Book Description
"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"No book on the media has proved as influential to our understanding of the dangers of corporate consolidation to democracy and the marketplace of ideas; this new edition builds on those works and surpasses them." —Eric Alterman, author of What Liberal Media?Praise for the First Edition of The Media Monopoly:"A groundbreaking work that charts a historical shift in the orientation of the majority of America"s communications media—further away from the needs of the individual and closer to those of big business." —Bruce Manuel, Christian Science MonitorWhen 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.
The New Media Monopoly FROM THE PUBLISHER
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.
SYNOPSIS
Updating and revising his classic text of media criticism, Bagdikian (dean emeritus, Graduate School of Journalism, U. of California at Berkeley) continue to expose how the concentration of U.S. media into fewer and fewer hands, now just a handful of powerful corporations, has narrowed the political discourse of the country and served as a crucial instrument in shifting the political culture towards what just a few decades ago would have been considered the extreme right. He describes how this concentration has happened with the aid of government and explores its pernicious effects on the marketplace of ideas. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
FROM THE CRITICS
Library Journal
In the two decades since the initial publication of The Media Monopoly, media ownership worldwide has become concentrated in increasingly fewer and larger corporations. The number of media conglomerates has dwindled from 50 in 1983 to just five today. Bagdikian (journalism, dean emeritus, Berkeley) thus set out to completely revise his best-known work and has written seven new chapters. The Internet, relegated to the preface in the sixth edition (2000), now gets a whole chapter, although the author's grasp of some key concepts is a bit shaky (Napster, he explains, "provided a large collection" of music). Unfortunately, the five chapters retained from earlier editions still rely on decades-old research, and there have been few substantive changes to the text. This lack of careful revision has resulted in some glaring anachronisms For instance, Bagdikian writes that Time magazine has been a steady supporter of the policies of Henry Kissinger. Despite its flaws, this new edition offers a thorough and in some respects up-to-date examination of a crucial topic. For lack of an alternative, it is recommended for public libraries.-Susan M. Colowick, Timberland Regional Lib., Tumwater, WA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
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