Strategically Communicating

I am embarrassed to admit that while recognizing the structural flaws (for a healthy democracy) in a corporate and consolidated media system, the conservative and commercial attacks on journalism: before reading the opening chapters of, “The Political Economy of Media” I had not considered the problem of “professional” journalism. I can see how it led to the rise of Public Relations and now in a convergent culture of information, the rise of Investor Relations. While this problem is tangled up with the larger issues, the larger issues are larger.

The fundamental American notion that a “free press” safeguard our democracy by upholding an “informed and engaged citizenry” is one I believe in. McChesney’s statement about the converse being just as important rings true.

When the corporate scandals of the 90s came undone, I knew mostly nothing about them. I missed Molly Ivan’s column rightly predicting that they would happen again. McChesney says that, “conservative ideology and commercialized, depoliticized journalism have meshed very well.” That statement alone should sound the alarm on our democracy. McChesney’s view that media reform is inextricably linked to the advancement of social justice is argued well.

Similarly to the work of Jenkins, McChesney’s writing seems to foretell the social movements taking shape across the globe.

DQ: How is the media that McChesney is critical of covering a social justice movement of the very kind McChesney deems necessary for reform? The link below discusses this very question.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/keith-boykin/occupy-wall-street-media_b_1019707.html