Rich Media, Poor Democracy: Communication Politics in Dubious Times

by Robert W. McChesney

Winner of Harvard's Goldsmith Book Prize as well as the Kappa Tau Alpha Research Award, Rich Media, Poor Democracy destroys the assumption that a society drenched in commercial information "choices" is a democratic one. Robert McChesney, whom Marc Crispin Miller calls "the greatest of our media historians," maintains that the major beneficiaries of the so-called Information Age are no more than a handful of enormous corporations, and that this concentrated corporate control is disastrous for any notion of participatory democracy. In a book that Noam Chomsky hails as a "rich, penetrating study," McChesney combines historical sweep and unprecedented detail on current events as he chronicles the recent waves of media mergers and acquisitions, as well as the corrupt and secretive enactment of public policies surrounding the Internet, digital television, and public broadcasting. He also addresses the gradual and ominous adaptation of the First Amendment as a means of shielding corporate media power, and debunks the myth that the market compels media firms to "give the people what they want."

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Journalism, Sociology, History, Economics, Communication

464 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Robert Waterman McChesney was an American professor notable in the history and political economy of communications, and the role media play in democratic and capitalist societies. He was the Gutgsell Endowed Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. He co-founded the Free Press, a national media reform organization. From 2002 to 2012, he hosted Media Matters, a weekly radio program every Sunday afternoon on WILL (AM), Illinois Public Media radio.

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the first books i ever read that was critical of a large section of America's social and economic make up. It was also published months before GW and co. started running wild over the constitution, other countries etc. This is an important notion i think since most books critical of gov. policy these days are really just polemics and reading them feels like having someone angrily shouting into one's ear.

Anyhoo. A must read for anyone interested in media and its relationship to business and society. It's also one of those tipping point books that turn a person from a vaguely liberal post-collegiate into a raving pinko commy. Cheers! ;-)

[Ayeesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

a must read.

it outlines and gives solid evidence to the many, many reasons we should all be perpetually worried about the state of our media.

i'm especially drawn to the history of the media - during the late 20's and early 30's when media laws (namely radio) were being debated between communities/educational institutions and adversiting/commercial (eg dept stores)/media companies - you guess who won.

it's completely fascinating and quite directly affected and, to some extent, shaped the next 75 years of media issues.

i'm a media studies major, so it's a really good thing that i'm interested in this stuff, but if you can pick up this book and read a chapter, or read some of his essays, i'd highly recommend it.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the 'textbook' for a class I took called Politics in Mass Media. COMPLETELY opened my eyes to conglomeration and the truth of how the entertainment industry has bias and the history of politics in media.

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

Somehow the media isn't obedient enough to the likes of McChesney. And here's the exploration of how McChesney could get more power, and hopefully more of your tax money as well. For your own good, of course.

[Alan Hughes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a rather hefty and dry tome. It is well referenced but now a degree out of date. Some of the predictions have not weathered the test of time well, though the main point of the concentration of power is well made. The main thrust is that our system is driven by oligopolies, closer to monopolies than to the free market, and this reads as a lefty wing critique of crony capitalism. Useful if you are preparing a paper for a media studies course but, even though his warning is valid, unlikely to be enjoyed as a casual read.

[J. Dunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book to read if you want to know about how and why corporate media consolidation happened, and what deleterious effects this process has had on democracy and public discourse here and abroad. This is solid left-centrist scholarship with no radical Chomsky-esque tendendtiousness or axes to grind.

[sologdin · Rating 2 out of 5]

a standard of lefty critique of journalism, up there with bagdikian's The Media Monopoly and Chomsky's Manufacturing Consent.

[Lenore · Rating 4 out of 5]

mc chesney is ubiquitous! i have my undergrads read excerpts of this, and then they see him in both Outfoxed and Merchants of Cool. Smart and sometimes snarky, McChesney is an important read if you're doing media studies.

[Margot · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book rocked my limited world view. It taught me to challenge what I read and to always be critical and analytical of what the media throws out there. Seriously good stuff.

[Ron Christiansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read it in Tom Huckin's Discourse Analysis course--a great course, a solid book.

[Jack B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant. And as relevant in 2014 as when it was published.