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Title: Our Media, Not Theirs: The Democratic Struggle Against Corporate Media by John Nichols, Robert Waterman McChesney, Barbara Ehrenreich ISBN: 1-58322-549-8 Publisher: Seven Stories Press Pub. Date: December, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.67 (6 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: VOTE
Comment: We will discover how we the people can take back the airwaves but this book makes you realize you better open your eyes, realize & respond to the truth. This is but one of the struggles of these days as we stand to guard the last of the forests so families have trees to breathe. Our Media, our earth, peace; this is our reality. VOTE.
Rating: 5
Summary: Out of The Margins
Comment: The key issue today is media reform.
An aggressive and adversarial press is crucial to our democracy.
Much of the apathy and disappointment that people express with the state of the world is due in no small part to the media. In my opinion, Americans have always been somewhat self-absorbed and apathetic. Also, there is really no such thing as "objective" journalism. Never was, and unlikely there ever will be. Everyone has their own biases and assumptions, especially journalists. What's different today is that media consolidation has reduced the number of competing voices to a very small, advertiser-focused group of companies, who are trying to deliver news as cheaply as possible. That.s why you know more about J. Lo than about, say, the fact that the US is giving no longer giving any aid to Afghanistan -- after eviscerating their government and decimating the country. There's just no profit in telling Americans the real news, or so it seems.
What's the usual problem with "lefty" type books, especially those written by academics? They usually spend an inordinate amount of time trying to prove their thesis correct, and by the time they have beaten you over the head with facts and statistics, they peter out on any suggestions for solutions, and the reader is left feeling helpless, angry and more depressed than when they started reading. That's a recipe for the marginalization of progressives, especially during these conservative times.
McChesney and Nichols don't fall into that trap with this book, however. They do indeed beat you over the head with the statistics and facts, but they make concrete suggestions and point to real models of success in the world today.
Rating: 5
Summary: Hey, we all know what Jerry Mander said - right?!
Comment: ... George Harrison has warned us all about the media with his very last album - BRAINWASHED. Jerry Mander warned us years ago when he wrote: FOUR ARGUMENTS FOR THE ELIMINATION OF TELEVISION. Now, Robert W. McChesney and John Nichols are warning us yet again with OUR MEDIA, NOT THEIRS. ... Read this book if you're angry enough about the media in general to begin to DO something about it, because this book does not stop at complaining about what is bad about the media; it offers us all multiple solutions to how we can actually confront the situation and create viable alternatives to this BEAST that is devouring everything in its path like a rabid Godzilla on steroids!
... This is SERIOUS business! Look what they write on pages 91 and 92: "As in the United States, a striking and important consequence of the global commercial media market has been the attack on journalism, and the reduction in its capacity to serve as the basis for an informed, participating citizenry. Let us be clear here: We are not blaming the global media system for all the flaws in journalism. Establishing a media system that fosters a freewheeling, independent, wide-ranging, and vibrant journalism and political culture is no easy matter, though it is something that all democratic societies should aspire to develop. National press systems prior to - and in conjunction with - the global commercial system were and are sometimes adequate at this job, but many were failures. Frequently, the media have been owned by wealthy individuals or firms that have clearly censored journalism to support their usually reactionary politics, as is the case in Turkey today. Both public and commercial broadcasters in many nations have often been handmaidens of the dominant political parties and interests. In places like Mexico, Peru, and Brazil the dominant commercial broadcasters have tended to be in bed with the dominant pro-business political parties, and to use their media power aggressively and shamelessly to maintain the favored parties in power. Editors and reporters from dissident media who courageously bucked the system and reported on those in power have often found themselves arrested or on the receiving end of a beating or a gunshot. These practices continue today across the world." ... Not very NICE!
... But there is hope! Read on, from pages 123 and 124: "Yet as important as this work is, there are inherent limits to what can be done with independent media, even with access to the Internet. Too often, the alternative media remain on the margins, seemingly confirming that commercial media conglomerates have become so massive because they "give the people what they want." The problem with this disconnect is that it suggests that corporate media have mastered the marketplace on the basis of their wit and wisdom. In fact, as we noted earlier, our media system is not the legitimate result of free market competition. It is the result of relentless lobbying from big-business interests that have won explicit government policies and subsidies permitting them to scrap public-interest obligations and increase commercialization and conglomeration. It is untenable to accept such massive subsidies for the wealthy, and to content ourselves with the "freedom" to forge alternatives that only occupy the margins. How , then, can we force a change in the media systems that dominate the discourse and misinform the debate? By organizing the media democracy movement to make a great leap forward."
... As Jesus said, resisting evil is not the way. Focusing on fighting fire with fire merely draws you into entangled engagement with illusory duality and conflict. We must IGNORE THEM TO DEATH! We must create a critical mass as a viable alternative that totally ECLIPSES the beast that has dominated our path to the pursuit of happiness, a fulfilling life, and true liberty. Only this way, can we find our way out of this mess - by all joining together, in spite of the powers that be, in order to build a new media that does not merely entertain or misinform but one which truly educates and enlightens our whole society and culture. ... YOWZA! - The Aeolian Kid
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Title: Corporate Media and the Threat to Democracy (Open Media Pamphlet Series) by Robert Waterman McChesney ISBN: 1888363479 Publisher: Seven Stories Press Pub. Date: April, 1997 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
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Title: Rich Media, Poor Democracy: Communication Politics in Dubious Times by Robert Waterman McChesney ISBN: 1565846346 Publisher: New Press Pub. Date: October, 2000 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: Media Control: The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda (Open Media Series) by Noam Chomsky ISBN: 1583225366 Publisher: Seven Stories Press Pub. Date: December, 2002 List Price(USD): $8.95 |
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Title: Manufacturing Consent : The Political Economy of the Mass Media by Noam Chomsky, Edward S. Herman ISBN: 0375714499 Publisher: Pantheon Books Pub. Date: 15 January, 2002 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: The Problem of the Media: U.S. Communication Politics in the Twenty-First Century by Robert W. McChesney ISBN: 1583671056 Publisher: Monthly Review Press Pub. Date: March, 2004 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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