Advertiser Influence on the Media: Censorship and the Media In North America there are 11,000 magazines, 11,000 radio stations, 2,500 book publishers, 2,000 television stations, 1,700 daily newspapers, and seven major movie studios . Such a large number of media outlets should foster free expression without the influence from outsiders. However, 23 corporations control over 50 percent of the business in each medium . In some cases they have a virtual monopoly . Of the 1,700 daily papers, 98 percent are local monopolies and fewer than 15 corporations control most of the country's daily circulation . A handful of firms have most of the magazine busin