Fighting for Air: The Battle to Control America's Media » (Unabridged)

Eric Klinenberg is an associate professor of sociology at New York University. Author of the acclaimed Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago and the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, Klinenberg has also written for The New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, The Nation, and Slate.

This groundbreaking investigative work by a critically acclaimed sociologist exposes the corporate takeover of local news and what it means for all Americans.

Early in the morning of January 18, 2002, a train derailment near Minot, North Dakota sent a cloud of poisonous gas drifting toward the small town. Minot’s fire and rescue departments were unable to get word out by radio because Clear Channel, which is canned programming, operated all six radio stations. The result was one death and more than a thousand injuries.

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.

Publishers Weekly

Klinenberg is clearly aiming to deliver the Fast Food Nation of corporate media, and his disdain for conglomerates blares from every page, constantly reminding readers that a handful of companies have a stranglehold on media outlets, subverting the public interest for the sake of profit. It's a grim world where radio stations can't inform their listeners about local disasters because all the programming is recorded at a studio in some other state, where TV newscasters don't bother covering state elections, and even the alternative press has given its pages over to advertisers. The author's coverage appears scattershot, because it tries to take in as much of the media landscape as possible, but each section is extensively reported, and the pieces do finally fit together in the final chapters. As Klinenberg details former FCC chairman Michael Powell's efforts to loosen restrictions on how many American television stations one corporation can own, the story becomes a perfect convergence of his issues with large corporate entities and the Bush administration, as well as his enthusiasm for grassroots civic activism. His impassioned call to restore local journalism and its role in creating informed, engaged communities is sure to strike a chord with readers. (Jan.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Introduction: The Empty Studio     1
In the Public Interest     17
Remote Control     37
Clear Channel Comes to Town     57
News from Nowhere     86
Owning It All     112
Chaining the Alternatives     146
The Net and the News     172
Fighting for Air     195
The Media and Democracy     221
Low Power to the People     245
Conclusion: The Digital Frontier     270
Afterword     297
Notes     309
Acknowledgments     335
Index     337