Commercial Culture

This critique of the American commercial media comes from a writer who has wide experience in both the media business and in academia. Bogart explores how commercial demands affect the substance and form of American media, and argues that the future of the media should not be left to market forces.

Leo Bogart

Introduction; I: Fundamentals; 1: What are The Media?; 2: The Media System; II: Advertising as the Driving Force; 3: The Presence of Advertising; 4: Paying the Piper, Calling the Tune; 5: Advertising by the Numbers; III: Flaws and Failures of Commercial Culture; 6: The Pursuit of Sensation; 7: The News as Entertainment; 8: Believing in the Make-Believe; IV: Dynamics of Commercial Culture; 9: The Manufacture of Taste; 10: Managing Commercial Culture; 11: Media Support and Media Substance; V: Is There a Better Way?; 12: Reform, Restructure, or Leave It Be?