MDST*1010 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Jeff Koons, Corporate Censorship, Unthinkable
Money, Power, and the Internet: “How Can the Political Economy of
Communication Help Us Understand the Internet?” Robert McChesney
(Part 1)
The Political Economy of Communication (PEC)
-The PEC = evaluating media and communication systems by determining how
they affect political and social power in society and whether they are, on balance,
forces for or against democracy and successful self-government. The PEC has
two focuses:
1. Examines the institutions, subsidies, market structures, firms, support
mechanisms, and labor practices that define a media or communication
system.
2. Looks at the foundational role of government policies in establishing
media systems, even commercial profit-driven systems.
-Direct link between control over the media and control over the society is self-
evident. The PEC challenges the catechism.
The Catechism
-A “catechism” = a series of fixed beliefs. In case of media, the catechism
includes:
-Commercial media compete with each other to satisfy audience demands.
As a result, the system "gives the people what they want."
-Commercial pressures can be a problem in journalism so it’s essential to
have independent professional reporters committed to unbiased, objective
news.
-If there is anything that is beyond debate, it is that government
involvement with media is dangerous and should be avoided at all costs.
-Free press is key to a free society + the free market is the foundation of a
free press and a healthy democratic culture.
Flaws in the Catechism
1. Media may give the people what they want, but only within the range that is most
profitable.
-Catechism assumes pop. demand for programming is exogenous (springs
from another world and is democratic). But what people are exposed to
shapes what they will demand.
-Relevant to Internet in that cyberspace is becoming less a frontier where
citizens are like explorers on a glorious adventure than a cul-de-sac where
advertising driven cues keep people in their bubbles.
2. Media, including internet companies, rely on gov’t support to be profitable. .
-Businesses are often allowed to write off advertising expenses = a form of
public subsidy for media companies.
-Copyright enforcement is a form of gov’t support b/c it takes place through
legal system.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Money, power, and the internet: how can the political economy of. Communication help us understand the internet? robert mcchesney (part 1) The pec = evaluating media and communication systems by determining how they affect political and social power in society and whether they are, on balance, forces for or against democracy and successful self-government. Direct link between control over the media and control over the society is self- evident. A catechism = a series of fixed beliefs. Commercial media compete with each other to satisfy audience demands. As a result, the system "gives the people what they want. " Commercial pressures can be a problem in journalism so it"s essential to have independent professional reporters committed to unbiased, objective news. If there is anything that is beyond debate, it is that government involvement with media is dangerous and should be avoided at all costs.
