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The Communication Crisis in America, And How to Fix It pp 127–142Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Confronting Market Failure: Past Lessons Toward Public Policy Interventions

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Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of both the hindrances facing a public interest agenda and the promises for policy reform. Before examining potential policy interventions for supporting public service media, the author briefly discusses three key conceptual areas that are implicit in today’s policy debates but rarely explicitly addressed: public goods, market failure, and policy failure. Understanding these political economic relationships is the first step toward challenging the corporate libertarian paradigm that constrains what otherwise could be a golden era for progressive media reform. Integrating these ideas into our political discourses, practices, and institutions might help transform our media system into that which our democracy requires.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Victor Pickard

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  1. Victor Pickard
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA

    Mark Lloyd

  2. University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA

    Lewis A. Friedland

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Pickard, V. (2016). Confronting Market Failure: Past Lessons Toward Public Policy Interventions. In: Lloyd, M., Friedland, L. (eds) The Communication Crisis in America, And How to Fix It. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-94925-0_9

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