Fighting for Air
The Battle to Control Americas Media

This book contributed mightily to one essay in my own work, Systems out of Balance. The real pioneer in this area is Robert McChesney, whose main message is the threat of corporate controlled media to democracy. Perhaps because of this context I can't quite agree with some of the criticisms I see in......more

This book is a history of the politics of American media in the United States since roughly 1980, but with discursions far earlier, and ramifications deep into the future. It doesn't just paint a bleak picture; it describes those citizens and activists who have been working to improve things, and in......more

Eric Klinenberg’s Fighting for Air takes us into the world of preprogrammed radio shows, empty television news stations, and copycat newspapers to show how corporate ownership and control of local media undermines American political and cultural life.......more

This book is a well researched history of the consolidation of American print, radio, and television as ushered in by technological advancements, corporate raiding, and the politics of the Bush administration. Although not the author’s fault, this books fundamental flaw is that it was written in the......more

As relevant today as it was in 2007. Kudos to Klinenberg for his continuing work in narrative sociological studies.......more