Digital disconnect: how capitalism is turning the Internet against democracy

321 Pages·2013·2.18 MB·English

by  Robert W. McChesney

ADvAnCe PRAise fOR robert W. “A hard-to-put-down, media studies / current affairs $27.95 u.s.
mcchesney meticulously researched must-read.”
diGital disconnect
d —Juliet B. scHor
“A major new work by one of the nation’s lead- robert W. According to celebrAted mediA
ing analysts of media. . . . mcchesney shows scholar robert W. mcchesney, most
m chesney
c
how the economic context of the digital envi- i analyses of the internet oscillate
ronment is making the difference between an g dd between utopian bliss and dystopian
open and democratic internet and one which is hell, completely failing to address the
manipulated for private gain.”
relationship between economic
—Juliet B. scHor, author of True Wealth
i power and the digital world. in Digital
and The Overworked American
t Disconnect, mcchesney offers a bold
ii
“mcchesney penetrates to the heart of the new argument that reveals just how
robert W. mcchesney is the Gutgsell issue: change the system/change the inter- A sg undemocratic the internet has become.
endowed Professor in the department of net. both/And—not either/or. indispensable mcchesney’s award-winning Rich
reading as we lay groundwork for the coming
communication at the university of illinois at Media, Poor Democracy skewered the
great movement to reclaim America.”
urbana-champaign. He is the author of sev- l assumption that a society drenched in
—Gar alPeroVitz,
eral books on the media, including the award- c commercial information is a democratic
author of What Then Must We Do? and professor of i
winning Rich Media, Poor Democracy and political economy, university of maryland one. in Digital Disconnect, the author
Communication Revolution, and a co-editor d t returns to this provocative thesis in
(with Victor Pickard) of Will the Last Reporter “once again, mcchesney stands at the light of the advances of the digital age,
crossroads of media dysfunction and the
Please Turn Out the Lights (all available from o arguing that the sharp decline in the
the new Press). denial of democracy, illuminating the com- i enforcement of antitrust violations, the
plex issues involved and identifying a path A
s increase in patents on digital technol-
forward to try to repair the damage.
ogy and proprietary systems, and mas-
here’s hoping the rest of us have the
good sense to listen this time.” c sive indirect subsidies have made the
—eric alterman, professor of english n internet a place of numbing commer-
and journalism, Brooklyn college, l cialism. mcchesney points out that now
city university of new York o only a handful of monopolies dominate
the political economy of the internet,
PRAise fOR
from Google, which garners an aston-
ricH media, Poor democracY n
n Ath ishing 97 percent share of the mobile
“if thomas paine were around, he would have guo search market, to microsoft, whose
written this book. if paul revere were here, ArW operating system is used by over 90
he would have spread the word.” n in percent of the world’s computers. this
n
—Bill moYers ic
esnA capitalistic colonization of cyberspace
“A rich and penetrating study advances tg has spurred the near-collapse of cred-
e p
considerably his pioneering work. . . . d ti ible journalism and made the internet a
[A] very significant contribution.” t disturbingly antidemocratic force.
eh
A
—noam cHomskY c cme Digital Disconnect offers a ground-
l
o ii breaking analysis and critique of the
ns internet, urging us to reclaim the
c
t tm democratizing potential of the digital
r
THE NEW PRESS Ae i revolution while we still can.
www.thenewpress.com t rs
cn
author photograph by Brent nicastro y
e
Jacket design by stewart cauley design, new York
t
THE NEW PRESS

Digital Disconnect_jacket.indd 1 12/17/12 2:25 PM
DIGITAL DISCONNECT

ALSO by RObERT W. MCChESNEy
Dollarocracy (with John Nichols)
The Endless Crisis (with John bellamy Foster)
The Death and Life of American Journalism (with John Nichols)
Our Media, Not Theirs (with John Nichols)
Communication Revolution
The Political Economy of Media
Tragedy and Farce (with John Nichols)
The Problem of the Media
Rich Media, Poor Democracy
The Global Media (with Edward S. herman)
Corporate Media and the Threat to Democracy
Telecommunications, Mass Media, and Democracy
EDITED VOLuMES
Will the Last Reporter Please Turn Out the Lights (with Victor Pickard)
The Future of Media (with Russell Newman and ben Scott)
Our Unfree Press (with ben Scott)
Capitalism and the Information Age
(with Ellen Meiksins Wood and John bellamy Foster)
Ruthless Criticism (with William Solomon)

DIGITAL DISCONNECT
hOW CAPITALISM IS TuRNING ThE
INTERNET AGAINST DEMOCRACy
Robert W. McChesney
© 2013 by Robert W. McChesney
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, in any form,
without written permission from the publisher.
Requests for permission to reproduce selections from this book should be mailed to:
Permissions Department, The New Press, 38 Greene Street, New york, Ny 10013.
Published in the united States by The New Press, New york, 2013
Distributed by Perseus Distribution
library of congress cataloging-in-publication data
McChesney, Robert Waterman, 1952–
Digital disconnect : how capitalism is turning the Internet against democracy /
Robert W. McChesney.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISbN 978-1-59558-867-8 (hardcover)
ISbN 978-1-59558-891-3 (e-book)
1. Internet—Political aspects. 2. Capitalism. 3. Democracy. I. Title.
hM851.M393 2013
302.23'1—dc23
2012035748
The New Press publishes books that promote and enrich public discussion and understanding of
the issues vital to our democracy and to a more equitable world. These books are made possible by
the enthusiasm of our readers; the support of a committed group of donors, large and small; the col-
laboration of our many partners in the independent media and the not-for-profit sector; booksellers,
who often hand-sell New Press books; librarians; and above all by our authors.
www.thenewpress.com
Composition by dix!
This book was set in Electra
Printed in the united States of America
2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1
C O N T E N T S
List of Illustrations ix
Preface xi
1. What Is the Elephant in the Digital Room? 1
2. Does Capitalism Equal Democracy? 23
3. how Can the Political Economy of Communication
help us understand the Internet? 63
4. The Internet and Capitalism I: Where Dinosaurs Roam? 96
5. The Internet and Capitalism II: Empire of the Senseless? 130
6. Journalism Is Dead! Long Live Journalism? 172
7. Revolution in the Digital Revolution? 216
Notes 233
Index 285

L i s t o f i L L u s t r a t i o n s
Chart 1. number of work stoppages involving 1,000 or more workers 31
Chart 2. income share of the bottom 99.5 percent 33
Chart 3. income share of the top 1 percent 34
Chart 4. Labor productivity and labor compensation 34
Chart 5. number and percentage of concentrated u.s.
manufacturing industries 38
Chart 6. revenue of the top 200 u.s. corporations as a percent
of total business revenue 40
Chart 7. real u.s. GDP growth 48
Chart 8. Voter turnout by income in presidential elections 60
Chart 9. Voter turnout by income in interim elections 61
table 1. Journalism funding and democracy 210
Chart 10. investment in information processing equipment and
software equipment as a percent of total nonresidential
private fixed investment 222
ix