Radical Mass Media Criticism - A Cultural Genealogy

In the beginning was the press, and then the world appeared. --Karl Kraus Since the beginning of the media age, there have been thinkers who have reacted against the increasing power of the mass media and perceived its ever more pervasive role in historical development. This book examines those early mass media critics, and their controversial writings, and links them with their contemporaries to demonstrate the relevance of their legacy for today's debates on media power and media ethics. Included in this book is a look at the work of Karl Kraus and his devastating critiques of the role of corrupt journalism in the First World War; at Ferdinand T nnies' provocative analysis of the relationship between public opinion and propaganda; and at the 'Frankfurt School, ' especially Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno, in the shadow of the experience of Nazism. The Glasgow Media Group unmasks ideological bias in apparently objective news and current affairs media coverage. The importance and influence of the much contested figure of Marshall McLuhan is analysed, as is the work of Robert McChesney and the United States' tradition from which his own writing and collaboration with fellow critical intellectuals Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman emerged. From Jes s Mart n-Barbero in Colombia, and Nestor Garcia Canclini in Mexico comes a perspective on globalizing mass communications practice. The media-critical work of thinkers such as Harold Innis, Northrop Frye, David Suzuki, Maude Barlow, and the black American feminist writer, bell hooks, make this book truly one of the first full historical surveys of radical mass media criticism. Anthology contributors are a team of leading international experts in the field and include: Slavko Splichal, University of Ljubljana; Hanno Hardt, University of Iowa; Joost van Loon, Nottingham Trent University; Stuart Allen, University of West of England; Jason Barker, Independent Writer and Researcher; John Eldridge, University of Glasgow; Robert McChesney, University of Illinois; James Winter, University of Windsor; Cynthia Carter, Cardiff University Table of Contents Preface

Acknowledgements

Notes On Tile Contributors Chapter One

Radical Mass Media Criticism: An Introduction.

David Berry Chapter Two

The Intellectual Tradition Of Radical Mass Media Criticism: A Framework.

John Theeobald Chapter Three

In Pursuit Of Socialised Press: Ferdinand T nnies's Critique Of The Press And Its Predecessors

Slavko Splichal Chapter Four

Karl Kraus And Media Commodification Of Language

John Theobald Chapter Five

The Frankfurt School And Aesthetic Discourse: Critical Theory, Art, And The Critique Of (Mass) Communication

Hanno Hardt Chapter Six

Mediating Politics: J rgen Habermas And The Public Sphere

Jim McGuigan and Stuart Allan Chapter Seven

The Work Of The Glasgow Media Group: An Insider's Story

John Eldridge Chapter Eight

Armand Mattelart: Historicism And Mass Media

Sanda Miller Chapter Nine

Canadian Critical Communication

Robert E. Babe and James P. Winter Chapter Ten

McLuhan And His Influences

Joost Van Loon Chapter Eleven

A Century Of Radical Media Criticism In The USA

Ben Scott and Robert W McChesney Chapter Twelve

Popular Culture And Mass Media In Latin America: Some Reflections On The Works Of Jesus Martin-Barbero And Nestor Garda Canclini

David Berry Chapter Thirteen

The Transformative Power Of Cultural Criticism: bell hooks's Raclical Media Analysis

Cynthia Carter Chapter Fourteen

Dissident Intellectuals And Intellectual Dissidents: Some Concluding Thoughts About Thinking And Acting

John Theobald Index DAVID BERRY is Senior Lecturer in Journalism, Culture and Mass Communications and JOHN THEOBALD is Associate Professor in Modern Languages both at the Southampton Institute, UK. 272 pages, 6x9, bibliography, index