The New Media Monopoly : A Completely Revised and Updated Edition with Seven New Chapters

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 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 Bagdikian offers a survey of the media industry, highlighting issues such as the cost of advertising and the dumbing down of important social issues. It details the trend towards fewer and fewer corporations owning a majority of newspapers, television stations, book publishers and motion picture companies