Big Media, Big Money: Cultural Texts and Political Economics - Tapa dura

Big Media, Big Money is a refreshing and lively overview of the key components of the media system-from movies to music to the commercialization of education. Bettig and Hall have effectively melded political economy and cultural studies in this engaging and accessible book. -- Janet Wasko, University of Oregon Recommended. CHOICE An eminently helpful and eye-opening book, Big Media, Big Money provides a timely critique of what George Gerbner aimed to confront in his organization called the Cultural Environment Movement. Because Bettig and Hall do such a good job here of outlining histories, politics, economics, and socio-cultural implications of various media machinations, Big Media, Big Money would make an ideal text for any number of media courses. It not only explains how media works, it also provides invaluable examples and case studies of the symbiosis between the various media at play in our societies. I would highly recommend it for a course on media criticism, while the explanations and arguments about advertising make it equally applicable for those courses. -- Linda K. Fuller, Worcester State College This book [stands] out for its clarity, its reliance on solid research, and its crucially important and relevant arguments. Journalism And Mass Communication Educator Many books seek to achieve timeliness and transcendence by addressing both crucial debates of the day and long-standing theoretical debates within the field. Few achieve that goal. Among those few is Big Media, Big Money, which takes on controversies over deregulation and continuing tensions between cultural studies and political economy. In a tour de force, the authors balance these concerns, contributing to each debate while presenting cogent analyses of media corporations and their impact on the quality of cultural life and democratic processes. They do so in lively, accessible prose, which is no small feat. Journal Of Communication Big Media, Big Money comes at a time when everything, including democracy itself, is for sale. Offering a robust challenge to the material relations of power, symbolic forms, and pedagogical relations that sustain capitalism writ large, Ron Bettig and Jeanne Hall provide a detailed roadmap and an inspiring challenge to those individuals, groups, and activists who dare to imagine a more humane, democratic, and just world. At a time of escalating scandals in the corporate world, this book is a must-read for all those interested in how concentrated power shapes every aspect of public and private life. This is one of the few books that not only links questions of political economy to questions of cultural politics, but also provides a language of critique and a discourse for collective struggle. Essential for understanding what it might mean to fight undemocratic and oppressive forces that are attempting to take over everything from the media to the schools. -- Henry Giroux, Pennsylvania State University, author of The Mouse That Roared

Big Media, Big Money is a lively and scathing critique of the contemporary communications industry. With close readings of recent news events, Bettig and Hall look critically at the effects of 'media merger mania' on the structure and content of the movie, music, and book publishing industries. They further explore challenges posed by the Internet and the effects of copyright control, as well as growing corporate influence in the newsroom and the classroom. The authors conclude that current interconnections among media, big business, government, and education reflect capitalism's trend of concentration of wealth and power-posing a serious threat to democratic communications.