Media Democracy Deferred: The Postwar Settlement for U.S. Communications, 1945--1949

"Based on extensive archival research, this study historicizes current media policies and reform efforts by analyzing the 1940s postwar critical juncture when policymakers, social movements, and communication industries grappled over the role of a commercial press in a democratic society. By focusing on policy formations around the Hutchins Commission, the Federal Communications Commission's ""Blue Book,"" and the Fairness Doctrine, this dissertation chronicles how a vibrant media reform movement was largely co-opted and quelled, resulting in a postwar settlement marked by three assumptions: media should remain self-regulated, practice social responsibility, and adhere to a negative First Amendment a freedom of the press privileging the rights of media producers and owners over listeners, readers, and the broader public. This social contract between the state, the polity, and media institutions consolidated an industry-friendly arrangement that contained reform movements, foreclosed on alternative models, and discouraged structural critiques of the U.S. media system---a relationship that continues to have a major impact on U.S. media today."

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Communications

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Pickard, Victor

Contributors dc:contributor

• McChesney, Robert

• History, United States

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI3347498

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/86600