges of covering antitrust and economic policy during the current and prior presidential administrations.

Moderator:
David O. Fisher, Senior Counsel, American Antitrust Institute

Panelists:
Franklin Foer, National Correspondent, The Atlantic
Lisa M. George, Associate Professor, Hunter College
Leah Nylen, Antitrust Reporter, Bloomberg News
Matt Pearce, Director of Policy, Rebuild Local News

Panel 2:  Legacy Media, Consolidation, and the News

Although digital platforms have surpassed newspapers and television as the predominant mechanism by which many consume news in the United States, millions of Americans continue to rely heavily on legacy media that operate in highly concentrated markets. This panel will examine competition and consolidation in legacy media markets and its implications for news reporting. Topics will include recent merger activity, including the Tegna/Nexstar and Paramount/Warner Brothers mergers; competitive effects analysis in legacy media markets, including whether readers treat digital platforms (particularly social media) as substitutes; practical challenges facing litigants and enforcers; and the industry’s complex regulatory dynamics.

Moderator:
Kathleen Bradish,  Vice President & Director of Legal Advocacy, American Antitrust Institute

Panelists:
Emily Curran, Deputy Attorney General, California Department of Justice
Gene Kimmelman, Senior Fellow, Yale University Tobin Economic Policy Center and Harvard Kennedy School Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government
Amanda Lewis, Partner, Cuneo Gilbert Flannery & LaDuca
Phil Napoli, Director, DeWitt Wallace Center for Media & Democracy, Duke University Sanford School of Public Policy

Networking Break

Luncheon and Award Presentations

Jerry S. Cohen Award for Antitrust Scholarship

Alfred E. Kahn Award for Antitrust Achievement

Break

Panel 3:  Antitrust, Regulation, and Viewpoint Diversity in the News

Historically, the federal government has been reluctant to intervene in the editorial judgments of news organizations based on concerns about infringing First Amendment rights. Recent Biden and Trump Administration actions, however, have made viewpoint diversity a focal point of antitrust enforcement and regulatory action. This panel will consider viewpoint diversity through a competition lens. Topics will include whether firms meaningfully compete on this dimension; its place within modern antitrust frameworks, including whether antitrust law has a significant role in ensuring viewpoint competition; its relationship to First Amendment principles; and the coherence of recent federal and state actions and advocacy, including in the Omnicom/Interpublic antitrust settlement, the Paramount/Skydance regulatory proceeding, Children’s Health Defense v. Washington Post et al., Media Matters v. FTC, and more.

Moderator:
Mark Hegedus, General Counsel, American Antitrust Institute

Panelists:
David Lawrence, Former Antitrust Division Policy Director, U.S. Department of Justice
Madhavi Singh, Deputy Director, Thurman Arnold Project, Yale University
Gigi Sohn, Executive Director, American Association of Public Broadband; Senior Fellow and Public Advocate, Benton Institute for Broadband & Society; Distinguished Fellow, Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy
Maurice Stucke, Lindsay Young Distinguished Professor of Law, University of Tennessee Winston College of Law