Jeff Chester makes a good point about the post-Imus discussion over diversity of ownership in media, namely that we ought to be concerned about the online media as well:

If we are to ensure that the new media landscape in the U.S. doesn’t repeat the same market models and homogeneous control we have with broadcasting, cable, and satellite, action is required—now. Powerful media behaviors are being developed that connect young people to the “always-on, always connected” online world. We must make sure that the public interest—especially diversity of ownership—is a fundamental part of this system.

This question of ownership, however, may miss the mark. The internet by nature is open to anyone, and most of the content online is user-generated. If Chester's other efforts to oppose an inequitable internet infrastructure succeed, this shouldn't change. But user-generated content is only as "diverse" (some of the worst English usage in the progressive movement) as the users are.

And users in the United States are disproportionately likely to be white. Seventy-two percent of white adults use the internet, versus 58 percent of black adults, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project. (Pew has a category for English-speaking Hispanics, of whom 69 percent use the internet, but there is no figure for Hispanics over all or other groups.) It's not exactly a new idea, but this is the digital divide. Chester's focus on ownership is a useful point, but the user base is the root of the problem.