"An excellent book that should interest scholars of media history and media studies, US post-war history in general, as well as cultural studies."
— Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television
"Allison Perlman has given the elusive construct of 'the public interest' some brilliant contours in this historical tour-de-force of social movements and their transformative relationship with media policy."
— Jennifer Holt, author of Empires of Entertainment
"Perlman's meticulously researched and well-argued book is an invaluable addition to policy studies, media history, and the literature on social activism ... As the tools, capacities, and concerns of media reformers continue to shift in the digital era, I strongly recommend this history for its careful explication of the past and thoughtful analysis of what we can learn from that history for our present and future."
— Mass Communication and Society
"Allison Perlman’s story of media advocacy...offers a bracing antidote to [a] gloomy trajectory."
— Journal of American History
"Both interesting and informative, Public Interests makes an extremely valuable contribution to our understanding of media activism in the United States."
— Heather Hendershot, author of What's Fair on the Air?: Cold War Right-Wing Broadcasting and the Public Interest
"Perlman fills in a longstanding gap in television history with this well-researched account of several generations of dedicated reformers, whose efforts made a difference to the major political movements of the twentieth century and beyond....an important story, convincingly told."
— Michele Hilmes, author of Only Connect: A Cultural History of American Broadcasting, 4th ed.