NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The author of a new book about the effects of media consolidation on the American public will deliver the Curb Lecture at Vanderbilt University on Monday, Jan. 15.
Eric Klinenberg, associate professor of sociology at New York University, did extensive field research in newsrooms, radio stations and elsewhere to produce Fighting for Air: The Battle to Control America‘s Media, released this month by Metropolitan Books.
The book begins with a description of a 2002 train derailment in North Dakota that sent a cloud of poisonous gas drifting toward the small town of Minot. None of the six area radio stations were locally owned, and attempts to reach station employees so warnings could be broadcast were unsuccessful. More than a thousand people were injured in the incident, and one person died.
Klinenberg will speak at 5 p.m. in the Renaissance Room of Vanderbilt Law School. The event is free and the public is invited. A reception will follow.
The lecture is sponsored by the The Curb Center for Art, Enterprise, and Public Policy at Vanderbilt (http://www.vanderbilt.edu/curbcenter/), which is dedicated to designing a new road map for cultural policy in America.
Audio of the lecture will be posted on VUCast, the website of Vanderbilt News Service, at http://www.vanderbilt.edu/news/.
Media contact: Jim Patterson, (615) 322-NEWS
Jim.patterson@vanderbilt.edu