The Problem of the Media
Poor, black, and suffering Americans. These are the images that flashed across TV screens in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Reporters asked why there was no help for people who couldn’t afford to evacuate. And columnists wrote of a shocked and outraged America, an America which had finally discovered its own poverty and racism. For a brief moment, the corporate media drew back the curtains and revealed a reality we hardly ever see. Now, we have a choice. We can make cosmetic changes. Or, we can reach beyond the issues that have divided us, and challenge the structural causes of this catastrophe. One of those structural causes is the corporate media which have systematically failed to inform us about poverty and racism here at home.
Interview by David Barsamian.
Recorded at the National Conference for Media Reform.
Speaker
Robert McChesney
Robert McChesney was a leading media historian and public intellectual. He was a professor at the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and later was the Gutgsell Endowed Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. He was co-founder of Free Press, a non-profit organization working to increase public participation in media policy debates. His work focused on the role of journalism and democracy in a capitalist system. An activist scholar, he was a champion of independent progressive media. Noam Chomsky said, “Robert McChesney’s work has been of extraordinary importance. It should be read with care and concern by people who care about freedom and basic rights.” A prolific author, among his many books are Rich Media, Poor Democracy, Blowing the Roof off the Twenty-First Century, and Digital Disconnect. He is co-author with John Nichols of Dollarocracy and People Get Ready. Robert McChesney passed away in late March 2025.
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