In this Book
- Prologue to a Farce: Communication and Democracy in America
- Book
- 2010
- Published by: University of Illinois Press
- Series: The History of Communication
summary
“A popular Government without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy or perhaps both.”--James Madison, 1822
Mark Lloyd has crafted a complex and powerful assessment of the relationship between communication and democracy in the United States. In Prologue to a Farce, he argues that citizens’ political capabilities depend on broad public access to media technologies, but that the U.S. communications environment has become unfairly dominated by corporate interests.
Mark Lloyd has crafted a complex and powerful assessment of the relationship between communication and democracy in the United States. In Prologue to a Farce, he argues that citizens’ political capabilities depend on broad public access to media technologies, but that the U.S. communications environment has become unfairly dominated by corporate interests.
Drawing on a wealth of historical sources, Lloyd demonstrates that despite the persistent hope that a new technology (from the telegraph to the Internet) will rise to serve the needs of the republic, none has solved the fundamental problems created by corporate domination. After examining failed alternatives to the strong publicly owned communications model, such as antitrust regulation, the public trustee rules of the Federal Communications Commission, and the underfunded public broadcasting service, Lloyd argues that we must re-create a modern version of the Founder’s communications environment, and offers concrete strategies aimed at empowering citizens.
Table of Contents
Download Full Book
- Table of Contents
- pp. vii-viii
- Acknowledgments
- pp. ix-x
- Introduction
- pp. 1-8
- Part I. Communications and Democracy in America
- Part II. A Brief History of U.S. Communications Policy
- 10. The End of History
- pp. 223-234
- Part III. Reclaiming Our Republic
- 11. A Few Lessons
- pp. 237-260
- 12. Reclaiming Our Republic
- pp. 261-282
Additional Information
ISBN
9780252091759
Related ISBN(s)
9780252031045, 9780252073427
MARC Record
OCLC
842266392
Pages
352
Launched on MUSE
2013-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No
Copyright
2006