TPEOM

This book is the companion volume for my 2007 New Press book, Communication Revolution: Critical Junctures and the Future of Media. In that book I made the argument that communication revolutions occur during critical junctures, and the policies implemented during those critical junctures largely determine the shape of the communication system for generations. I maintained that today we are in the midst of arguably the most important communication revolution in centuries, that we are seeing a dramatic increase in popular participation in media policymaking as a result, and that it is imperative that communication scholars embrace this historical moment in their research and teaching. I laid out an agenda of the sort of research issues that require extensive attention and debate. In this volume I present much of my own research along these lines, with the aim of pushing the debate forward.
       This book brings together what I regard as the best elements of much of my research in the political economy of media over the past two decades. It is not meant to be representative. Several essays on the state of media studies have not been included, because they do not fall in the parameters of the volume. The chapters are divided into three main sections: 1) research specifically addressing journalism; 2) critical studies in the political economic tradition; and 3) essays on politics and the burgeoning media reform movement.
       This book includes an introduction and twenty-three chapters, most of which were published as articles in journals or as book chapters in anthologies. Some of the articles are based on research that would eventually be used in subsequent books I wrote, though generally in versions different from what appears herein. Most of the selections have never been seen in book form in any manner and I suspect are largely unknown. Three of the chapters were written specifically for this volume, and one of the chapters was a memo that had been commissioned but had never before been shared with the public. Other chapters appeared in such obscure journals or anthologies that they are all but unknown even to my closest friends and colleagues. Hence a good half of the book is in effect original.
      Many of the remaining pieces were first published in Monthly Review, the non-obscure socialist journal founded by Paul Sweezy and Leo Huberman in 1949. I had the honor of serving as co-editor of Monthly Review with Sweezy, Harry Magdoff, and John Bellamy Foster from 2000 to 2004, though I began writing for Monthly Review in 1989.
      In notes for each chapter I indicate where the piece was originally published. Several of the pieces were co-authored and I indicate the name of the various co-authors at the end of the chapter, too. These collaborators include John Nichols, Ben Scott, John Bellamy Foster, Harry Magdoff, Paul Sweezy, and Dan Schiller. I thank each of them for allowing me to use our collaborative work in this book.
      At the beginning of each of the three sections I provide a short overview of the pieces in the section, and describe the context in which they were originally written.
      A few of these chapters date from the 1980s, and the balance are split between the 1990s and the 2000s. Some were meant for academic readers and others for a more popular audience. My editor, Brett Clark, and I have edited the chapters for consistency and to update points where appropriate, but otherwise the pieces appear exactly as first published. The greatest amount of work Brett did was to edit out as much repetition as possible, because I tend to return to a number of familiar themes in my articles. There still is probably a bit more repetition than one would find in a monograph. My assumption is that whereas some readers may devour the book from beginning to end—and, by the way, I love you—many readers will be as likely to read only a handful of chapters, or read the chapters out of order, so I cannot assume they will know the context provided in earlier chapters.
      Regarding acknowledgments, I am in a bit of a pickle. Nearly all of the chapters herein received critical readings, advice, and assistance from many scholars over the past quarter-century. In total, I suspect, the number approaches well over one hundred people. I rely to a large extent upon the criticism of my friends and colleagues to tighten and improve my work. Those dear friends and colleagues have been thanked when those pieces first appeared, or in books where the research would appear in different forms. Because it is impossible for me to recall everyone who helped on any of the chapters in this book, I will not attempt to list names for fear I might leave many deserving people off the list. I will simply make a blanket thank you to the community of scholars and activists who have educated me.
      Five people deserve mention specifically for this book. Barbara Wilson, my boss at the University of Illinois, jumps through hoops to make it possible for scholars to have the time and resources to do their work. There is no better university in the United States to do critical communication research. John Nichols, my frequent co-author and political co-conspirator, always has my back and cares about my well-being like a brother. Most of the essays on journalism have an analysis distilled from long conversations between us. John Bellamy Foster, my dear friend and comrade now for thirty-five years, has supported this project from the beginning. Now that it is done we can dive into our long-overdue book on communication and monopoly capital. Brett Clark, a gifted young sociologist at North Carolina State University, took time from his busy schedule to give the entire manuscript a hard editing, the equal of any I have experienced in my career. Without him, this book would not exist. Inger Stole, whose research on advertising, public relations, and the consumer movement has opened up new worlds to me, provided constant feedback on the ideas herein, and helped me sharpen my focus on point after point. I suspect she is unaware of how much I depend upon her.
       I dedicate this book to Ed Herman, Noam Chomsky, Ben Bagdikian, and the late Herb Schiller. They are not merely brilliant scholars, they are great people. They opened their arms to me when I was just getting started, and their insights, collegiality, guidance, warmth, and occasional criticism provided the cornerstones upon which most of the essays in this book were written.