Public Television For Sale: Media, The Market, And The Public Sphere

by William Hoynes

Overview

Public television is uniquely positioned in our country to contribute to the invigoration of democratic public life because, ostensibly, it is neither driven by the market nor dominated by the state. In this comprehensive analysis of the forces that shape our public television system, sociologist William Hoynes finds that public television increasi

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780367300289
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	12/04/2020
Pages:	207
Product dimensions:	5.81(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

William Hoynes is assistant professor of sociology at Vassar College.

Table of Contents

Public Television: The Historical and Political Context — The Political Economy of Mass Media — Early Visions of Public Television — The Content of Public Television: A Case Study of the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour — Funding and the Politics of Programming — Audiences, Markets, and the Public — Goal Ambiguity and Organizational Survival — Democracy and the Future of Public Television — Methodological Appendix

Editorial Reviews

Analyzing the evolving funding structure of public television, sociologist Hoynes finds an increasing reliance on corporate sponsorhip. Through revealing interviews with PBS employees, a comparative analysis of the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour and ABC news, and examples showing the interrelation of programming content and financing, Hoynes demonstrates that PBS has largely abandoned its original commitment to underserved viewers, adopting a bottom-line approach to programming. In arguing for a public television system more reflective of U.S. citizenry, Hoynes disputes the application of the free-market model to the realm of ideas, noting that competition for ratings threatens diversity, and he astutely points out that the explosion in cable channels has not resulted in a heyday for media pluralism. While Hoynes's specific recommendations for future funding of PBS are less than inspired (a sales tax on TV sets has been proposed before and rebuffed), his contention that a genuinely public television must be ``insulated'' from intervention by both market and state is sound. Suggesting that PBS reclaim territory pioneered by public access and C-Span, Hoynes ignores the question of whether the success of these alternative efforts signals PBS's obsolescence in the area of public affairs programming. Some may end up wondering whether pressuring PBS to change is worth the effort. This study is indispensible to anyone who cares about the future of public television or the broader issue of the relationship between mass media and democracy. (Mar.)

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