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 | | Media, Markets, and Democracy (Communication, Society and Politics) by C. Edwin Baker ISBN-10: 0521804353 ISBN-10: 0-521-80435-3 ISBN-13: 9780521804356 ISBN-13: 978-0-521-80435-6 Hardcover 2001-11-19 Cambridge University Press Find Lowest Price |
Editorials | ||
Book Description Giving people the media they want is thought to justify the move toward deregulation that has swept media policy circles. Freedom of the press is thought to require resistance to government interventions in the media realm. This book uses economic and democratic theory to undermine the premises of both beliefs. It also relies on these theories to evaluate journalistic practice, to recommend appropriate governmental policy toward the media, and to defend a preferred constitutional conception of press freedom. These issues should be vitally important to anyone interested in the proper practice of journalism, media policy, a free press, or democracy. | ||
Download Description Government interventions in media markets are often criticized for preventing audiences from getting the media products they want. A free press is often asserted to be essential for democracy. The first point is incorrect and the second is inadequate as a policy guide. Part I of this book shows that unique aspects of media products prevent markets from providing for audience desires. Part II shows that four prominent, but different, theories of democracy lead to different conceptions of good journalistic practice, media policy, and proper constitutional principles. Part II makes clear that the choice among democratic theories is crucial for understanding what should be meant by free press. Part III explores international free trade in media products. Contrary to the dominant American position, it shows that Parts I and II's economic and democratic theory justify deviations from free trade in media products. | ||
Reviews | ||
Media Economics for (d)emocrats That last word in my review title refers to any American who is concerned about the true values of democracy, regardless of political party. This book is an essential overview for anyone with a scholarly or political interest in the state of the American media and free speech, with a strong focus on economics. Granted, Baker does present some real difficulties with readability, and the book is often quite difficult to get through, especially in the early chapters on economic theory. But rest assured that beneath the dense academic writing, there is a powerhouse analysis of different political science theories of democracy, how they interact with economics and market theories, and how all of the above create an American media environment that might give the people the information they want (and need) with varying levels of success. Baker finds, with convincing evidence, that the misnamed "free" markets that are currently all the rage politically do not work for a public good like useful media content, and he's got many highly plausible policy recommendations that are both politically and economically feasible in the real world. Watch closely and you'll also find a few winning insights beneath the dissertation, such as a recommendation that government provide incentives to producers for creating better content, rather than trying to censor the sex and violence that results inevitably from unfettered market trends. This book is difficult but does a masterful job of summarizing and analyzing all current knowledge of media economics, politics, and ethics. [~doomsdayer520~] | ||
An impressive work An excellent account of some very important and under-discussed issues. Sincerely wish it would get suitable attention. | ||
This is a masterpiece Ed Baker's book is a superior examination of the notion of a free press and its relationship to market regulation and democratic values. Baker studiously and carefully lays out one of the finest critiques I have ever seen about the limitations of markets for democratic communication. I cannot exaggerate my enthusiasm for this book. | ||
Don't Wait For The Movie! This book evaluates the role that government regulatory power can play in ensuring a free and dynamic press, using economic analysis and Bakerian democratic theory. I found the book to be very interesting, exceptionally well written, and singularly rectangular. The author has a deft touch and keen sense of his audience. | ||