The Decline of Public Access and Neo-Liberal Media Regimes

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https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030394028 This book examines the reasons behind the declining fortunes of public access channels. Public access, which provided perhaps the boldest experiment in popular media democracy, is in steep decline. While some have argued it is technologically outmoded, Caterino argues that the real reason lies with the rise of a neo-liberal media regime. This regime creates a climate in which we can understand these changes. This book considers the role of neo-liberalism in transforming notions of public obligations and regulation of media that have impacted non-profit media, specifically public access. Neo-liberalism has tried to eliminate public forums and public discourse and weakens institutions of civil society. Though social media is often championed as an arena of communicative freedom, Caterino argues that neo-liberalism has created a colonized social media environment that severely limits popular democracy. Contents Chapter 1: Public Access in Decline The Limits of Technological Determinism Technology and Social Construction Bibliography Chapter 2: The Frankfurt School and Its Aftermath An Excursus on the Frankfurt School The Limits of the Frankfurt School’s Analysis The Political: Horkheimer to Habermas The Public Sphere in Habermas and Beyond Critics of the Public Sphere Habermasian Revisions Civil Society Participatory Democracy Bibliography Chapter 3: Public Interest Standards from Radio to Public Television The Rise of Radio and Telecommunication and Public Interest The Regulatory Context Broadcast Regulation Radio Publics: Democratic Potentials? Democratizing Media From Pacifica to PBS: The Rise of Public Interest Media and Civil Society The Critique of the Network Model From the Wasteland to the Promised Land Network Television and the Portrayal of American Life Bibliography Chapter 4: The Emergence of Public Access Television Access to Democracy Public Access Begins Participatory Democracy or the Technological Sublime? Shimmering Blue Skies: The Promise of Technology Participatory Policymaking in the Formation of Public Access Funding Issues Access Cleavages: Cracks in the Foundation Legal Problems Precarious Foundations Access Success and Challenges Local Programming Success Governmental Access Socially Engaged Media Wayne’s World: Changing Conceptions of Public Access Who Watches Public Access? Conclusions Bibliography Chapter 5: Neoliberalism: The Decline of Public Obligation Neoliberalism The Rise of a New Orthodoxy A New Consensus? Delayed Crises: Streeck’s Analyses Political Thought in Neoliberalism Neoliberalism and the Entrepreneurial Self The Contradictions of Neoliberalism The Colonization of the Lifeworld The Decline of Public Interest Obligations Cloudy Horizon’s for Blue Skies ALEC and Cable Franchising Channel Slamming Relaxing Ownership Rules Market Failures Speech Rights in Neoliberalism Is Censorship Necessary The Halleck Case and the Challenges to the Public Forum Conception of Access The Aftermath of Halleck Neoliberal Deregulation Extended: The Communications Act of 1996 and Beyond The Privatization of Public Space Public Sphere in Neoliberalism The Public Sphere. Civil Society and the Nonprofit Sector Putting It All Together: Depoliticization Bibliography Chapter 6: Access Under Attack: Some Examples from the Field Artificial Austerity Austerity and Access Access Closing or Service Reduction Fragile Franchises Narratives of Decline Censorship of Public Access: Political and Cultural Professional Associations The Information Needs of Communities? Bibliography Chapter 7: Looking Through the Wrong End of the Telescope: Internet Democracy vs. Public Access Cybernetic Utopians: Romancing the Computers The Consequences of Esoteric Community Social Theorists and the Internet Radical Democracy on the Internet The Debate over Radical Media Are Social Media “Community Media” The Internet and the Social Context Can Social Media Serve as a Public Sphere? Political Economy of the Internet from Public to Private Facebook: Privacy and Publicity Data Collection and Privacy All the (Fake) News that Fits How Emancipatory Are Social Movements? The Occupy Movement as a Case Study of Internet Activism? Proprietary Publics? Facebook and Twitter Pages as Public Forums? YouTube and Social Media vs. (Public) Television: Public Forum The Need for a General Public Sphere General Publics Revisited Bibliography Chapter 8: A Future for Public Access? Author Index Subject Index