Media critic to speak on media reform

Is the mass media undermining democracy? Scholar and well-known media critic Robert W. McChesney would argue that it is – and that government is complicit in the process.

McChesney will visit NIU for a lecture at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 10, in the NIU Music Building, Room 173. The lecture will focus on the foundations of the media-reform movement, of which he is a leading member.

The event is free and open to the public.

“We are currently experiencing a time of profound distrust of both the media and political leaders,” says Steven Ralston, chair of the NIU Department of Communication. “Dr. McChesney offers a careful analysis not only of what ails our media, but how this affects the functioning of democracy, and what can be done to reform the current way the media works.”

McChesney is a professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and author or editor of several award-winning books. His work concentrates on the history and political economy of communication, emphasizing the role media play in democratic and capitalist societies.

He is also co-founder of Free Press, a national, nonpartisan organization working to reform the media.

McChesney’s visit is co-sponsored by the DeKalb Interfaith Network for Peace and Justice and by NIU’s departments of communication and sociology. For more information, call (815) 895-7026.

4-9-07