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Robin Andersen

Lance Strate

What can be said about the proliferation of media commercialization

that has not already been said? Plenty, if you read Robin Andersen and
Lance Strate's thoughtful collection of essays. Their book provides a
number of different perspectives on the increasing sophistication and
pervasiveness of commercialization in the media. The theme that ties
these chapters together is the nature of the relationship between
media commercialism and democracy. This theme is explored through
a number of different avenues, from Neil Postman's essay on the social
effects of television to Robin Andersen's insightful piece on the cultural
antecedents of the SUV.

The strength of the book is this very eclecticism. Though many edited
collections are organized around a clear theme that unites the
chapters, they are handicapped by a multiplicity of voices, which
creates a dissonance among the chapters. c







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 is a broad collection of essays that, though written
from diverse perspectives, speaks with a unified voice. While it is an
editor's job to give shape and texture to the raw material of the
chapters in a collection, too often (in the rush to publish) this is not
done. Robin Andersen and Lance Strait, however, should be
commended for their judicious editing. In terms of scope, the book
manages to navigate between the shoals of politics and sociology on
one side and the more rugged terrain of cultural studies on the other.
It is careful never to avoid the excesses of either, and the approach,
content, and methodology of the chapters make it a useful addition to
communication, sociology, or mass media courses. This diversity is a
strength in our field and allows different lessons to be drawn from the
book's chapters. Essays about the cultural construction of supermodels
happily coexist with others on the 1996 U.S. presidential election.

Strate& Andersen organize the book around six sections, each of which
deals with an important element of media commercialism: human
need and the commercial imperative; conglomeration, synergy, and
global media; advertising and culture; commercial "diversity?";
politics, citizenship, and fragmentation; and resisting persuasions. Like
most edited collections, each section has an introduction to summarize
the main issues in the subject being discussed, a useful supplement
given that many of the sections are only loosely organized around the
theme. One of the strengths of the book is that of the 22 chapters
covering a wide array of subjects examining all aspects of media
commercialism, all but six have been commissioned for this book. Most
of the chapters are timely and well written. Others, such as Robert
McChesney's chapter on ownership, "The Global Media Giants," suffer
from being outdated virtually upon publication. This does not mean
that they are not worthwhile; history has only served to strengthen
the claims made by McChesney and others concerning the perils of
corporate concentration. Rather, this chapter becomes a sentinel,
documenting the recent history of media concentration and providing
appropriate cues to its solutions.

In an age in which corporate "synergy" is not only a buzzword but also

an explicit philosophy, Strate& Andersen admirably demonstrate the
implications of the corporate convergence between media-content
providers and advertisers. The reader is reminded both of the practical
problems surrounding corporate convergence and the theoretical
considerations of corporate synergy. For example, Robert McChesney
examines the way in which content providers support content creators
in the American film industry. Another essay, by Matthew P. McAllister,
explores the normative problems of news providers whose parent
company is in the entertainment business.

Although both editors have made a token nod to the comparative and
non-American work in the area, the book suffers from being rather
light in its comparative dimension. The few non-American chapters are
interesting but are not representative of the range of issues in other
countries. Nancy Morris' chapter on radio in the U.K. is really written
for Americans and seems to answer the question of why Americans
should care about U.K. radio. Its title belies that: "US Voices on UK
Radio." Though interesting in its exploration of how the American style
of radio is a dominant international voice, its examination of public
broadcasting adds little to any Canadian's knowledge of the subject.
Another comparative chapter, "KFC into India: A Case Study of
Resistance to Globalization," by Melissa Wall, is a carefully written
account of how American corporate interests are represented abroad
versus at home. Using frame analysis, Wall argues that the arrival of
Kentucky Fried Chicken in India represents a clash of dominant news
frames: an indigenous one that resists globalization from an Indian
perspective and an American one that supports American capital
almost uncritically. Her study raises important questions about the
ability of Western media to cover corporate (and cultural) resistance.
The only other consciously comparative chapter is also written from an
American perspective and about American media. Craig Allen's "Sold
American: US News Consultants and News Issues Abroad,"
demonstrates the reach that the American media have through news
consultants. His case study looks at the influence of news consultants
in Great Britain, Germany, Greece, and the Czech Republic. Although
critical of the role consultants play in programming news abroad, Allen
rebukes popular criticism of them, saying that such attacks "belittle
their research function and [have] left the incorrect impression that
they are an aberration in the system" (p. 97).

All three of these chapters are valuable and raise broader questions
about media commercialism. Paradoxically in a book decrying
homogeneity, they are the only three that offer some insight from a
non-American perspective. The inclusion of a chapter about Canada -
arguably one of the most concentrated media markets in the world -
might have rounded out the collection. The Canadian experience has
much to offer this collection. For example, the increasing commercial
pressures faced by our public broadcaster and the well-known tension
between the imperatives of a competitive market dominated by
Americans and fostering an indigenous but less profitable media
market is of relevance to the themes discussed in the volume.

A further limitation of this collection is that it has only one chapter on

media literacy. If we are to arm our students with methods and tools
to resist media commercialism, we need to more fully explore media
literacy as a method of doing so or, at least, of engaging in a debate
about its pratfalls and potential. While Norman Cowie's chapter does a
decent job of describing the American experience, it does not explore
media literacy abroad, though the author acknowledges that the
United Kingdom is an "international leader in the field" (p. 311).

These are generally minor quibbles about an otherwise first-rate

collection. Strate& Andersen have provided an excellent resource for
those who work in the area of communications. By bringing a group of
notable authors together, they have shown us the complexity of the
terrain of media commercialism. This is an important step if we wish to
explore "the possible pathways to take in the hopes of arresting such a
process" (p. 19).