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Book Review—Alan B. Albarran & Gregory G. Pitts, The Radio Broadcasting Industry

America's public broadcasting "trade publication." The text is undoubtedly the best of its kind in recent years about defining social, institutional, and political realities characterizing public radio in America since the early 1980s. As a student of European public broadcasting, I found the treatment to be disturbingly relevant, as well. The documented case keenly parallels trends in this part of the world. McCourt provides a troubling cautionary tale that highlights liabilities and deficiencies that may be inherent in adopting American concepts, vocabulary, and strategies. McCourt's te)ct is useful for both American and European media scholars, and to a lesser but important degree for public broadcasting professionals. It is a must read for any consultant working for a public broadcasting company. The text suffers from three weaknesses, however. Given that McCourt focuses on public radio dynamics in the 199Os, it is surprising that scant attention is devoted to digitization. Aside from suggesting that over-the-air broadcasting will remain relevant in the multimedia context, McCourt demonstrates little awareness of the decisive impact of digital production and transmission on trends he otherwise fruitfully assesses. The text also fails to provide useful recommendations for professionals who agree with him in principle but must act in practical contexts. McCourt conducts an insightful diagnosis but fails to provide applicable prescriptions. Finally, as briefly acknowledged toward the end of his text, McCourt is trapped on the horns of an historical dilemma. Envisioning a system and practice of "true" public involvement is inspirational, but in experience it has been impractical at best. It can be argued, as McCourt suggests, that the larger social context and system is really to blame and must be changed, but achieving that is an even more formidable challenge and not something public radio professionals are likely to accomplish. Even when volunteer nonprofessionals evidence commitment to production, there's little evidence of correlated interest in reception. It's impossible to escape the quandary posed by conditioned expectations that arguably constrain what any diversity of listeners will tolerate. A medium-versus-message contradiction is implicit in McCourt's text, but never explicitly addressed.