On 12th August Bristol's Counterfire welcomes Des Freedman- an academic at Goldsmiths, trade union activist and founding member of the Media Reform Coalition. His writing has featured in Declassified UK and the London Review of Books blog. Join Des as he gives us insight into his book ‘Capitalism and the Media’ with a focus on how capitalism shapes and distorts our media/communications.

Capitalism is the most powerful, creative and destructive social system the world has ever seen. Vigorously celebrated and fiercely contested, it provides the backdrop for the pipelines and platforms that supply audiences with entertainment, information and connection.

This book provides an accessible introduction to the key characteristics of capitalism and illustrates how they shape and distort our media and communications landscapes. Exploring concepts including accumulation, exploitation, ideology, oppression, commodification and colonization, the book discusses the impact of these processes on everything from our experiences online and the dynamics of algorithms to the power of oligarchs and the media's role in the escalating environmental crisis.

If you want to understand why the media toed the government’s line on the genocide in Gaza or why journalists are so obsessed with AI’s ‘revolutionary’ potential, the book argues that it’s essential to grasp the wider dynamics of capitalism as the operating system which still runs the world.

Join us for a deep and relevant critique of the capitalist media machine.