NCMR 11: Historical and Contemporary Challenges, continued

Victor's starting his presentation of historical precedent in the 1940s. "We come to learn that our current policies are the product of political practices, not best practices." Say it!

"Early on, there was a social contract between media institutions, the public, and the state."

Victor is establishing that

• Public discourse criticizing radio in both the left press, but in popular venues like Reader's Digest
  
• There was a coalition of disgruntled intellectuals, labor, women's groups and others
• This coalition coalesced around a laundry list of complaints that should be familiar to any of us today
• Results include the 49 fairness doctrine, in unpublished government proceedings, proposals as radical as public utility, community run newspapers were being considered
• Unfortunately, the social contract that developed priveleged media producers

Why did the movement fail?

• Failed to coordinate activists, especially between DC-based and grassroots groups
• Dramatic rightward shift in national economic discourse, ie corporatism (alliance between big business, big government, and big labor)
• Progressives moved away from structural criticism to focus on policing content

I can't tell any more if he's talking history or braking news in the media movement.

3 lessons:

• Solidarity, as reformers become more aggressive, the national-grassroots coordination becomes more important
  
• Recognize connections to larger political and economic forces
  
• We ignore recurring structural problems at our peril, ie "we give the audience what they want," "the Internet is solving everything"

To step back a bit, I just have to wonder if Victor's intimacy with the current movement hasn't sent him seeking parallels in history, but I'm no expert in historiography.

Still, awesome presentation.