The Political Spectrum: The Tumultuous Liberation of Wireless Technology, from Herbert Hoover to the Smartphone
| Pages | 97-98 |
| Date | 08 January 2018 |
| Published date | 08 January 2018 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/DPRG-09-2017-0048 |
| Author | Simon Forge |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information policy |
Book review
The Political Spectrum: The
Tumultuous Liberation of
Wireless Technology, from
Herbert Hoover to the
Smartphone
Edited by Thomas W. Hazlett
Yale University Press
New Haven, CT, USA
2017
pp. 416
$35.00
Review DOI
10.1108/DPRG-09-2017-0048
Professor Hazlett offers us the
most amusing contribution to
understanding the American
political and economic scene for the
broadcast, cable, satellite TV and
telecommunications industries,
much of it through the lens of radio
spectrum management. It is of
course his own, quite individual,
point of view, very much from the
American libertarian position in the
political spectrum.
What comes across most strongly
from this interesting mix is that the
radio spectrum in the USA since the
1920s has been a key component of
the American political scene, not
just of the economy and social
structure. Moreover, since the
1920s, political power has been
increasingly expressed through
control of the radio spectrum and
through its regulatory mechanisms
that are now an intrinsic part of US
politics. A former Chief Economist of
the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC), Hazlett provides
us with an appropriate tome for
these trumped-up days of distortion
and disunity, platformed on instant
messaging (vouning intended). All is
exposed with a strong sense of
humour, a waspish attention to detail
and perhaps somewhat selective
sources, as befits Hazlett’s
approach, often taking the Milton
Friedman perspective – i.e. markets
in spectrum must always be the
solution to their allotment.
Professor Hazlett’s main theme is
that the radio spectrum is a valuable
economic asset and, therefore, is
subject to political-economic forces
seeking to gain control of that asset.
But there is also a deeper and more
grasping relationship: the radio
spectrum controls politics in the
USA, as it is the access gateway to
media diffusion and therefore to
political campaigns and
propaganda. Interestingly, he points
out that the US administration has
traditionally controlled the
broadcasters’ political bias but left
the newspaper proprietors alone
because the US Constitution was
framed before radio, cable TV,
satellite and broadcast TV existed.
Throughout, we are given a riveting
ride through the radio spectrum’s
wicked regulatory history and its
politics, with the escapades and the
politicians – and especially the inner
recesses of that mysterious
regulatory monster, the FCC, all
from a libertarian viewpoint. Note
that in the USA, it is the National
Telecommunications and Information
Administration that rules on
“Federal” or government spectrum,
e.g. for naval radars, even in the
centre of the country. The historical
chapters are packed with detail,
shocking anecdotes of legendary
malfeasance, horrendous inside
deals and obvious long-term
disasters carefully followed through
by the US administration, especially
the FCC. I was not aware, for
instance, that for many years,
Lyndon Johnson effectively
controlled the FCC through his
protection of its budget
appropriations. And, certainly, I did
not realise that he seems to have
had influence over the award of
VOL. 20 NO. 1 2018, pp. 97-98, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2398-5038 DIGITAL POLICY, REGULATION AND GOVERNANCE PAGE 97
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