Fighting for Air

The Battle to Control America's Media

Eric Klinenberg

Holt Paperbacks

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An “admirably researched and lucidly written” investigation of the corporate takeover of the media—and what it means for Americans —that “should serve as a wake-up call” (Daniel Schorr, NPR)
 
For the residents of Minot, North Dakota, Clear Channel Communications is synonymous with disaster. When a train derailment sent a cloud of poisonous gas drifting toward the small town, Minot’s fire and rescue departments attempted to use local radio to warn residents of the approaching threat. But in the age of canned programming, there was no one at the six local non-religious commercial stations, all owned by Clear Channel, to take the call. The result for the people of Minot: one death and more than a thousand injuries.
 
Opening with the story of the Minot tragedy, Fighting for Air takes us into the world of preprogrammed radio shows, empty television news stations, and copycat newspapers to show how expanding conglomerate ownership of all media has harmed American political and cultural life—and how malign neglect by the federal government allowed it to happen. In a call for action, Fighting for Air also reveals a rising generation of activists and citizen journalists who are insisting on the local coverage we need and deserve.

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Introduction
At approximately 1:39 a.m. on January 18, 2002, a 112-car Canadian Pacific Railway train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed just outside Minot, North Dakota, the fourth largest city in the state. According to the operating crew, the train had been traveling at forty miles an hour, and the accident happened when they attempted to slowdown after hitting a rough spot on the tracks. Thirty-one cars jumped off the rails, and several burst open, spilling about 240,000 gallons of anhydrous ammonia, a toxic compound commonly used as a fertilizer, into a woodsy neighborhood called Tierrecita

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About the Author

Eric Klinenberg

Eric Klinenberg is an associate professor of sociology at New York University. Author of the acclaimed Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago and the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, Klinenberg has also written for The New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, The Nation, and Slate.

Eric Klinenberg

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Fighting for Air
The Battle to Control America's Media
Eric Klinenberg

Trade Paperback

Trade Paperback
Henry Holt and Co.
Holt Paperbacks
January 2008
Trade Paperback
ISBN: 9780805087291
ISBN10: 080508729X
5 1/4 x 8 inches, 368 pages
$18.99
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Hardcover

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Hardcover
Henry Holt and Co.
Metropolitan Books
January 2007
Hardcover
ISBN: 9780805078190
ISBN10: 0805078193
6 1/8 x 9 1/4 inches, 352 pages
$26.00

e-Book Agency

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e-Book Agency
Henry Holt and Co.
Metropolitan Books
January 2007
e-Book Agency
ISBN: 9781429923606
ISBN10: 1429923601
6 1/8 x 9 1/4 inches, 352 pages
$9.99
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