Reopening the Postwar Settlement for U.S. Media
The Origins and Implications of the Social Contract Between Media, the State, and the Polity
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12918548 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Victor Pickard (New York University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2010 |
| Volume | 3 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 170-189 |
| Publication date | 2010-05-07 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Communication Culture and Critique (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1753-9137 • E-ISSN: 1753-9129 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1753-9137.2010.01065.x |
| OpenAlex | W1965263277 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 13 |
| References cited | 17 |
Drawing from archival research, I historicize current media policies and reform efforts by analyzing the 1940s critical juncture when policymakers, social movements, and communication industries grappled over commercial media's role in a democratic society. By focusing on policy formations around the Hutchins Commission and the FCC's “Blue Book,” I propose that a suppressed media reform movement resulted in a “postwar settlement” marked by three assumptions: media should remain self-regulated, practice social responsibility, and be protected by a negative freedom of the press. This social contract consolidated an industry-friendly arrangement that contained reform movements, foreclosed on alternative models, discouraged structural critiques of the U.S. media system, and privileged media owners' rights over those of the public's—a relationship that continues today
Commission · Democracy · Democratization · Economics · Law and economics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Polity · Settlement (finance · Social media · Social movement · Sociology · State (computer science · Law · Media Studies and Communication · Public Administration
Mending the Gaps
“Whether the Giants Should Be Slain or Persuaded to Be Good”
Reluctant to Criticize
A Misinformation Insurrection
Historical Institutionalism in Communication Studies
Media Governance
The battle over the FCC Blue Book
Financial Journalism, Conflicts of Interest and Ethics
The Air Belongs to the People
News Media as Political Institutions
America’s Battle for Media Democracy
Social Democracy or Corporate Libertarianism? Conflicting Media Policy Narratives in the Wake of Market Failure
Can Government Support the Press? Historicizing and Internationalizing a Policy Approach to the Journalism Crisis
The cultural front
Media, Markets, and Democracy
Four Theories of the Press
Timebends
“Whether the Giants Should Be Slain or Persuaded to Be Good”
When the Press Fails
Repositioning a landmark
Active Radio
The battle over the FCC Blue Book
Radio Utopia
Telecommunications, Mass Media, and Democracy
Freedom of Speech for Whom
| Unique citing works | 13 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,81 |
| Citation span | 2010 - 2023 (14) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 13 |