A dividend is merely a distribution of profits from a company to its shareholders, paid in cash or additional stock. It is a way for companies to reward their investors during profitable quarters, which in turn attracts more investors. Dividends demonstrate a firm’s confidence in their performance and are, of course, welcomed by investors. Though they may appear benign, any profits paid out in dividends are not reinvested by the company into productive means. In the case of media companies, that means profits that could have been reinvested in creators, performers, and other laborers in the form of wages or new hires; instead, they are distributed to investors who, as we’ve just seen, are disproportionately already wealthy.

Andrew deWaard, Derivative Media, loc. 111