Brief overview of Paul Starr's The Creation of the Media: Political Origins of Modern Communication for my MS 200 class at Univ. of San Francisco

1. MEDIA
INSTITUTIONS
Century’s end (and beyond)
melenert@usfca.edu
Michael Edward Lenert

2. You may find yourself living in a shotgun shack
You may find yourself in another part of the world
You may find yourself behind the wheel of a large
automobile
You may find yourself in a beautiful house with a beautiful
wife
You may ask yourself, well, how did I get here?
Talking Heads
Once In A Lifetime

3. In The Creation Of
The Media, Paul
Starr writes
that our present
arrangements are
the result of
choice and not
chance.

4. Which works
better:
Public or Private
?
A constitutive choice is one that sets the
conditions for future development of media
institutions.

6. From broadcasting to narrowcasting
1930s 1980s

7. From narrowcasting to addressable
communications
1980s - present

8. Music: From Group to Individual; from Family to Isolation
1930s 1980s

9. Deregulation: From public interest to self-interest
1930s 1980s

10. From citizen to consumer ….

11. Public and regulated versus private and
deregulated :
A Constitutive Choice
Public service media /
regulation
… is based on the
principles of
universality, diversity/
provision for minority
audiences, sustaining
an informed electorate,
and cultural and
educational
enrichment, and relies
on government or
charity funding.
Commercial media /
deregulation
… is based on the
principles of removing
or loosening
government
restrictions on the
ownership and
operation of media,
and relies on free
markets, advertising,
and consumer choice.