Commercialism and Journalism

In Commercialism and Journalism, Hamilton Holt confronts the uneasy marriage between profit-driven media and democratic responsibility. Holt's incisive essays—born of early 20th-century lectures—probe who really shapes public opinion: editors or the advertisers, circulation demands, and private monopolies that tug at the press's conscience. Set against the Progressive Era's debates over corporate power and civic duty, Holt blends literary clarity with rigorous political economy to ask enduring questions: Are editors free to speak truth? Do newspapers serve citizenship or commerce? He examines advertising influence, circulation-driven sensationalism, and the moral hazards of treating news as a business, arguing that commercialism can erode the press’s role as a guardian of democracy. A work of literature and economics/political economy, Holt’s critique remains strikingly relevant for readers grappling with media ethics today. Ideal for students of journalism, historians of the press, policymakers, and anyone concerned about the health of public discourse, this audiobook offers historical perspective and moral urgency that resonate with contemporary debates about media, money, and democracy.