The main argument in David Hesmondhalgh’s report is the involvement of the importance of telecommunications and broadcasting. In this case, Hesmondhalgh claims that media is a vital aspect of the community since it informs people about various issues in the community. Moreover, telecommunications are known to be one of the public utilities (Hesmondhalgh 143). The article also shows that telecommunication authorities in the United States were privatized in the 1980s and 1990s, leading to commercial broadcasters and some public broadcasting institutions transforming into individually-owned firms.
The author makes the argument by revealing that the privatization of telecommunications companies led to many people learning that broadcasting is a national resource. Hesmondhalgh also contends that there is the social power of broadcasting since various issues such as politics are involved. Moreover, he states that when radio became a broadcasting technology, its potential social power quickly became apparent commercially and politically (Hesmondhalgh 144). However, challenges that were faced have also been analyzed by Hesmondhalgh. For instance, scarcity of national resources was encountered in the 1980s due to the high strategic use of new technology experienced. Marketization has also been discussed to show how it created new contexts for understanding during the era of technological innovation in broadcasting
The question that one can pose involves the restrictions on content that many broadcasting companies experienced. In this case, one can ask whether the information advertisements and educational programming broadcasting had negative impacts since it was limited. Preventing broadcasters from sharing some information can also be involved in this question. Thus, one can also ask the ways how governments can guarantee that both public and private media companies have the right to report various matters in society.
Work Cited
Hesmondhalgh, David. The Cultural Industries. 4th ed., SAGE Publications, 2019.