America's Battle for Media Democracy: The Triumph of Corporate Libertarianism and the Future of Media Reform (Communication, Society and Politics)

How Did The American Media System Become What It Is Today? Why Do American Media Have So Few Public Interest Regulations Compared With Other Democratic Nations? How Did The System Become Dominated By A Few Corporations, And Why Are Structural Problems Like Market Failures Routinely Avoided In Media Policy Discourse? By Tracing The Answers To Many Of These Questions Back To Media Policy Battles In The 1940s, This Book Explains How This Happened And Why It Matters Today. Drawing From Extensive Archival Research, The Book Uncovers The American Media System’s Historical Roots And Normative Foundations. It Charts The Rise And Fall Of A Forgotten Media Reform Movement To Recover Alternatives And Paths Not Taken. As Much About The Present And Future As It Is About The Past, The Book Proposes Policies For Remaking Media Based On Democratic Values For The Digital Age. Provides A Political, Intellectual And Social History Of Postwar American News Media; Sketches The Rise And Fall Of A Social Democratic Vision Of The American Press; Uncovers The Historical Context Of The Deregulatory Drift In American Media Policy; Traces The Policy Roots Of The American Media Paradigm.--publisher Website. Introduction : The Policy Origins And Normative Foundations Of American Media -- The Revolt Against Radio -- A Progressive Turn At The Fcc -- The Battle Of The Blue Book -- The Origins Of The Fairness Doctrine -- The 1940s Newspaper Crisis And The Birth Of The Hutchins Commission -- Should The Giants Be Slain Or Persuaded To Be Good? -- The Postwar Settlement For American Media -- Conclusion : Confronting Market Failure. Victor Pickard, University Of Pennsylvania. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 233-234) And Index. Cover Half-title Series information Title page Copyright information Table of contents Acknowledgments Introduction 1 The Revolt against Radio The Political Economy of 1940s American Radio Radio’s Reckoning Media Reform Rises The Anatomy of 1940s Radio Criticism Critical Books and Novels From Criticism to Activism Ferment for Media Reform 2 A Progressive Turn at the FCC Chairman Fly: Anti-monopolist Crusader Clifford Durr Bolsters FCC Progressivism Investigating Newspaper-Owned Radio The Report on Chain Broadcasting Nationalize the Airwaves? Combating Right-Wing Attacks Gearing Up for the Battle Royale 3 The Battle of the Blue Book The Forgotten History of the Blue Book Promise versus Performance The Blue Book’s Requirements Reactions to the Blue Book Broadcasters’ Counterattack Broadcasters’ Arguments An Embattled Durr The Blue Book’s First Test The Battle for the Public The Final Confrontations of 1947 The Battle in Congress and the Courts The Blue Book’s Defeat The Blue Book’s Legacy 4 The Origins of the Fairness Doctrine A Gathering Storm The Final Days of Durr the Dissenter The Battle over the Mayflower Doctrine A Move toward Fairness The Public Awakens Statements Public Hearing Testimonies The Mayflower Gives Way to the Fairness Doctrine The Political Aftermath The Legacy of the Fairness Doctrine 5 The 1940s Newspaper Crisis and the Birth of the Hutchins Commission FDR and the Press Anatomy of 1940s Press Criticism and Activism The Governmental Assault against the Press The Associated Press Decisions Congressional Investigations The Birth of the Hutchins Commission The Commissioners 6 Should the Giants Be Slain or Persuaded to Be Good? The Hutchins Commission’s Intellectual Arsenal The Commission’s Focus The Interviews Alternative Models Laissez-Faire versus Regulation The First Amendment Protections of the Press Compromises and Recommendations Public Reactions to the Report The Giants Strike Back Hutchins Preaches Social Responsibility to the Press The Hutchins Commission’s Legacy 7 The Postwar Settlement for American Media The Rise and Fall of a Social Democratic Vision of Media The Common Sense of Self-Regulation The Press Finds Social Responsibility The Triumph of the Negative First Amendment Other 1940s Media Policies and Subsequent Trajectories Decline of the 1940s Media Reform Movement Media Policy after the 1940s Toward a New Policy Paradigm Conclusion Public Goods Market Failure Confronting Policy Failure Return of the Nervous Liberals Policy Reforms for Digital Media Taking the Profit out of News Beyond Corporate Libertarianism Media Reform Deferred Bibliography of Primary Sources Manuscript Collections Newspapers, Periodicals, and Trade Publications Index Drawing from extensive archival research, this book uncovers the American media system's historical roots and normative foundations. It charts the rise and fall of a forgotten media reform movement to recover alternatives and paths not taken.