This merger is a threat to democracy

If Penguin Random House gets its way, it will soon own Simon & Schuster—leaving only four major publishers in an industry that once had dozens.¹

In a country built on free press, where Common Sense helped launch the Revolutionary War and The Grapes of Wrath encouraged a New Deal, the idea of just four white CEOs deciding what books reach the shelves is nothing less than alarming.

There’s more than one way to ban a book: Publishing monopolies keep diverse and controversial voices out of the hands of readers. The Justice Department is trying to shut down the Penguin Random House merger, and we need the Federal Trade Commission to get involved as well.

Twenty years ago, there were many publishing companies that competed for shelf space. But then Simon & Schuster was acquired by CBS’s parent company, which also began gobbling up other presses. Random House’s owner began to do the same, merging with Penguin, Houghton Mifflin, and Doubleday.²

As publishing houses grew, the chances for new authors to break through shrank. Giant corporations trying to grow their stock value weren’t willing to take chances on unknown or controversial books, and worse, as competition lessened, they had less incentive to pay living wages to authors.³

Publishing has also become less diverse as the number of houses dwindles. Currently, an unacceptable 76% of people working for publishing companies are white—and just 1 in 10 books published is by a person of color.⁴ Letting just four corporations control the publishing industry will do nothing to improve that number.

The Justice Department’s star witness was blockbuster author Stephen King, who has spoken out strongly against creating the megacorporation—despite being published by Simon & Schuster.⁵ As King says, the fewer publishing companies we have, the fewer books we will have. And fewer books is never good for democracy.

We need the FTC to leverage anti-monopoly laws to shut down this terrible merger. Will you chip in?

Yes, I’ll donate to Demand Progress and help drive anti-monopoly work.

With gratitude for all you do,

Tihi and the team at Demand Progress Action

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Sources:

1. USA Today, "Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster merger trial: Everything that has happened so far," August 7, 2022.

2. Publishers Weekly, "Over the Past 25 Years, the Big Publishers Got Bigger—and Fewer," April 19, 2022.

3. Vulture, "The Biggest Plot Twists in the Simon & Schuster Antitrust Trial," August 10, 2022.

4. The New York Times, "Just How White Is the Book Industry?," December 11, 2020.

5. USA Today, "Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster merger trial: Everything that has happened so far," August 7, 2022.