Democracy without Journalism?

Victor Pickard shows that the modern journalism crisis is the culmination of long-term historical tensions and structural contradictions such as an over-reliance on advertising revenue, monopoly control over media infrastructures, and a lack of independent oversight.

He looks to alternative media institutions that first evolved during the Progressive and New Deal Eras--as well as public media models around the world--to imagine a new kind of journalism.

Introduction: When Commercialism Trumps Democracy; Chapter 1: Historical Roots of US Press Freedoms and Failures; Chapter 2: The Early Crisis and Missed Opportunities; Chapter 3: How Commercialism Degrades Journalism and Hurts Democracy; Chapter 4: Monopoly Control over Digital Infrastructures; Chapter 5: American Media Exceptionalism and the Public Opinion; Conclusion: The Media We Need; Notes; Index