Communication Revolution: Critical Junctures and the Future of Media (review)

Despite the suggestion of its broader title, this turns out (perhaps surprisingly) to be more of an autobiographical book, both about the author and his academic field. Further, while it posits technology as dramatically changing media, this is more a book of political theory and policy than a study of that technology. Robert McChesney, a widely published media historian, critic, and activist based at the main campus of the University of Illinois, traces his own academic development and growing interest in critical studies, despite a general disinterest on the part of many of his senior colleagues. Along the way he characterizes much of the work done by others while citing a good deal of his own. It might be noted that he is a co-founder (two decades ago) and president of the book’s publisher, an indication of his very personal involvement in media history.

McChesney’s chief argument is that changing technology once again provides an option to develop a more egalitarian system of media than that which has prevailed to date. The internet, especially, offers huge opportunities for adding voices to the mainstream, thus broadening the potential number of viewpoints and political positions that can be made available. By describing what can happen, McChesney hopes to awaken public interest in the options. His approach reminds me of earlier optimistic observers who have said similar things about the onset of, in turn, film, FM radio (see, for example, Charles Siepmann’s Radio’s Second Chance [1946]), educational television, and cable TV’s multiplicity of channels. Each of these then-new technologies has been seen as a possible means to make available a wider social, cultural, and political discourse, one that can better reflect local differences and interests. Unfortunately, such utopian thinking usually gives too little credence to the strong economic pressures and traditions that create the network-centric commercial media we enjoy—or deplore—today.

McChesney aims his argument first at his fellow academics—both faculty and students—in media and public policy. That’s where much of the autobiographical content comes in. But he also seeks to reach informed and concerned members of the general public who may hear his worries and heed his suggestions. Chapter 1 provides a survey of how the academic field of media studies has changed over recent decades, becoming, among other things, more interdisciplinary. The autobiographical material is the focus of chapter 2, which traces the rise and fall of the critical research approach in communications. Closely tied to the New Left anti–Vietnam War protests of the late 1960s and early 1970s, critical researchers applied some aspects of Marxist theory (McChesney spends a good deal of time on this) to the political economy of the media specifically and society more generally. For a time they provided much of the constructive ferment in the field. But the Marxist tinge faded and many scholars turned to broader policy studies. Chapter 3 turns to the role of communications history (and McChesney’s own historical work), suggesting five “truths” about corporate media. And the final chapter relates some of the policy battles, especially over the past decade, in which the author often has played a central role.

All of this makes for a very readable (McChesney is a good writer) and politically astute assessment of some of the trends in American communications research. The book is highly critical of some researchers (not all of whom are named) but lauds many younger scholars who work against (or at least outside of) the mainstream. The cross-disciplinary nature of much of this latter work in the political economy of media has been one of its strengths, especially in an academic world so seemingly focused on narrow quantitative audience studies rather than broader policy implications. McChesney traces the efforts of many research trails that have developed in recent decades to counter the seeming sameness of most academic work on communication. In this regard...