1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910965279403321

Autore

Allen David S. <1955->

Titolo

Democracy, Inc : the press and law in the corporate rationalization of the public sphere / / David S. Allen

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Urbana, : University of Illinois Press, c2005

ISBN

9786613077349

9781283077347

1283077345

9780252090400

0252090403

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (217 p.)

Collana

The history of communication

Disciplina

343.7309/98

Soggetti

Press law - United States

Corporate state - United States

Democracy - United States

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. [161]-194) and index.

Nota di contenuto

The rise of corporate rationalization -- Corporate rationalization and discourse democracy : seeking alternatives -- Professionalization of the press and law : routinization and management -- Defining a professional mission : the law and the question of public representation -- Corporate ownership and the press : collapsing distinctions -- Public television, parks, parades, and rest areas : managing the property of public life -- Resisting corporate rationalization : toward a discourse theory of the First Amendment.

Sommario/riassunto

In Democracy, Inc., David S. Allen exposes the vested interests behind the U.S. slide toward conflating corporate values with public and democratic values. He argues that rather than being institutional protectors of democratic principles, the press and law perversely contribute to the destruction of public discourse in the United States today.Allen utilizes historical, philosophical, sociological, and legal sources to trace America's gradual embrace of corporate values. He argues that such values, including winning, efficiency, and profitability actually limit democratic involvement by devaluing discursive



principles, creating an informed yet inactive public. Through an examination of professionalization in both the press and the law, corporate free speech rights, and free speech as property, Democracy, Inc. demonstrates that today's democracy is more about trying to control and manage citizens than giving them the freedom to participate. Allen not only calls on institutions to reform the way they understand and promote citizenship but also asks citizens to adopt a new ethic of public discourse that values understanding rather than winning.