General & Miscellaneous Law, Journalism, Civil & Human Rights, Civil Rights Law, Media & Communications, Politics & Government - General & Miscellaneous, Constitutional Law

The Free Press

Name: The Free Press
Author: Hilaire Belloc
ISBN: 9781557426543

by Hilaire Belloc

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Overview

Hilaire Belloc's classic 1918 essay shows how mass media (in his day, newspapers) are a product of capitalism, selling for less than production costs with the balance made up from advertising. This makes newspapers beholden to their advertisers and slants the truths which they can deliver to the masses, leading to a huge potential conflict of interest. An interesting and insightful indictment of the power of capitalism vs. truth in the mass media, as valid today as when it was first written.

About the Author, Hilaire Belloc

Hilaire Belloc began his academic career with a lecture tour of the United States in 1892. He became a member of the Fabian Society in the early 1900s and met George Bernard Shaw and H. G. Wells, who helped him obtain work with newspapers such as the Daily News and The Speaker. Eventually he became literary editor of the Morning Post. He was elected to the House of Commons in 1906. He also wrote several novels, such as Mr. Clutterbuck's Election and A Change in the Cabinet, along with historical works such as The French Revolution and the History of England. Belloc also published a series of historical biographies: Oliver Cromwell, James II, Richelieu, Wolsey, Napoleon, and Charles II.