The future of independent publishing, and particularly independent critical publishing, is at risk. To begin with political economy: book, newspaper, television, radio and film ownership is everywhere concentrated in the hands of a small number of mega-corporations. Many of these, like Rupert Murdoch's multimedia News Corporation, which is accurately self-described as a “Global vertically integrated media company… with properties in film, television, cable, magazines, newspapers,” (link) have vast international profiles. The company, the world's second largest media conglomerate, had $55 billion in declared assets and annual revenues of $32 billion on March 10, 2010 (link). Its claim of “Creating and distributing top-quality news, sports and entertainment around the world,” while undeniable in terms of global reach, is rubbish with respect to quality and slant of news.