The New Telecom Oligarchs

Here, Cropps says federal regulatory agencies make definitional decisions in the lives of Americans but they are little covered by their diminished media; and even when the stories are told, they tend to be told from the perspective of the powerful. That's what makes Susan Crawford's book Captive Audience: The Telecom Industry and Monopoly Power in the New Gilded Age so remarkable. She gets the facts straight. But she also does something just as important: she puts the facts in perspective, providing readers with an analysis that is essential if we are ever going to forge communications policies that serve all Americans. She adds that an informed citizenry is the prerequisite of self-government. Without vibrant media that dig for facts and tell truth to the American people, they don't have a shot at resolving the many challenges their country confronts. It is not only an audience that's being held captive--it is their democracy, too.