Global Media: The Missionaries of Global Capitalism (Media Studies) [Hardcover]

Edward S. Herman (Author), Robert Waterman McChesney (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0304334332 | ISBN-13: 978-0304334339 | Publication Date: August 1997

This text describes in detail the recent rapid growth and crossborder activities and linkages of an industry of large global media conglomerates. It also assesses the significance of the ongoing deregulation and convergence of the global media and telecommunications systems and the rise of the Internet. The authors argue that the most important features of this globalization process are the implantation, consolidation and concentration of an advertisement-based commercial media and parallel weakening of public broadcasting systems worldwide, with negative consequences on the "public sphere".

Product Details

• Hardcover: 262 pages
• Publisher: Continuum Intl Pub Group (Sd) (August 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0304334332
• ISBN-13: 978-0304334339
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,534,915 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Edward S. Herman is professor emeritus of finance at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and has written extensively on economics, political economy, and the media. Among his books are Corporate Control, Corporate Power; The Real Terror Network; The Political Economy of Human Rights (with Noam Chomsky); and Manufacturing Consent (with Noam Chomsky). David Peterson is an independent journalist and researcher based in Chicago.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb analysis of the domination of capital in the media, October 13, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Global Media: The Missionaries of Global Capitalism (Media Studies) (Paperback)

Professors Herman and McChesney sharply analyse the commercialization of the mass media over the last 20 years, and its increasingly global nature. Their debunking of corporate libertarian myths regarding the market providing consumer sovreignty in this arena, and the alert they sound, concerning the consequences of a few firms dominating the media and undermining democracy and the working class, makes this an essential read for all independantly minded citizens. Their treatment of the internet in particular is well worth reading.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enlightening, powerful and persuasive, November 16, 2000

By 

Malvin (Frederick, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: The Global Media: The Missionaries of Global Capitalism (Media Studies) (Paperback)

This is by far the best book I have read about the media. The authors explain that the media system has come to be dominated by a few large corporations who use their market powers largely to promote a world-wide monoculture of consumerism. The media companies do this by distributing non-controversial entertainment and infotainment programs. This strategy is funded by multinational corporations wishing to sell their products to ever-expanding markets and supported by the elite classes who benefit the most from capitalist growth. The commercial media companies use their control of broadcast network systems to limit access to alternative materials (especially local content celebrating diversity and alternative, non-capitalist values), forcing consumers to accept the paradox of choice within a narrowly-defined range of possibilities. Meanwhile, as public broadcasting systems falter, the authors point out that citizens who are immersed in commercial media gradually embrace the values of selfish individualism and materialism and tend to disengage from their local communities.

With thorough documentation and clear, persuasive analysis, Herman and McChesney dissect the defenders of media globalization and commercialization and explain why democratic alternatives to the corporate media system are critical to maintaining a healthy democracy. Highly recommended.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Informative, January 5, 2001

By 

Bakari Chavanu - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Global Media: The Missionaries of Global Capitalism (Media Studies) (Paperback)

This is the second book I've read by MChesney and as with the first one, I found it very informative and important to understanding the ways market forces are shaping global societies on a daily basis. Few people in this country realize the impact of U.S. media conglemerates on other countries. It's too often assumed that what is good for America is good for the world. Well, McChesney and Herman show that it's not. Capitlaist driven media is helping to destablize pubic interests and voices throughout the globe. Owrell's Big Brother is not needed. We simply get from dominate media mergers limited choices about what is happening in the world today. By delivering these limited choices, profit driven media help themselves and other powerful capitalists maintain their own interests and power. Notice, for example, how ABC, CBS, NBC, and even CNN reported the same thing about what took with the recent elections. There's no alternative view, there's only the corporate view. That's what advertisers pay for and that's what the dominate media delivers. The next book I'm reading on this subject is Dean Alger's "Medgamedia," which seems be even more lucidly written than McChesney and Herman's.