This book examines a critical point in US broadcasting in the late 1920s and early 1930s - the only period in which a strong opposition emerged to network-dominated, advertising-supported media such as radio. Although the opposition failed to secure airwaves for non-profit broadcasters, its critique of the formation and structure of early broadcasting anticipated much of today's most compelling media criticism.

This book shows that U.S. commercial broadcasting's emergence in the late 1920s and early 1930s was met by organized opposition and a general level of public antipathy that has been almost entirely overlooked in previous scholastic publications. McChesney highlights the activities of the broadcast reform movement, and shows that although it failed, it provides important lessons for communication historians, and policymakers today.

Convincing case study.