CNN chief Jeff Zucker wants regulators to probe Google, Facebook monopolies

CNN Worldwide president Jeff Zucker wants US regulators to probe Facebook and Google to determine if the two companies have a duopoly or a monopoly on revenue from digital content.

''The fact is nobody for some reason is looking at the monopolies that are Google and Facebook, and that's where the government should be looking and helping to make sure that everyone else survives,'' Zucker told an audience at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona yesterday. ''I think that's probably the biggest issue facing the seriousness and growth of journalism in the years ahead.''

Zucker's remarks came in response to a question he was asked about the recent bundling of media companies with larger telcos and TV networks.

The CNN chief is not the only high-profile media executive to express displeasure with Facebook and Google. 21st Century Fox executive chairman Rupert Murdoch recently suggested the two companies pay a carriage fee similar to the model adopted by cable companies.

''I think we need help for the advertising world and technology world to monetize digital content,'' Zucker continued. ''Otherwise, good journalism will go away, and that will be bad for the United States, and that will be bad for those that are trying to tell the world about what is happening in Syria today. We need good journalism, and we need to support that.''

''Everyone is looking at whether these combinations of AT&T and Time Warner or Fox and Disney pass government approval and muster," Zucker said in his keynote address at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

"The fact is nobody, for some reason, is looking at these monopolies that are Google and Facebook,'' Zucker reiterated. ''That's where the government should be looking, and helping to make sure everyone else survives. I think that's probably the biggest issue facing the growth of journalism in the years ahead.''