Converging Media Diverging Politics

What purpose does the news media serve in contemporary North American society? These essays explore the effects of media concentration in democratic systems, and also consider how corporate and technological convergence in the news industry in the US and Canada impacts journalism's expressed role as a medium of democratic communication.

Chapter 1 Prologue: Has a Free Press Helped to Kill Democracy? Chapter 2 Mapping the Threads Chapter 3 U.S. Media Policy Then and Now Chapter 4 So Much by So Few: Media Policy and Ownership in Canada Chapter 5 Clear Channel:The Poster Child for Everything that's Wrong with Consolidation Chapter 6 Aspergate: Concentration, Convergence, and Censorship in Canadian Media Chapter 7 Hyper-Commercialism and the Media: The Threat to Journalism and Democratic Discourse Chapter 8 News Agency Dominance in International News on the Internet Chapter 9 Bourdieu's "Show and Hide" Paradox Reconsidered: Audience Experiences of Convergence in the Canadian Mediascape Chapter 10 Reforming Media: Parries and Pirouettes in the U.S. Policy Process Chapter 11 Angels of the Public Interest: U.S. Media Reform Chapter 12 Journalism Education in the Posthistorical University Chapter 13 The Alternative Communication Movement in Quebec's Mediascape Chapter 14 Canadian Cyberactivism in the Cycle of Counterglobalization Struggles Chapter 15 Turning the Tide