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Paul Riismandel

Bio: Paul Riismandel is an academic researcher from University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. The author has contributed to research in topics: Public broadcasting. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 10 citations.

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The literature on public interest media advocacy and activism encompasses a movement that has employed a number of distinct, though overlapping, frames as discussed by the authors, and it comprises a movement with political opportunities that are strongly tied to technological developments and to the conceptualization of policy problems within the policy making sector.
Abstract: This chapter reviews the literature on public interest media advocacy and activism. In so doing, it organizes the literature according to the three primary theoretical perspectives on social movements—framing processes, political opportunities, and mobilizing structures, to reflect the increased tendency in recent years for scholars to conceptualize public interest media advocacy and activism as a social movement. As this review indicates, public interest media advocacy and activism encompasses a movement that has employed a number of distinct, though overlapping, frames. It comprises a movement with political opportunities that are strongly tied to technological developments and to the conceptualization of policy problems within the policy-making sector. It constitutes a movement that, from a structural standpoint, has both emerged from—and can potentially serve the interests of—a wide range of other social movements, including civil rights and democratization movements, the consumer movement, and the an...

35 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: When Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Public Broadcasting Act into law on November 7, 1967, he proudly proclaimed that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to be created by the landmark legisl...
Abstract: When Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Public Broadcasting Act into law on November 7, 1967, he proudly proclaimed that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to be created by the landmark legisl...

30 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: For instance, this article found that people use the meanings they associate with different news outlets to build confidence in their social reality, and that using PBS in such ways indirectly sustains and reinforces the dominant, status quo powers that exercise substantial influence over the mainstream news media.
Abstract: Interactionists have long contended that people act based on the meanings they associate with symbols (Blumer, 1969). In this article I demonstrate how people use the meanings they associate with different news outlets to build confidence in their social realities. These meanings may arise from current personal experiences, or they may also sprout from other, less direct avenues, such as a friend, or from impressions rooted years earlier. In any event, these associated meanings serve as powerful cultural tools that inform how people engage with their cultural environments, and in ways that have implications for larger systems of power and control. I rest my discussion on a qualitative, audience-centered study of news consumers that I situate within a critical uses-and-gratifications theoretical framework. Doing so allows me both to respect that people use news outlets to satisfy certain perceived needs or desires, and at the same time consider how their uses relate to larger systems of power and control. Many of those with whom I spoke use the meanings they associate with US-based public broadcasting’s news programming (i.e. Public Broadcasting Service or PBS) in ways that suggest it serves as a perceived news ‘safety net’. Active and engaged news consumers, or ‘news fans’, use PBS’s news programs to overcome the problems they note as endemic in commercialized, mainstream news media and ground their confidence in knowing and understanding the news-world. I then draw on European developments in social theory (Thompson, 1995) and media sociology (Couldry, 2000a) to argue that using PBS in such ways indirectly sustains and reinforces the dominant, status quo powers that exercise substantial influence over the mainstream news media (McChesney, 2004) in the US and what the mainstream media catch in their news-net (Tuchman, 1978).

20 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Public Broadcasting Act's 50th anniversary provides an opportune moment to reassess justifications for creating a non-commercial media system as discussed by the authors, and this commemorative occasion coincides with a particularly precarious moment for public radio and television's future, adding some urgency to revisiting and reasserting its normative foundations.
Abstract: The Public Broadcasting Act’s 50th anniversary provides an opportune moment to reassess justifications for creating a noncommercial media system. This commemorative occasion coincides with a particularly precarious moment for public radio and television’s future, adding some urgency to revisiting and reasserting its normative foundations. With this in mind, it is instructive to look back at public broadcasting’s long history to recover some of the original arguments for establishing an alternative to commercial news media. These earlier visions suggest a social democratic ideal for broadcast media, one clearly recognizing that a market-driven system cannot provide for all of democratic society’s communication needs.

15 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the reasons why National Public Radio now raises more money from listeners and business underwriters than it does from government sources, once its sole means of support.
Abstract: During its more than 30-year history, National Public Radio has earned its reputation as America's radio news source of record. Success has not come easily, though, because the promise of a steady supply of funds from the U.S. government-free from the taint of government influence- was never fulfilled. This article examines the reasons why NPR now raises more money from listeners and business underwriters than it does from government sources, once its sole means of support. By serving a particular audience, developing a strong brand for its signature programs, and leveraging the brand with a variety of ancillary services, NPR has assured its own financial viability. Some critics deride these moves as a commodification of the organization's original public service mission. Concerted efforts to maintain the network's public service focus and the development of new programming streams are two ways in which the public radio system can answer these criticisms, while serving a wider swath of the American popula...

13 citations