Blending vivid reporting from the 2012 campaign trail and deep perspective from decades covering American and international media and politics, political journalist Nichols and media critic McChesney explain how US elections are becoming controlled, predictable enterprises that are managed by a new class of consultants who wield millions of dollars and define our politics as never before. As the money gets bigger—especially after the Citizens United ruling—and journalism, a core check and balance on the government, declines, American citizens are in danger of becoming less informed and more open to manipulation. With groundbreaking behind-the-scenes reporting and staggering new research on “the money power,” Dollarocracy: How the Money and Media Election Complex is Destroying America shows that this new power does not just endanger electoral politics; it is a challenge to the DNA of American democracy itself.

Robert W. McChesney is the Gutgsell Endowed Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the author or editor of sixteen books. He is the President and co-founder of Free Press, a national media reform organization and hosts “Media Matters” on WILL-AM radio.

John Nichols, a pioneering political blogger, has written The Nation’s Online Beat since 1999 is their Washington DC correspondent contributing writer for The Progressive and In These Times, he is also the associate editor of the Capital Times, the daily newspaper in Madison, Wisconsin. His articles have appeared in the New York Times, Chicago Tribune and dozens of other newspapers and he is a frequent guest on radio and television programs as a commentator on politics and media issues.

This event is free and open to the public.

Presented by the Global Voices Lecture Series and the Seminary Co-op Bookstores.