Basic Issues in Mass Communication: A Debate

Health, Fitness & Dieting

John C. Merrill

Everette E. Dennis

Psychology & Counseling

Prentice Hall College Div.

This text offers an all-inclusive assessment of the rapidly changing world of mass communications. Including coverage of global communication and ethics; a meaningful study of evolving media economics in the individual media chapters; and a stronger focus on media history.

Modern Mass Media: Communication in Society

Politics & Social Sciences

John D. Lee

Social Sciences

Harpercollins

This text offers an all-inclusive assessment of the rapidly changing world of mass communications. Including coverage of global communication and ethics; a meaningful study of evolving media economics in the individual media chapters; and a stronger focus on media history.

Modern Mass Media (2nd Edition)

Edward Jay Friedlander

Pearson

Book by Ralph L. Lowenstein, John C. Merrill

Macromedia: Mission, Message, and Morality

Ralph L. Lowenstein

Longman Pub. Group

What If You Could Interview the Greatest Minds in the History of Communication? 
You can, thanks to the authors of this book, who have used their imaginations to help others learn about the important contributions that Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Locke, Dewey and others have made to the history of the press and communication. 
"This book is intended for general readers and university students who, while having an interest in philosophy, don’t want too much of it," the authors write in the preface to this highly readable book. "Especially it is aimed at journalism and communication students—and by extension to practicing mass communicators—who are tired of wading through gray fields of type and esoteric language to get at the essence of the ideas of great thinkers."

Media Musings: Interviews with Great Thinkers

Philosophy

Marquette Books

America s No. 1 Libertarian Media Scholar Warns About Authoritarian Control -- Decision-making in American government and other institutions in the 21st century is likely to become more authoritarian and will drift away from the democratic ideals of the Enlightenment. That's the main conclusion John C. Merrill, a professor emeritus of journalism, reaches in Call to Order, which is sure to be one of his most provocative books. "The postmodern inclination toward relativism and subjectivism, when faced with the real dangers of human survival, will begin to fade away and ... acute dangers require strong leaders, and disorder exemplified in the 20th century politics will demand ever-stricter government controls and social order. Hobbes, with his clarion call from Plato, will raise his voice again against the champions of people's sovereignty. Human responsibilities will increasingly replace human rights as power-systems step in to bring order to nations and to larger governmental blocs. In the name of the poor and downtrodden, the exploited environment, the impulse to egalitarianism, and the need for a common health care and education, the state controllers will join forces to centralize power in their hands. As citizens become more individually impotent ... social order will be assured." In Call to Order, Merrill summarizes Plato s ideas about social control, which emphasize a benevolent but authoritarian system, and then briefly traces its legacy, covering all major thinkers up to the present. Merrill is particularly concerned about the rise of neo-Marxist theories, postmodernism, and the communitarianism and public journalism movements. "They have not directly condemned freedom, but in very subtle ways have proposed limiting the power of the media managers and putting it in the hands of the citizens or in government agencies. The assumption here is that some extra-press authority would be more responsible managers than are the current directors, publishers, and editors." He writes that "communitarianism today is trying to reestablish community and values, to put the society above egoistic individualism, and to stress social obligation rather than an obsession with personal freedom. The collectivity in a sense becomes the authority a kind of democratic authoritarianism. Does this mean that the 'community' has some sort of authority? It seems so, but its nature is amorphous. At any rate, individualism must be lost or subsumed in the community." Merrill isn t completely pessimistic. He says newspapers like The New York Times, France's Le Monde, and England's The Independent will continue to improve and provide credible information. However, the long-term prospects for libertarian ideas of freedom and individuality are not promising. Call to Order is highly readable and sure to spark considerable debate among scholars from numerous disciplines as well as from students in upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses in media theory, First Amendment and media ethics.

Call to Order: Plato's Legacy of Social Control

Controversies in Media Ethics

William Babcock

A. David Gordon

John Michael Kittross

Michael Dorsher

Routledge

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Books by John C. Merrill