Abstract
This is a book about the role the media have played in normalising neoliberal ideology. The editor Marian Meyers argues that the ‘seismic changes in the global and national political, economic and cultural landscape’ in the past several decades can to a large extent be attributed to the ascendance of neoliberalism, a form of capitalism whose goals and related policies have been commonly embraced by the radical right and conservatives internationally and within the United States, where it has become the leitmotif of the modern Republican Party. (p. 3)
The edited volume aims to make visible the workings of neoliberalism within the media by shedding light on the ways the media are complicit in mainstreaming neoliberal ideology and establishing a neoliberal hegemony and regime that places capital and control in the hands of the few and the uberwealthy at the expense of nearly everyone else. (p. 12)
The book is split into five main parts. Part I, ‘Where We Are and How We Got There’, includes only the introductory chapter. Part II, ‘Corporations and Markets’, consists of three chapters exploring political economic issues such as ‘hypercommercialism and post-truth’ (p. 21) in CNN’s coverage of the 2016 US Presidential elections, philanthrocapitalism in the Girl Effect campaign, and neoliberalism and ‘women’s right to communicate’ (p. 60). Part III, ‘Responsibility and Choice’, comprises three chapters exploring the neoliberal pressures of individual responsibility and choice promoted by the media by focusing on a few case studies such as the financial self-help guru Dave Ramsey’s media empire, the Meth Project aimed at preventing methamphetamine addiction and the History Channel series The Men Who Built America. Part IV, ‘Consumers and Advertising’, includes two chapters on affirmative advertising and the so-called ‘kitchen porn’ (p. 147) using as examples a L’Oreal ad campaign, and the online shopping and recipe site Food52. The final part, ‘Identity and Representation’, consists of four chapters exploring the representation of social identity in media entertainment. The case studies used are the television sitcom Jane the Virgin, the drama Scandal and Empire, the reality TV shows Here Comes Honey Boo Boo and Duck Dynasty and the sitcom Superstore. All in all, while the case studies in the book would be of interest to both students and scholars of media and communication studies, they are very US-focused.