Big Media, Big Money: Cultural Texts and Political Economics

This academically intense book deals with the issue of media concentration and control by the corporate giants - a concern that of course has been dealt with in the more famous books "The Media Monopoly" by Bagdikian, "Manufacturing Consent" by Herman and Chomsky, and numerous others. But Bettig and Hall's book has the advantage of cutting edge coverage of the contemporary (for the time being) effects of the lack of diversity in the media, and a fast-paced and thought-provoking writing style. This is most evident in the authors' research into how modern media reports on itself, especially the internal reactions from media players to the mega-mergers of the late 90's. Up-to-date examinations of the movie and music industries are another plus, including the ongoing debate over piracy and how that populist craze has inevitably succumbed to humble copyright laws, regardless of the big-money corporate crackdown. Great insights in the second half of the book include how advertising is designed to preach the ideology of consumerism, with the media (and recently, the schools) being used by advertisers as compliant tools in a nearly religious quest for unyielding capitalism. The book wraps up with a bang as Bettig and Hall examine the media's hideously one-sided treatment of globalization protesters, which of course supports the position of the corporate media oligopoly. This short but jam-packed book is essential for the understanding of the dire cultural, political, and economic effects of the corporate concentration of the modern media. [~doomsdayer520~]