The Business of Media

David Croteau is an associate professor emeritus in the sociology department at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). He has also worked in VCU’s Academic Learning Transformation Lab (ALT Lab), helping faculty incorporate new technologies into their teaching. He is the author of Politics and the Class Divide: Working People and the Middle-Class Left.William Hoynes is dean of the faculty and professor of sociology at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. He teaches courses on media, culture, and social theory, and is former director of Vassar’s Media Studies program. He is the author of Public Television for Sale: Media, the Market, and the Public Sphere.

• Introduction: The New Media Industry and an Old DilemmaPart I. Profits and the Public Interest: Theoretical and Historical Context1. Media, Markets, and the Public SphereThe Market ModelThe Public Sphere ModelWhy Media Are Different From Other IndustriesThe Tradition of Civic ResponsibilityThe Public InterestConflicting Logics2. The Rise and (De)Regulation of the Media IndustryThe Changing Business of Media and Regulation: The Case of ABC and DisneyThe Growth of MediaThe Evolution of MediaMedia Policy and the Public InterestPart II. Industry Structure and Corporate Strategy: Explaining the Rise of Media Conglomerates3. The New Media Giants: Changing Industry StructureMaking Sense of MergersStructural Trends in the Media IndustryInterpreting Structural Changes4. Strategies of the New Media GiantsThe Case of TitanicStrategies of the New Media GiantsBeyond Market Strategies: The Spector of MonopoliesConclusionPart III. Neglecting the Public Interest: Media Conglomerates and the Public Sphere5. How Business Strategy Shapes Media ContentConsidering the Public InterestHomogenization and ImitationTrivialization and SensationalismMedia Constraint I: Commercial InterestsMedia Constraint II: Censorship and Conflicts of InterestConclusion6. How the Media Business Influences SocietySocial InfluencesPolitical InfluenceThe Special Role of News MediaConclusion7. Choosing the Future: Citizens, Policy, and the Public InterestRegulatory Policy and the Public InterestMedia and Public PolicyPublic Policy and Public BroadcastingJournalism as a ProfessionCitizen Activism and Alternative MediaThe Limits of Media, The Importance of MediaAppendix: Select Online Resources for Studying the Media Industry, Media Policy, and Media EducationNotes

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