Media concentration and democracy : why ownership matters / C. Edwin Baker.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Baker, C. Edwin, author.

Series:

Communication, society and politics.

Communication, society and politics

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mass media--Ownership--United States.

Mass media.

Freedom of the press--United States.

Freedom of the press.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiii, 256 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Media Concentration & Democracy

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2007.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Firmly rooting its argument in democratic and economic theory, the book argues that a more democratic distribution of communicative power within the public sphere and a structure that provides safeguards against abuse of media power provide two of three primary arguments for ownership dispersal. It also shows that dispersal is likely to result in more owners who will reasonably pursue socially valuable journalistic or creative objectives rather than a socially dysfunctional focus on the 'bottom line'. The middle chapters answer those agents, including the Federal Communication Commission, who favor 'deregulation' and who argue that existing or foreseeable ownership concentration is not a problem. The final chapter evaluates the constitutionality and desirability of various policy responses to concentration, including strict limits on media mergers.

Contents:

Cover; Half-title; Series-title; Title; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; Preface; Introduction; 1 Democracy at the Crossroads: Why Ownership Matters; 2 Not a Real Problem: Many Owners, Many Sources; 3 Not a Real Problem: The Market or the Internet Will Provide; 4 The First Amendment Guarantee of a Free Press: An Objection to Regulation?; 5 Solutions and Responses; Postscript: Policy Opportunism; Notes; Index

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-107-17100-8

1-280-74946-6

0-511-81099-7

0-511-26091-1

0-511-26148-9

0-511-25971-9

0-511-31984-3

0-511-26036-9

OCLC:

476027026