Critique of the Political Economy of the Media: Foundations and Applications

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Critique of the Political Economy of the Media: Foundations and Applications

by Manfred Knoche

University of Westminster Press, 2025

ISBNs

Paper: 978-1-915445-48-3

eISBN: 978-1-915445-50-6

About the Book

Critique of the Political Economy of the Media is an approach to the critical analysis of the media’s role in contemporary society. It is based on Karl Marx’s theory of capitalism, using a combination of critical social theory and empirical social research for studying what role the media has in capitalism.

It introduces a theoretical framework that engages with important themes including the crisis-ridden structural transformation of the media industry, media economics in the age of digital communications, media concentration, science communication and open access publishing, media technologies, the role of advertising in capitalism, and the contradictions of alternative media in capitalism.

About the Author

Manfred Knoche is Professor Emeritus of Communication Studies with a focus on Media Economics at the University of Salzburg, Austria. His work has especially focused on the critique of the political economy of media concentration and the media industry’s structural transformations.