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Television, Film & Society: Yesterday And Today's Developing Media Affect the Culture We Live In

For Immediate Release: June 30, 2000

Contact: Maralee Csellar, 202-885-5952, or csellar@american.edu



WASHINGTON, DC - From the influence of 1980s teenage flicks to the cable industry's constant struggle to grow and succeed in an era where technology changes daily, American University Professor Patricia Aufderheide identifies and demonstrates how television and film affects the culture that we live in, in her new book, The Daily Planet: A Critic on the Capitalist Culture Beat.



The Daily Planet (University of Minnesota Press, 2000) is a selection of American University Professor Patricia Aufderheide's most important and influencing critical essays. Organized thematically to demonstrate the breadth of her thinking on media and film, public telecommunications policy, and contemporary society, The Daily Planet, is a follow-up to Communications Policy and the Public Interest (Guilford Press, 1999). The result is a provocative exploration of "the culture of daily life under capitalism."



Throughout The Daily Planet, Aufderheide's insights reveal what has made her a leading public intellectual and commentator on contemporary culture, including:
the struggle to create quality children's programming;



the influence of 1980s teen movies on that generation;



public broadcasting's rare place on the air and its unique credibility;



the shortage of satellite space for channel capacity;



the ways journalism is changed by the Internet and other new technologies.



By examining these diverse subjects, Aufderheide demonstrates criticism that is both activist and analytical. She probes the impact of different types of television and film which have been and will continue to be the processes that shape our culture.



A former telecommunications policy analyst, Patricia Aufderheide, professor in the School of Communication, specializes in the social impact of mass media and communication policies. She is also an award-winning film and video critic, focusing on independent and international work. Her recent projects focus on noncommercial channels on direct broadcast satellite and the future of public television. She recently spent a year in Brazil analyzing international telecommunication policies on a Fulbright Senior Regional Researcher grant.



For more information about The Daily Planet or to interview Professor Aufderheide, please contact Maralee Csellar in AU's Media Relations Office at 202-885-5952.