The Contribution of Audience Centrality to the Diversity Principle: The Validity of the Marketplace of Ideas.

Diversity is a central policy goal in the public interest, pertaining to democracy. The marketplace of ideas is one of the most prominent metaphors, adopted for the First Amendment, which has largely guided the diversity principle, applied to communications policy in the U.S. With an increased attention to the democratic values of diversity, scholars have suggested audience centrality for the contribution to the diversity principle. This paper interrogates the diversity principle in the context of the marketplace of ideas, and assesses audience diversity in relation to outlet and content viewership in the U.S. commercial television market. The finding indicates that increased access available for audiences did not necessarily lead to audience diversity due to limited viewership, within which their demands for program is homogenized and unbalanced. Based on the analysis, this study suggests the need of utilizing audience diversity in various markets for the continued validity of the marketplace of ideas, applied to the promotion of diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]