FORTHCOMING February 4, 2025
This collection of short essays from leading media scholars reflects on critical issues of media history, power, ownership, influence and impact. The book uses the acclaimed media title Power Without Responsibility (PWR) as a calling card, a cue to reflect on the limitations of the media in different countries and to advocate solutions aimed at stimulating more democratic forms of communications.

Organised in five sections, contributions in this book identify the relevance of PWR and then pick out and develop its core themes. The first section provides both a reminder of PWR’s significance to media history and analysis and then explores its conclusions in relation to media systems in places including Europe, South and East Asia, Africa and Latin America. The second section takes up the argument that ‘market censorship’ impoverishes the media while the third explores the book’s lessons for contemporary media reform. The fourth section explores the contribution of public service broadcasting and its relevance for future communications systems. The fifth section considers PWR’s analysis of radical journalism in relation to both historical and contemporary initiatives while the concluding section features two original essays by the authors of PWR, James Curran and Jean Seaton, reflecting on their book 43 years and nine editions after it was first published.

“The speciously self-regarding world of the British media has been questioned over decades by successive editions of Power Without Responsibility. Now we have a work that puts that pioneering volume into both national and international contexts – and via short, crisp essays. Bravo!”
—Toby Miller, author of Why Journalism?

“I first read Power Without Responsibility as a student in the 1980s and was impressed by its incisive analysis of the strengths, shortcomings and mythologies of the British media system. Decades later, the release of Media Pasts and Futures could not be more timely. This new volume not only celebrates the original text but also demonstrates the value of collaboration, comparisons and historical and critical reflection, which are essential to keep up with the fast-paced evolvement of media and communications. In a literary landscape where works of fiction and philosophy are often celebrated in collective volumes, it is refreshing to see an influential textbook receive the recognition it deserves.”
—Professor Trine Syvertsen, University of Oslo

THE EDITORS
Des Freedman is Professor of Media and Communications at Goldsmiths, University of London and author of several books including The Politics of Media Policy and The Contradictions of Media Power. He is a founding member of the UK Media Reform Coalition.

Michael Klontzas is based at Goldsmiths, University of London and is managing editor of the Journal of Digital Media & Policy. His research interests, publications and teaching are centred on media policy and technological innovation in the context of UK and European public service communications.