Culture, Inc.: The Corporate Takeover of Public Expression

by Herbert Irving Schiller

Most Americans take for granted that they live in an open society with a free market of ideas. But as Herbert Schiller reveals in Culture, Inc. , the corporate arm has reached into every corner of daily life, and from the shopping mall to the art gallery, big-business influence has brought
about some frightening changes in American culture. Examining the effects of fifty years worth of corporate growth on American culture, Schiller argues that corporate control over such arenas of culture as museums, theaters, performing arts centers, and public broadcasting stations has resulted in
a broad manipulation of consciousness as well as an insidious form of censorship. A disturbing but enlightening picture of corporate America, Culture, Inc. exposes the agenda and methods of the corporate cultural takeover, reveals the growing threat to free access to information at home and
abroad, shows how independent channels of expression have been greatly restricted, and explains how the few keep managing to benefit from the many.

Genres: Politics, Sociology, Economics, Social Science

208 pages, Paperback

First published September 14, 1989

About the author

Schiller warned of two major trends in his prolific writings and speeches: the private takeover of public space and public institutions at home, and U.S. corporate domination of cultural life abroad, especially in the developing nations. His eight books and hundreds of articles in both scholarly and popular journals made him a key figure both in communication research and in the public debate over the role of the media in modern society. He was widely known for the term “packaged consciousness,” that argues American media is controlled by a few corporations that “create, process, refine and preside over the circulation of images and information which determines our beliefs, attitudes and ultimately our behavior.” Schiller used Time Warner Inc. as an example of packaged consciousness, stating that it “basically dominates publishing, cable television, recordings, tapes and filmmaking.”

Reviews

[Abbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was really interesting to read because it's a skeptical review of the influence of corporations and media on culture and politics prior to the invention of the internet. As I was reading, all I could think was "you have no idea what we're actually in for..."