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

Robert D. McChesney

NYU Press, Mar 1, 2004 - Psychology - 352 pages

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.

Contents

• PREFACE: 7
• 1 POLITICAL PROBLEM POLITICAL SOLUTIONS: 16
• CORPORATE CONTROL AND PROFESSIONALISM: 57
• RIGHTWING CRITICISM AND POLITICAL COVERAGE: 98
• 4 THE AGE OF HYPERCOMMERCIALISM: 138
• 5 THE MARKET ÜBER ALLES: 175
• 6 MEDIA POLICIES AND MEDIA REFORM: 210
• 7 THE UPRISING OF 2003: 252
• The Hardest Battle Has Been Won: 295
• NOTES: 298
• INDEX: 352

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.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Problem of the Media: U.S. Communication Politics in the Twenty-First Century
• Author: Robert D. McChesney
• Publisher: NYU Press, 2004
• ISBN: 1583673768, 9781583673768
• Length: 352 pages
• Subjects: Law / Media & the Law; Psychology / Psychopathology / Depression