"Which is supposed to mean they're doing something in their broadcasting they would not do is they were simply out to maximize profit; if they were really public service institutions, not purely profit maximizing institutions"
About this Quote
McChesney’s sentence performs a kind of dry unmasking: it takes the pious language of “public service” broadcasting and runs it through a simple stress test - would you still do this if profit were the only goal? If the answer is no, then the gesture is meant to signify civic duty rather than market logic. The pointed repetition (“institutions… institutions”) isn’t accidental. He’s pressing on the idea that structure, not branding, determines behavior.
The subtext is a warning about a familiar institutional scam: organizations wrap themselves in the vocabulary of democracy (education, information, public interest) while operating like any other firm competing for attention, ad dollars, and political favor. McChesney is skeptical of the idea that “public service” can be inferred from mission statements or occasional earnest programming. He wants it proven through sacrifice - choices that would be irrational under strict profit maximization: underserved communities, investigative work that angers advertisers, content that’s valuable but not “sticky.”
Context matters here because U.S. media has long relied on a rhetorical alibi: commercial broadcasters claim they serve the public because they’re licensed to use public airwaves, while regulators increasingly treat the market as a proxy for the public interest. McChesney’s critique targets that bargain. He’s asking who gets to define “service,” and he’s implying the answer has quietly shifted from citizens to shareholders. The line lands because it’s less a lofty moral appeal than a cold accounting question: show me the trade-off, or stop calling it civic virtue.
The subtext is a warning about a familiar institutional scam: organizations wrap themselves in the vocabulary of democracy (education, information, public interest) while operating like any other firm competing for attention, ad dollars, and political favor. McChesney is skeptical of the idea that “public service” can be inferred from mission statements or occasional earnest programming. He wants it proven through sacrifice - choices that would be irrational under strict profit maximization: underserved communities, investigative work that angers advertisers, content that’s valuable but not “sticky.”
Context matters here because U.S. media has long relied on a rhetorical alibi: commercial broadcasters claim they serve the public because they’re licensed to use public airwaves, while regulators increasingly treat the market as a proxy for the public interest. McChesney’s critique targets that bargain. He’s asking who gets to define “service,” and he’s implying the answer has quietly shifted from citizens to shareholders. The line lands because it’s less a lofty moral appeal than a cold accounting question: show me the trade-off, or stop calling it civic virtue.
Quote Details
| Topic | Justice |
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