Trade unions,
certain educational institutions and religious groups
commenced "public radio" broadcasts.
The Commercial Phase
When the users (e.g., listeners in the case of the radio, or
owners of PCs and modems in the case of the Internet) reach a
critical mass - the business sector is alerted. In the name of
capitalist ideology (another religion, really) it demands
"privatization" of the medium. This harps on very sensitive
strings in every Western soul: the efficient allocation of
resources which is the result of competition. Corruption and
inefficiency are intuitively associated with the public sector
("Other People's Money" - OPM). This, together with the
ulterior motives of members of the ruling political echelons
(the infamous American Paranoia), a lack of variety and of
catering to the tastes and interests of certain audiences and
the automatic equation of private enterprise with democracy
lead to a privatization of the young medium.
The end result is the same: the private sector takes over the
medium from "below" (makes offers to the owners or operators
of the medium that they cannot possibly refuse) - or from
"above" (successful lobbying in the corridors of power leads
to the appropriate legislation and the medium is
"privatized").
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