Article Report by Caleb Benz: "How can the Political Economy of Communication Help Us Understand the Internet?" by Robert M

   The author of this book is Robert McChesney. He is an American professor at the University of Illinois (sorry to hear that Robert). His work focuses on history and political economy of communication, emphasizing the role that media plays in a democratic and capitalist society, especially with the focus on journalism. Robert states in the article that he is a co-founder of Free-Press, a media reform organization. He is authentic and credible in his field.
 

   This book was published in March of 2013. McChesney's thesis is that the capitalist world in which the internet has been born foreshadows a poor future not only for the internet, but for democratic prospects as well. He begins by bringing communication alongside capitalism and democracy. Discussing how the Political economy of communication (PEC) is able to evaluate the median and communication systems by determining how they affect social power in society. Robert portrays the idea of how the introduction of internet could be the fourth critical juncture in history. He says "the digital revolution is overwhelming all existing media and journalism is at its lowest ebb since the Progressive era. The overall stability of the political and social system is the last domino to fall". The excerpt focuses on how policy making faces a variety of communication policy issues affecting digital communication that are often about technological choices. "If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange apples, then you and I will still have one apple, but if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, we each have two ideas". This is a great metaphor put forward in the excerpt that shows how the problem is that a person's use of information, unlike material goods, does not stop others from using it. Overall, he urges us to turn to the democratizing potential of the digital revolution through his critique of the internet. 

   In my opinion this book was meant to target certain types of audiences, specifically the affluent. Especially those from diverse scholarly and professional backgrounds, and those potentially higher on the socioeconomic ladder that are concerned with government policies. It is specifically attractive to political activists. To be honest I am not specifically concerned with government policy making, nor do I consider myself politically intellectual at this point in my life, but I still enjoyed reading this excerpt. 

   Digital Disconnect must join the list of must-reads produced by Robert McChesney during his illustrious career. The article was seen by his audience as an intelligent, scholarly, critique of the internet. Most activists and politically engaged individuals perceived this book in a positive manner. Morris P. Florina wrote " Disconnect: The Breakdown of Representation in American Politics". This covers how are politics differ from previous eras in the history of the U.S.. This is similar to the discussion created by McChesney, however, McChesney's book covers the relationship between the internet and policy decisions (governing in the capitalistic society). There is a lot of discussion on this topic of "technology and the government" in our information society today. 

Caleb Benz 

"Capitalism vs. the Internet - A Review of Digital Disconnect by Robert McChesney." LibrarianShipwreck. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2014.

Robert McChesney, “How can the political economy of communication help us understand the Internet?” in Digital Disconnect (2013).