When the first edition of The Media Monopoly was published in 1983, critics called Ben Bagdikian's warnings about the chilling effects of corporate ownership and mass advertising on the nation's news "alarmist." Since then, the number of corporations controlling most of America's daily newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations, book publishers, and movie companies has dwindled from fifty to ten to five. The most respected critique of modern mass media ever issued is now published in a completely updated and revised twentieth anniversary edition.
'Ben Bagdikian has written the first great media book of the twenty-first century. The New Media Monopoly will provide a roadmap to understanding how we got here and where we need to go to make matters better.' -Robert McChesney, author of Rich Media, Poor Democracy
Author(s): Ben H. Bagdikian
Publisher: Beacon Press
Year: 2004
Language: English
Pages: 299
City: Boston
Foreword ix
Preface to the First Edition xv
CHAPTER ONE: Common Media for an Uncommon Nation l
CHAPTER TWO: The Big Five 27
CHAPTER THREE: The Internet 55
CHAPTER FOUR: (Not) All the News That's Fit to Print 74
CHAPTER FIVE: All the News That Fits? 91
CHAPTER SIX: Paper in the Digital Age 114
CHAPTER SEVEN: Rebellion and Remedies 131
CHAPTER EIGHT: "Won't They Ever Learn?" 153
CHAPTER NINE: From Mythology to Theology 177
CHAPTER TEN: "Dear Mr. President... " 204
CHAPTER ELEVEN: Only the Afiluent Need Apply 218
CHAPTER TWELVE: Dr. Brandreth Has Gone to Harvard 233
Afterword: Paradise Lost or Paradise Regained? Social Justice in Democracy 257
Notes 266
Acknowledgments 283
Index 285
