Lloyd, Mark. <br/><br/>
Prologue to a farce :  communication and democracy in America / 
Mark Lloyd. 
 - Urbana :  University of Illinois Press,  (c)2006. 
 - 1 online resource 
 - 
 - The history of communication .
<br/><br/>Includes bibliographies and index. 
<br/><br/>Front cover --  Title Page --  Copyright Page --  Table of Contents --  Acknowledgments --  Introduction --  Part I. Communications and Democracy in America --  1. The Challenge of American Democracy --  2. The Role of Communications in the Democratic Experiment --  Part II. A Brief History of U.S. Communications Policy --  3. The Break: The Telegraph from Jackson to Hayes (1830-1876) --  4. The Telephone and the Trusts (1876-1900) --  5. From Roosevelt to Roosevelt: Wireless and Radio (1900-1934) --  6. From Truman to Eisenhower: The Birth of Television (1935-1959) 7. Kennedy, Johnson, and Satellites (1960-1968)8. From Nixon to Reagan: Backlash and Cable (1968-1991) --  9. The Internet: Communications Policy in the Clinton Era (1992-2000) --  10. The End of History --  Part III. Reclaiming Our Republic --  11. A Few Lessons --  12. Reclaiming Our Republic --  Notes --  Index --  back cover 
<br/><br/> Inspired by Madison's observation, Mark Lloyd has crafted a complex and powerful assessment of the relationship between communications and democracy in the United States. In Prologue to a farce, he argues that citizens' political capabilities depend on broad public access to media technologies, but that the U.S. communications environment has become unfairly dominated by corporate interests. Drawing on a wealth of historical sources, Lloyd demonstrates that despite the persistent hope that a new technology (from the telegraph to the Internet) will rise to serve the needs of the republic, none have solved the fundamental problems created by corporate domination. After examining failed alternatives to the strong publicly-owned communications model, such as anti-trust regulation, the public trustee rules of the Federal Communications Commission, and the under-funded public broadcasting service, Lloyd argues that we must recreate a modern version of the Founder's communications environment, and offers concrete strategies aimed at empowering citizens. 
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<br/><br/><br/>Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002. <br/>http://purl.oclc.org/DLF/benchrepro0212 
<br/><br/><label>ISBN: </label>9781283583398 9786613895844 6613895849 
<br/><br/><label>LCCN: </label>2019717327 
<br/><br/><label>Nat. Bib. No.: </label>GBA6A1996  bnb 
<br/><br/><label>Nat. Bib. Agency Control No.: </label>013618422  Uk 
<br/><br/><label>Subjects--Topical Terms: </label><br/>Communication policy--History.--United States<br/>Democracy--United States.
<br/><br/><label>Index Terms--Genre/Form: </label><br/>Electronic Books.
<br/><br/><label>LC Class. No.: </label>P95  / .P765 2006