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1. Locating community media -- 2. Tracing the global through the local : perspectives on community media -- 3. Finding a spot on the dial : Firehouse Broadcasting from Bloomington, Indiana -- 4. Downtown community television : cultural politics and technological form -- 5. A poor people's press : Street feat -- 6. Victoria's network : (re) imagining community in the information age.

This paper promotes a research agenda committed to a sustained, multiperspectival cultural analysis of community-based media. In doing so, the essay takes up two interrelated arguments. First, it is suggested that community media represent a conspicuous blind spot in cultural approaches to communication studies: a situation that is at odds with the hallmarks of cultural studies scholarship, especially its affirmation of popular forms of resistance and its celebration of and keen appreciation for local cultural production. Second, the author maintains that as a site of intense struggle over cultural production, distribution, and consumption within and through communication and information technologies, community media demand the rigorous, interdisciplinary approaches and interventionist strategies associated with the finest traditions of cultural studies scholarship. The author concludes that this research program is essential for appreciating the social, political, and cultural significance of locally oriented, participatory media in an increasingly privatized, global media environment.

AbstractThis essay provides an overview of the field of community media studies. Like the study of "alternative media," "citizens' media," "independent," and "radical" media – to mention but a few of the terms applied to participatory communication projects – academic inquiry into the structures, forms, and practices of community media has surged in recent years. While scholars often use these labels interchangeably, this essay focuses on academic and practitioner perspectives that explicitly and purposefully employ the term "community media." The overview identifies and briefly considers three prominent conceptual frameworks – media democratization, civil society, and the symbolic construction of community – which shape and inform this vibrant field of study. This overview concludes with some thoughts on the limits and possibilities of community media theory, and practice, in the new millennium.

During the summer of 2003, the Federal Communication Commission conducted a biennial review of media ownership regulations. This review process, mandated by the US Congress under the terms of the 1996 Telecommunication Act, assesses the efficacy of current regulations limiting television
and radio ownership, as well as cross-ownership of newspapers and broadcast stations, in serving the public interest. These questions rest on the ability of policy-makers to assess two distinct, but related aspects of media performance: diversity and localism.

This paper promotes a research agenda committed to a sustained, multiperspectival cultural analysis of community-based media. In doing so, the essay takes up two interrelated arguments. First, it is suggested that community media represent a conspicuous blind spot in cultural approaches to communication studies: a situation that is at odds with the hallmarks of cultural studies scholarship, especially its affirmation of popular forms of resistance and its celebration of and keen appreciation for local cultural production. Second, the author maintains that as a site of intense struggle over cultural production, distribution, and consumption within and through communication and information technologies, community media demand the rigorous, interdisciplinary approaches and interventionist strategies associated with the finest traditions of cultural studies scholarship. The author concludes that this research program is essential for appreciating the social, political, and cultural significance of locally oriented, participatory media in an increasingly privatized, global media environment.

1 Introduction: Painting by Numbers—Decoding the Discourse of Economics -- 2 American Dream: Manufacturing Monetary Miasma -- 3 Bread and Circuses, or Poppies to Make You Sleep -- 4 Children of the Revolution: Reaganomics as Free Market Redux -- 5 Spirits in the Material World: Alan Greenspan and the Newspeak Economy -- 6 (Misery at the) Funplex: From Ideology to Imagology -- 7 Public Image Limited, or He Blind(er)ed Me with Silence -- 8 (Tell Me Why) I Don't Like Mondays: The Crash of 1987 -- 9 Vision Thing: The Savings and Loan Debacle -- 10 Who You Fighting For? Desert Storm and the Recession of 1990 -- 11 Telling Stories: Interrogating "Irrational Exuberance" -- 12 The Disappointed: The "Great Recession" of 2008 -- 13 Tired of Sleeping: Trumped Up Trickle Down -- 14 Epilogue: We Can't Make It Here—Moving Beyond the Free Market.

This book explores the American freemarket economy, espoused by Alan Greenspan, the longtime chairman of the Federal Reserve, through decoding the discourse of economics. Combining an analysis of both economics and language, the legacy of Reaganomics is examined in relation to economic inequality, fiscal policy, public discourse, and the moral economy. How notions of easy money, conspicuous consumption, and unlimited economic growth were harnessed to justify the Free Market revolution is also discussed. This book aims to highlight the drivers of modern inequality and economic distress. It will be relevant to students and researchers interested in the history of economic thought and economic discourse. Geoff Klinger (1966-2021) was Professor of Rhetoric and Director of Forensics at DePauw University. His research and teaching interests included the connection between rhetoric and social theory; political communication; presidential, civil rights, and business rhetoric; and Supreme Court decisions.

This volume examines the rising role that alternative media play in contemporary mainstream political communication. The book focuses on three primary sites where such media have established growing influence in recent years: political parties, mainstream political news, and participatory media that allow for engagement.