"The Creation of the Media" by Paul Starr - food for thought.

Most of “The Creation of the Media” by Paul Starr blew my mind, but here are some favorite tidbits:

- The American newspaper industry would never have gotten started at all if it weren’t for massive government subsidies. Namely, discounted postal rates in the 18th century. The Postal Service played an absolutely crucial role in the formation of both the newspaper industry, and democracy itself, after the right to privacy was codified in the law. It had been standard operating procedure for the Brits to open mail in the colonies to suppress rebellion, etc. It’s something we take for granted now.

- The telegraph was the moment at which the speed of communication first outpaced the speed of transportation.

- The movie industry before World War I was magical! Little theatres in storefronts! Labor movies! Movies about women! Movies in lots of languages! Movies as travelogues! Totally diverse and representative of multiple ethnic communities! Movies that cost virtually nothing to make, or watch! A beautiful and diverse thing until vertical integration and creepy cultural consolidation.

- The Associated Press used to be a cartel that would put newspapers out of business if they didn’t subscribe, and that would use its overwhelming power to side with individual Presidential candidates – and get them elected.

- The Lazarfeld study of presidential voting in Ohio in the 1940s showed that in this case, the media rarely changed anyone’s minds – far more important in decision-making process were social networks and the ideas of “local opinion leaders.” It showed that people self select what they read and watch, and that they read and watch are almost always reinforcing what they believe rather than challenging it. Although we no longer live in Ohio in the 1940s, this study opens up a whole can of worms.

My direct personal experience is that this is true, especially in local and other low-information elections. Maybe that is the 2000s speaking, as even the concept of “broadcast” fades in relevance. But if I really am to follow this down the rabbit hole, I have to wonder what exactly is the public sphere? If it is not the media, then where does the public sphere exist anymore, especially in an age of increasing social fragmentation?

Other than politics, I think the most interesting place where you see the re-emerging importance of social networks is in the music industry. It’s a really simple question: how do you find out about new music? But the answer to it has changed so much over the last 50 years. It went from social networks, to local DJs...and then, with the death of commercial radio and the advent of automated playlists that turn DJs into functionaries requiring no more knowledge or creativity than burger flippers at McDonalds…we’re back to good old word of mouth. Except that we have this electronic version of word of mouth now, and it’s called MySpace.

- We used to have something in the U.S. called the Committee on Public Information. It was a part of the federal government set up to control propaganda during World War I, and is regarded as the beginning of the public-relations industry.

- When radio first went on the air in 1920s, there were four main types of programming:
1. RCA, Westinghouse, and the other radio manufacturers ran stations to promote the sales of radio receivers. At the time, people thought the way to make money off of radio was to sell the hardware. They had no idea about advertising.
2. Private businesses like department stores and newspapers started their own stations to promote themselves.
3. Colleges/churches/nonprofits operated stations.
4. “Toll broadcasting” – WEAF in New York City. You could pay for airtime.
When the concept of advertising was first invented for radio, it was seen as so abhorrent that even people in the advertising industry were against it. Or as President Herbert Hoover put it at the first radio conference in 1922: “it is inconceivable that we should allow so great a possibility for service, for news, for entertainment, for education, and for vital commercial purposes, to be drowned in advertising chatter.”
Which of course brings to mind the current war for the soul of the Internet…