Public Broadcasting and the Public Interest [Paperback]

As federal funding for public broadcasting wanes and support from corporations and an elite group of viewers and listeners rises, public broadcasting's role as vox populi has come under threat. With contributions from key scholars from a wide variety of disciplines, this volume examines the crisis facing public broadcasting today by analyzing the institution's development, its presentday operations, and its prospects for the future. Covering everything from globalization and the rise of the Internet, to key issues such as race and class, to specific subjects such as advertising, public access, and grassroots radio, Public Broadcasting and the Public Interest provides a fresh and original look at a vital component of our mass media.Foreword, Dan Schiller; Part I. Defining the Public Media Terrain; 1. Introduction, B. Lee Artz; 2. Public Broadcasting: Past, Present, and Future, Robert W. McChesney; 3. Brand New World? Globalization, Cyberspace, and the Politics of Convergence, Vincent Mosco; 4. The PBS Brand and the Merchandising of Public Service, William Hoynes; 5. Public Broadcasting and the Public Interest: A Selective Critique of U.S. Telecommunications Policy-Making, Robert K. Avery and Alan G. Stavitsky; 6. Pacifica Radio's Crisis of Containment, Matthew Lasar Part II. Critical Dimensions; 7. Introduction, Eric E. Peterson; 8. The Public and Its Problems: Race, Class, and Media Access, B. Lee Artz; 9. Advertising on Public Television: A Look at PBS, Judi Puritz Cook; 10. Should One Size Fit All Audiences? A Study of KUOP, Mary E. Hurley; 11. DBS and the Public Interest Opportunity in Satellite Television, Steve Pierce; 12. Making Money and Serving the Public Interest: Public Broadcasting Can and Should Do Both, Gary P. Poon; Part III. Global Perspectives; 13. Introduction, Michael P. McCauley; 14. The CBC and the Public Interest: Maintaining the Mission in an Era of Media Concentration, Ira Basen; 15. Public Broadcasting, the Information Society, and the InternlS5