Robert W. McChesney: Rich Media, Poor Democracy: Communication Politics In Dubious Times

Many decry the decline of democratic ideals, but good media watchdogs are a dying breed. Perhaps that's because the former can be distilled down to subjective opinion (as it is in the hands of political candidates), while the latter calls for empirical evidence and research: in other words, hard work. Even then, few media watchdogs are as effective as Robert W. McChesney. His Rich Media, Poor Democracy is a radical yet rational treatise on how the media have been corrupted by corporate interests, and how the diametrical shift of art and information—from elements of free expression and public service to capitalist self-interest—has affected every American. The book is essentially a well-informed and academic yet readable diatribe against the dangers of mass-media mergers. McChesney writes about how companies once satisfied with limited, specific markets now actively pursue not only broad, horizontal expansion (companies that own film studios, television networks, Internet systems, newspapers, magazines, and sports teams), but vertical expansion (the control of production from creation to distribution) as well. What this means is that the international media are increasingly controlled and influenced by the power of a tiny corporate elite that's usually more interested in the bottom line than in notions of free speech and balanced politics. Thanks to corporation-friendly laws, fewer and fewer companies are determining what we read, watch, and see, which McChesney rightly notes is detrimental to the democratic process. What corporate behemoth is going to allow a story to run revealing the malicious behind-the-scenes machinations of itself, or an exposé on a politician whose positions favor the company? McChesney also writes that the government's hands-off Internet policy has actually led to the gradual elimination of competition, as big fish swallow up all the smaller fish. Coming as it does in the midst of heated WTO protests and constant announcements of huge media mergers, Rich Media, Poor Democracy provides further incentive to try and undo the damage that's already been done.