Robert W. McChesney
Robert Waterman McChesney (born December 22, 1952) is an American professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign as the Gutgsell Endowed Professor in the Department of Communication.[1] He specializes in the history and political economy of communications, and the role media play in democratic and capitalist societies. He co-founded the Free Press,[2] a national media reform organization. From 2002–12, he hosted “Media Matters”[3] weekly radio program every Sunday afternoon on WILL-AM radio.
Robert W. McChesney | |
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![]() McChesney in 2005 | |
Born | Robert Waterman McChesney December 22, 1952 Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. |
Alma mater |
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Occupation | Professor, author, activist, journalist |
Employer | University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign |
Known for |
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Spouse(s) | Inger Stole |
Website | robertmcchesney![]() |
Background and education
McChesney was born in Cleveland (Ohio) to Samuel Parker McChesney, an advertising salesman for This Week magazine, and Edna Margaret "Meg" (née McCorkle) McChesney, a nurse.[4][5] He attended The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, where he studied history and political economy.[6] After college, he worked as a sports stringer for United Press International (UPI), published a weekly newspaper, and in 1979 was the founding publisher of The Rocket, a Seattle-based rock magazine which chronicled the birth of the Seattle rock scene of the late 1980s and 1990s.[7]
Assessment of the media
McChesney has said the term "deregulated media" is a misnomer, that media organizations are a government sanctioned oligopoly, owned by a few highly profitable corporate entities. They have legislative influence and control news coverage, to distort public understanding of media issues.[8]
McChesney's article "Farewell To Journalism" conveys the notion that the current US media system is deteriorating, and that this freefall threatens the democratic system itself. Within the article, he highlights what scholars believe to be the key characteristics of healthy journalism. "It is necessary...that the media system as a whole makes such journalism a realistic expectation for the citizenry."[9]
Bibliography
- People Get Ready: The Fight Against a Jobless Economy and a Citizenless Democracy. Nation Books. March 8, 2016. ISBN 9781568585215.
- Blowing the Roof Off the Twenty-First Century: Media, Politics, and the Struggle for Post-Capitalist Democracy. NYU Press. October 22, 2014. ISBN 978-1-58367-478-9.[10]
- Nichols, John; McChesney, Robert W (2013). Dollarocracy: How Billionaires Are Buying Our Democracy and What We Can Do About It. Nation Books. ISBN 978-1-56858-711-0.
- Digital Disconnect: How Capitalism is Turning the Internet Against Democracy. New Press. March 5, 2013. ISBN 978-1-59558-891-3.
- Foster, John Bellamy; McChesney, Robert W. (September 1, 2012). The Endless Crisis: How Monopoly-Finance Capital Produces Stagnation and Upheaval from the USA to China. NYU Press. ISBN 978-1-58367-314-0.
- Nichols, John; McChesney, Robert W. (2010). The Death and Life of American Journalism: The Media Revolution that Will Begin the World Again. Nation Books. ISBN 9781568586052.
- The Political Economy of Media: Enduring Issues, Emerging Dilemmas. NYU Press. 1 May 2008. ISBN 978-1-58367-161-0.
- Communication Revolution: Critical Junctures and the Future of Media. New Press. 2007. ISBN 9781595582072.
- The Problem of the Media: U.S. Communication Politics in the 21st Century. Monthly Review Press. 2004. ISBN 978-1583671054.
- Herman, Edward S.; McChesney, Robert W. (August 27, 2001). Global Media: The New Missionaries of Global Capitalism. A&C Black. ISBN 978-0-8264-5819-3.
- Rich Media, Poor Democracy: Communication Politics in Dubious Times. New Press. 2 June 1999. ISBN 978-1-62097-070-6.
See also
References
- Robert W. McChesney | Department of Communication | University of Illinois
- Free Press website, freepress.net; accessed April 13, 2015.
- "Media Matters | Illinois Public Media". Will.illinois.edu. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
- "United States Public Records, 1970-2009". FamilySearch. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
- "Mcchesney, Samuel Parker Jr". Hartford Courant. Archived from the original on May 11, 2017. Retrieved March 10, 2017.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
- "Robert McChesney '77 on Tour with New Book: "Dollarocracy"". The Evergreen Mind. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
- "Professional Experience - Robert W. McChesney". Retrieved March 10, 2017.
- Lendman, Stephen (July 2, 2008). "Robert McChesney's The Political Economy of Media (Part I)". Dissident Voice.
- McChesney, Robert (23 October 2012). "Farewell To Journalism?". Journalism Practice. 6 (5–6): 614–626. doi:10.1080/17512786.2012.683273.
- McChesney, Robert W. "Capitalism as We Know It Has Got to Go". Truthout. Retrieved 2018-09-12.