"Communication Revolution: Critical Junctures and the Future of Media" (The New Press, 320 pages. $24.95), by Robert W. McChesney: Even though the media and telecom industries are unscrupulous Goliaths, their schemes can be thwarted if enough citizens raise an outcry.
So argues Robert McChesney, a renowned academic in the field of communications and a research professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
In his latest book, "Communication Revolution," McChesney argues that the nation stands at a "critical juncture," where newer technologies such as the Internet are replacing the crumbling institutions of old media. Citizens have this limited window of time to shape discussions on how those technologies should be distributed — before corporations make those decisions themselves.
As examples, he points to telecom companies that want to own the Internet and media organizations that want to consolidate into virtual monopolies.
How will the new information landscape look? That depends, McChesney says, on what happens in the next few years.
Once a new media system takes over, it will likely remain entrenched for decades until the next critical juncture arises — when a newer technology evolves, when the media system in place is widely seen as illegitimate or when a state of social inequality becomes severe enough to prompt urgent calls for reform.
The need for public intervention right now is crucial, McChesney argues, because left to its own devices, the media industry will do what it's always done — try to make more money, even at the expense of providing the legitimate news coverage that keeps government officials honest and federal activities transparent.
That's what happened when radio became popular, he writes, and it's what threatens to occur as telecom companies seek iron-fisted control of the Internet.
He describes a toothless Federal Communications Commission that has issued a number of rulings, particularly under President Bush, granting the media industry near-monopoly rights. The only reason those rights haven't happened, he notes with optimism, is because outraged citizens forced the FCC toward more democratic rulings.
McChesney's book becomes a two-pronged call to action. In part, he inspires citizens who might otherwise assume there's no way to oppose the lobbying muscle of media and telecom behemoths. He does so by citing a number of instances where public pressure successfully forced the hands of government officials.
More sternly, he exhorts the academic community to weigh in with research on the communications industry. For too long, he says, academics have watched silently as federal officials spouted half-truths to justify their corrupt actions. It's up to scholars to push the boundaries of debate, putting the search for truth ahead of the fears of immediate political ramifications.
The average reader may tire of the book's sections that focus on academic research, but "Communication Revolution" still conveys its message clearly and succinctly. Corporate sympathizers and staunch Republicans won't agree with the author's arguments, but if the book stimulates rigorous bipartisan debate, one senses that McChesney will be satisfied.