Read Anywhere and on Any Device!

Subscribe to Read | $0.00

Join today and start reading your favorite books for Free!

Create Free Account

Fighting for Air: The Battle to Control America's Media

Eric Klinenberg

3.8/5 ( ratings)

A groundbreaking investigative work by a critically acclaimed sociologist on the corporate takeover of local news and what it means for all Americans

For the residents of Minot, North Dakota, Clear Channel Communications is synonymous with disaster. Early in the morning of January 18, 2002, a train derailment sent a cloud of poisonous gas drifting toward the small town. Minot's fire and rescue departments attempted to reach Clear Channel, which owned and operated all six local commercial radio stations, to warn residents of the approaching threat. But in the age of canned programming and virtual DJs, there was no one in the conglomerate's studio to take the call. The people of Minot were taken unawares. The result: one death and more than a thousand injuries.

Opening with the story of the Minot tragedy, Eric Klinenberg's Fighting for Air takes us into the world of preprogrammed radio shows, empty television news stations, and copycat newspapers to show how corporate ownership and control of local media has remade American political and cultural life. Klinenberg argues that the demise of truly local media stems from the federal government's malign neglect, as the agencies charged with ensuring diversity and open competition have ceded control to the very conglomerates that consistently undermine these values and goals.

Such "big media" may not be here to stay, however. Fighting for Air delivers a call to action, revealing a rising generation of new media activists and citizen journalists--a coalition of liberals and conservatives--who are demanding and even creating the local coverage they need and deserve.

Language: English

Pages: 352

Format: Hardcover

Publisher: Metropolitan Books

Release: January 09, 2007

ISBN: 0805078193

ISBN 13: 9780805078190

Fighting for Air: The Battle to Control America's Media

Eric Klinenberg

3.8/5 ( ratings)

A groundbreaking investigative work by a critically acclaimed sociologist on the corporate takeover of local news and what it means for all Americans

For the residents of Minot, North Dakota, Clear Channel Communications is synonymous with disaster. Early in the morning of January 18, 2002, a train derailment sent a cloud of poisonous gas drifting toward the small town. Minot's fire and rescue departments attempted to reach Clear Channel, which owned and operated all six local commercial radio stations, to warn residents of the approaching threat. But in the age of canned programming and virtual DJs, there was no one in the conglomerate's studio to take the call. The people of Minot were taken unawares. The result: one death and more than a thousand injuries.

Opening with the story of the Minot tragedy, Eric Klinenberg's Fighting for Air takes us into the world of preprogrammed radio shows, empty television news stations, and copycat newspapers to show how corporate ownership and control of local media has remade American political and cultural life. Klinenberg argues that the demise of truly local media stems from the federal government's malign neglect, as the agencies charged with ensuring diversity and open competition have ceded control to the very conglomerates that consistently undermine these values and goals.

Such "big media" may not be here to stay, however. Fighting for Air delivers a call to action, revealing a rising generation of new media activists and citizen journalists--a coalition of liberals and conservatives--who are demanding and even creating the local coverage they need and deserve.

Language: English

Pages: 352

Format: Hardcover

Publisher: Metropolitan Books

Release: January 09, 2007

ISBN: 0805078193

ISBN 13: 9780805078190

More books from Eric Klinenberg

Modern Romance: An Investigation

3.9/5 ( ratings)

Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life

3.9/5 ( ratings)

Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone

3.3/5 ( ratings)

Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago

3.9/5 ( ratings)

The Making and Unmaking of Whiteness

3.7/5 ( ratings)

Antidemocracy in America: Truth, Power, and the Republic at Risk (Public Books Series)

3.4/5 ( ratings)

Cultural Production in a Digital Age

Palacios del pueblo: Políticas para una sociedad más igualitaria

Climate Change and the Future of Cities

Modern Romance

2020: A Reckoning

Rate this book!

Write a review?