The Problem of the Media: U.S. Communication Politics in the Twenty-First Century

by Robert D. McChesney

Overview

The symptoms of the crisis of the U.S. media are well-known—a decline in hard news, the growth of info-tainment and advertorials, staff cuts and concentration of ownership, increasing conformity of viewpoint and suppression of genuine debate. McChesney's new book, The Problem of the Media, gets to the roots of this crisis, explains it, and points a way forward for the growing media reform movement.
Moving consistently from critique to action, the book explores the political economy of the media, illuminating its major flashpoints and controversies by locating them in the political economy of U.S. capitalism. It deals with issues such as the declining quality of journalism, the question of bias, the weakness of the public broadcasting sector, and the limits and possibilities of antitrust legislation in regulating the media. It points out the ways in which the existing media system has become a threat to democracy, and shows how it could be made to serve the interests of the majority.
McChesney's Rich Media, Poor Democracy was hailed as a pioneering analysis of the way in which media had come to serve the interests of corporate profit rather than public enlightenment and debate. Bill Moyers commented, "If Thomas Paine were around, he would have written this book." The Problem of the Media is certain to be a landmark in media studies, a vital resource for media activism, and essential reading for concerned scholars and citizens everywhere.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781583673768
Publisher:	Monthly Review Press
Publication date:	03/01/2004
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Robert W. McChesney is professor of communication at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, author of Rich Media, Poor Democracy and Our Media, Not Theirs, and co-editor of Monthly Review.

Table of Contents

	Preface	7
1.	Political Problem, Political Solutions	16
	Media, Markets, and Policies	18
	U.S. Media System Not "Naturally" Profit Driven	25
	Subsidizing the Press	33
	The Rise of Broadcasting	38
	The Neoliberal Period	48
2.	Understanding U.S. Journalism I: Corporate Control and Professionalism	57
	Journalism's Great Crisis	58
	Rise of Professional Journalism	64
	Limitations of Professional Journalism	67
	The Commercialization of Journalism	77
	Covering the Corporate Scandal	89
3.	Understanding U.S. Journalism II: Right-Wing Criticism and Political Coverage	98
	Conservative Critique of the "Liberal Media"	99
	Right-Wing Political Campaign against the Media	111
	Partisan Coverage in Peace and War	118
	Journalism's Litmus Test: Election Coverage	123
	Missing the Story--From DC to Florida	132
4.	The Age of Hyper-Commercialism	138
	Rise of Advertising	139
	Hyper-Commercialism and Media	145
	The Crumbling Wall	153
	Hyper-Commercialism's New Frontiers	158
	Advertising and Policy	168
5.	The Market Uber Alles	175
	Is the Media System a Competitive Market?	176
	Conglomeration and Synergy	183
	Is the Market Appropriate to Regulate Media?	189
	Creativity versus Commerce in the Conglomerate Era	192
	So Do Commercial Media Give People What They Want?	198
	The Case for the Status Quo	205
6.	Media Policies and Media Reform	210
	Technology and the Internet	211
	Policy Making in the Internet Era	217
	Media Ownership Policies	224
	Media and Antitrust Law	235
	Public Broadcasting, Yesterday and Today	240
	Invigorating Public Media	248
7.	The Uprising of 2003	252
	Media Reform Movement Comes to Life	255
	Powell and Copps Take the Stage	259
	Beltway Opposition Stiffens	264
	Powell's Three Arguments	268
	Opposition Grows Beyond the Beltway	273
	Left and Right Unite	279
	From FCC to Congress	283
	Trench Warfare	288
	Epilogue: The Hardest Battle Has Been Won	295
	Notes	298
	Index	353

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Robert McChesney's work has been of extraordinary importance. . . . It should be read with care and concern by people who care about freedom and basic rights.-Noam Chomsky,

Robert McChesney is one of the nation's most important analysts of the media.-Howard Zinn

Editorial Reviews

"Robert McChesney's work has been of extraordinary importance. . . . It should be read with care and concern by people who care about freedom and basic rights."

Noam Chomsky

Robert McChesney's work has been of extraordinary importance. . . . It should be read with care and concern by people who care about freedom and basic rights.-Noam Chomsky

From the Publisher