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The creation of the media : political origins of modern communications / Paul Starr.

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Van Pelt Library P92.U5 S646 2004
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Annenberg Library - Reference P92.U5 S646 2004
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Format:
Book
Author/Creator:
Starr, Paul, 1949-
Language:
English
Subjects (All):
Mass media--United States--History.
Mass media.
Mass media--Political aspects.
History.
United States.
Mass media--Political aspects--United States--History.
United States--Politics and government.
Politics and government.
Physical Description:
xii, 484 pages ; 25 cm
Place of Publication:
New York : Basic Books, [2004]
Summary:
In this wide-ranging social history of American media, from the first printing press to the early days of radio, Starr shows that the creation of modern communications was as much the result of political choices as of technological invention.
Contents:
Introduction: The Political Origins of Modern Communications 1
Revolutions as Constitutive Moments 4
Communications and Power 7
The Path of American Development 12
Part I The Opening of the Public Sphere, 1600-1860
Chapter 1 Early Modern Origins 23
The Diffusion and Control of Print 25
Networks and News 30
England's Opening 33
France and the Transnational Public 41
The De Facto Public Sphere 45
Chapter 2 New Foundations 47
Colonial Legacies 49
The Revolution and the Public Sphere 62
Constitutional Choices 71
Why Rights Mattered 77
Chapter 3 America's First Information Revolution 83
The Creation of the News Network 84
Privacy and Public Knowledge 94
The Democratization of Competence 99
An American Revolution in Communications 107
Chapter 4 Capitalism and Democracy in Print 113
Publishing and the Limits of Copyright 115
The Revolution of Cheap Print 123
New Publics, New Markets 130
Center and Periphery in Antebellum America 139
The Consequences of Political Choice 146
Part II The Rise of Technological Networks, 1840-1930
Chapter 5 The First Wire 153
A Path for the Telegraph 155
Monopoly on the Wires 165
Wiring the News 177
Chapter 6 New Connections: Telephone, Cable, and Wireless 191
A Path for the Telephone 192
The Technology of Civil Society 200
Hello, Regulation 205
Wires, Waves, and Lines of Innovation 212
Communications and Strategic Advantage 222
Part III The Making of the Modern Media, 1865-1941
Chapter 7 Great Transformations: The Early Mass Media and the Diversity Dynamic 233
The Rise of Moral Censorship 235
Diversity and Daily Journalism 250
Politics, Markets, and Magazines 260
The Local and Oppositional Press 262
Chapter 8 The Rediscovery of the First Amendment 267
Free Speech Becomes a Cause 268
War as a Generative Crisis 274
The Liberal Turn of the Twenties 286
Chapter 9 The Framing of the Movies 295
The Path to the Nickelodeon 296
Censorship and Diversity on the Screen 305
The Consolidation of Control 315
Chapter 10 The Constitution of the Air (1): The Origins of Broadcasting 327
Clashes in the Ether 330
Divergent Paths 339
Chapter 11 The Constitution of the Air (2): Creating the New Public Sphere 347
New Networks, New Powers 348
Censorship and Diversity on the Dial 363
Politics and the New Public Sphere 370
Networks and News 376
Chapter 12 Coda: The Advent of the Media 385
The Sources of Media Power 388
The Media and Democracy 395.
Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 403-470) and index.
ISBN:
0465081932
OCLC:
53215713

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