Who Owns the Media? Global Trends and Local Resistances Edited by Pradip Thomas and Zaharom Nain Publisher: Southbound in association with WACC and Zed Press ISBN 983-9054-42-2. 316 pages. 14 X 21.5 cm. Paperback: US$20 Click here to order with Visa and MasterCard credit cards

The ownership of the media and issues related to the governance of global media institutions are of immense public significance. Not only are the cultural industries a major source of contemporary power — economic, political, social — they are also the primary definers of consciousness in most parts of the contemporary world.

Media ownership patterns and permutations today are a direct consequence of the globalisation of neo-liberal economics. While there are some regional variations in the ownership "mix" the trend, from South Africa to Argentina and India to East and Central Europe, is towards privatisation, deregulation, retreat from the state’s public media responsibilities and the contraction of space for non-commercial, community-based media efforts.

This collection of critical writings on media ownership from different parts of the world by leading scholars, including Robert McChesney, Dan Schiller, Cees Hamelink, Sean O'Siochru, Zhao Yuezhi and others, offers a richly textured, contextual reading of the political economy of contemporary media ownership. Issues addressed include convergence, global media governance, intellectual property, telecommunications regulation and deregulation, censorship, the role of the state, with a strong accent on the need for transparency, accountability and media diversity.
 

Foreword by Peter Golding

Editors' Preface

PART 1: THEORY AND POLICIES

• The political economy of international communications by Robert W. McChesney
• Global institutions and the democratization of media by Seán Ó Siochrú
• Intellectual property rights by Cees J. Hamelink

PART 2: REGIONAL AND COUNTRY CASE STUDIES

• Privatisation: The costs of media democratization in East and Central Europe by Slavko Splichal
• The politics of the media in the English-speaking Caribbean by Hopeton S. Dunn
• The political economy of media in Southern Africa, 1990-2001 by William Hueva, Keyan Tomaselli and Ruth Teer-Tomaselli
• Media ownership and control in Africa in the age of globalization by Francis B. Nyamnjoh
• Media and neoliberalism in Latin America by Ana Fiol
• Communications and the crisis: From Neoliberal to authoritarian development? by Dan Schiller
• The state, the market, and media control in China by Yuezhi Zhao
• Media ownership and communication rights in India by Pradip N. Thomas
• The political economy of media ownership in Nigeria by Mohammed Musa and Jibril Mohammed
• Ownership, control and the Malaysian media by Zaharom Nain and Wang Lay Kim

PART 3: DEMOCRATIC COMMUNICATION FUTURES

• The whole world is watching: Online surveillance of social movement organizations by Sasha Costanza-Chock
• Agendas for research and strategies for intervention by Pradip N. Thomas