Description
Trade Review"Both interesting and informative,
Public Interests makes an extremely valuable contribution to our understanding of media activism in the United States." -- Heather Hendershot * author of What's Fair on the Air?: Cold War Right-Wing Broadcasting and the Public Interest *
"Perlman's meticulously researched and well-argued book is an invaluable addition to policy studies, media history, and the literature on social activism ... As the tools, capacities, and concerns of media reformers continue to shift in the digital era, I strongly recommend this history for its careful explication of the past and thoughtful analysis of what we can learn from that history for our present and future." * Mass Communication and Society *
"Perlman fills in a longstanding gap in television history with this well-researched account of several generations of dedicated reformers, whose efforts made a difference to the major political movements of the twentieth century and beyond....an important story, convincingly told." -- Michele Hilmes * author of Only Connect: A Cultural History of American Broadcasting, 4th ed. *
"Allison Perlman has given the elusive construct of 'the public interest' some brilliant contours in this historical tour-de-force of social movements and their transformative relationship with media policy." -- Jennifer Holt * author of Empires of Entertainment *
"An excellent book that should interest scholars of media history and media studies, US post-war history in general, as well as cultural studies." * Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television *
"Allison Perlman’s story of media advocacy...offers a bracing antidote to [a] gloomy trajectory." * Journal of American History *
Table of ContentsIntroduction1 The Battle for Educational Television: Broadcasting and Citizenship in the Postwar Era2 The Black Freedom Struggle and the Broadcast Reform Movement3 Feminists in the Wasteland Fight Back: The National Organization for Women and Media Reform4 Diversity and Deregulation: The NAACP, Media Deregulation, and Minority Media Rights during the Culture Wars5 Fighting for a Safe Haven: The Parents Television Council and the Restoration of the Family Hour6 The National Hispanic Media Coalition, Spanish-Language Broadcasting, and Latino Media AdvocacyConclusionNotesIndex
