Copper Chorus: Mining, Politics, and the Montana Press, 1889 - 1959

The Copper Chorus: Mining, Politics, and the Montana Press, 1889-1959 is an important and timely book that addresses a key issue in Montana history: the Anaconda Copper Mining Company’s control of nearly all of the state’s larger newspapers and its citizens’ access to news. Such captive journalism was hardly unique to Montana, but in terms of its longevity, reach, and reputation, no industrial entity in any other state matched the Company’s hold over Montana’s press. Swibold’s study of this troubling history provides a dramatic look at the intersection between corporate power and the media while arguing that the legacy of Montana’s captive press still colors the ownership of Montana’s major dailies. The story resonates beyond Montana as a cautionary tale for modern news organizations consumed and marginalized in ever-vaster corporate consolidations, where the temptation to harness news to the service of marketing and image runs strong.