Product Description
This sixth edition of the classic work on control of the modern media describes the digital revolution and reveals startling details of a new communications cartel within the United States.

"An eye-opening attack on the growing concentration of major media."
-Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

And it keeps getting worse
Bagdikian began the assault on the stultifying concentration of media ownership before most of us even recognized it was happening. Though his specifics are dated, his arguments remain cogent and his warnings urgent, and things have only gotten worse in the decades since first publication of this important work.

The Best Beginner's Media Critique
Bagdikian will easily go down as one of America's great muckrakers. This book does an excellent job at explaining why the U.S. media is so lacking. Without sounding conspiratory he explains that various profit-driven incentives have led to the demise of the news. From the Guilded Age to the present, he explains the history and metamorphasis the media industry has undergone by tying in various political, social, and technological changes that have acted as catalysts that change the industry.

My main gripe with the book is its organization. I had to keep track of the book's content by reorganizing it with my own notes. The organization suffers from three things, two of which are probably necessary : 1)He discusses every medium of the media (daily newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, etc.) which is great, but his transitions are too hasty. 2) He discusses the various effects that the media's changes have produced over the years. However, his examples are too ancedotal, and are often just attached back to back without a broad discussion of what they mean - he provides evidence without a claim. 3) This is the sixth edition, and he's added more chapters onto the book, but they've all just been strung on the end, one after the other, and with an incredible amount of overlap with the other chapters.

I recommend this book, but also recommend reading Herman's and Chomsky's Manufacturing Consent. This book can explain the misconceptions of Americans about America, but not so much about international affairs. You have to use your imagination for that.

What liberal media?
One of the slogans of American conservatives is that the American media is liberal and left-leaning.This book argues the opposite, and that from the 1960s onwards, the takeover of family-owned and family-runned media outlets by large, usually multinational corporations has reduced the quality of news-reporting.Furthermore, media (news) outlets are now primarily vehicles for advertising.The effects of this are multiple.First, there are implicit and explicit pressures within many news organizations to NOT report news that might be damaging to the public image of either that organization's advertisers, parent owners, or other businesses owned by that organization's parent owners.Second, many news organizations purchased by corporations in effect become advertising and propaganda vehicles and not impartial news dispensers any more.Third, in order to satisfy advertising needs, news editors are often forced to mellow the content of their news to make it less offensive and controversial, since offensive and/or controversial content can lessen the buying mood of watchers/readers, which in turn reduces the efficacy of advertising.Fourth, many locales are now served by one news outlet per medium; i.e. one newspaper, one TV station and one radio station.In some instances, all the news outlets in one geographical area (re city) are owned by one corporation.The effect of this is a gradual reduction in the diversity of news in the general media within each city or township.This, argues the author, is highly damaging to the participatory democracy that is the USA.Last, all of this is done in the face of rising profit margins within many news organizations; i.e. the surrender of editorial privilege to advertisers is done solely to increase profits, and not to ensure profitability.

The author argues his points in various ways.First, he provides numerical data to justify his claims.These include the number of privately-owned and publicly-owned news organizations over the past century.Second, the author details specific case studies showing how corporate (advertisers) needs have overtaken editorial judgement within various news organizations.Third, the author provides some of his own subjective evaluation of news content over the decades.

I found this book's arguments highly convincing.There is a small addition for the new Internet medium, but it is quite short and deserves further expansion; hence I give the book only four out of five stars.But this is still a great book and highly recommended for those interested in the social sciences, and any American voter in general.

Attack of the Libertarian Media
The cover of this book reports that when Bagdikian published the first edition in 1983, it was dismissed as "alarmist." But he has been vindicated, as the book has reached its sixth edition and the problems he first articulated have become far worse in the ensuing years. The media monopoly problem is far from alarmist. It's alarming. Bagdikian deserves major credit for first publicizing the troubling trend of consolidated media ownership by huge mega-conglomerate corporations. Now we are down to six major media owners. Bagdikian proves that the media have been enslaved to the will of advertisers for decades anyway, as most forms of media make far more money from selling ads than from the members of the public who consume their offerings. But the problem is currently worse than ever as the focus is no longer the public interest, but boosting short-term profits, which has just about eliminated the search for truth or any long-term social focus.

The problem with this edition of the book is that the only current portions are the foreword and afterword, in which Bagdikian outlines where things stand today (that is, worse than ever). Otherwise, the main body of the book appears to be mostly the third edition from 1990. This leads to outdated information and conclusions that are a serious problem for such a quickly developing subject. Although Bagdikian is now more than eighty years old, this work would benefit significantly from a thorough re-write of the main text, rather than the piecemeal additions to the foreword and afterword that supposedly indicate a "new" edition. (Note that plenty of other more modern books have stolen Bagdikian's thunder and cover the issue equally well.) Also, Bagdikian is frequently guilty of attention-grabbing polemics and sarcasm while making his points. This is unnecessary as the facts can speak for themselves.

Regardless, this book is monumentally important not only for its investigation into inequitable corporate control of the media, but also Bagdikian's great insights into the ensuing political and cultural effects on society. This includes everything from the greater costs of goods caused by excessive advertising (a direct contradiction of classic capitalist theory), to the dumbing down of public knowledge of important social issues. In fact, the modern America media is not liberal, despite what close-minded politicians tell you. It's libertarian in its rush for total profit-driven focus and financial control of those same politicians. The general increase in social apathy and malaise among citizens indicates what is wrong with the mainstream media, and the culprit is the relentless and cruel rush for short-term profitability. Public knowledge is the key to a healthy democracy, and corporations have destroyed that for much of America. Worship your new corporate masters. [~doomsdayer520~]

good idea, poor execution
Bagdikian manages to take an important subject -- deserving of sober and careful analysis -- and buries it in a shrill, overwrought and largely useless diatribe.His general thesis, that the mass media are undergoing consolidation antithetical to consumer interests, is beyond serious debate.Yet the book is so bereft of serious analysis and scholarship that the case is hardly to be made out.For the wholly naive this book may, perhaps, open some new vistas.But for anyone who regularly gets past the sports pages and comics there is little here of interest. ... Read more

Product Description

This is a dauntinglycomplex issue, and Bok cannot offer easy answers or hope to please allher readers, but this is a thoroughly researched and compellinglystated contribution to an extremely important debate. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

so far not good
Have not received the book yet.There was a problem with the post office and I have tried to contact the shipper twice to see if the book was returned to them and how we get it re-shipped and they have not replied.Unhappy.

Apple pie
Violence is as American as apple pie.The book considers media violence, its impact, and problems of censorship.Romans feasted on violence.Communal violence was connected to sacrifice.Vicarious terror can be pleasurable.There is the matter of catharsis, a therapeutic good.

Heavy TV viewers, (therefore viewers of media violence), believe that the outside world is filled with threats.Middle class families have an inordinate fear of kidnapping.Children are kept in lockdown.

Numbing absorption in media violence may cause an inability to feel the pain of others.There is something the matter with learning not to feel a thing.Children need to develop their souls.

As stated, the book deals with problems of censorship.Parents, of course, may use the on and off button to control the television viewing of their children.

The author does an adequate job of dealing with the topics presented.The book is fairly academic, (but is free of jargon).There are both notes and an index.

Nothing new
I was extremely disappointed in this book, possibly because I expect a great deal from Sissela Bok.There is nothing in this book which could not be found in past issues of popular magazines.

Bok is amazingly uncriticaland seems to have little familiarity with fifty years of research on thistopic.She casually dismisses the idea that there is no common definitionof violence, for example, without explaining that that argument is notgenerally about violence in real life (although many have argued thatpunching inflated bobo dolls is an odd example of violence), but that thereis little consensus about what constitutes violence in the media,especially on television.When I teach courses in the media, I routinelyask students to identify specific instances of violence in televisionprogramming and the range of perceptions is incredible.

There is a lot onnonsense written on both sides of this argument.Unfortunately, Bok doesnothing to clarify the issues or the data.I was hoping to be able toassign this book in my courses, but I won't bother.

Important and rational but too restrained
Sissela Bok's "Mayhem" takes on the issue of violence in various media and the effects of that violence on the population.The issue is one that seems to be dominated by those for whom reason is not a priority, andBok's considered and apparently well-researched book is a welcome voice ofsanity.(This is not to say that she is the first to deal with the issuehonestly and reasonably; naturally, others have done so.Bok, however,does seem to enjoy more exposure than many of the others, whose work hasoften been relegated to academic fora.)

Bok takes some time to get towhat is really the fundamental point of her book and the point from whichher theses spring--that violence in the media does have an effect on thepopulation.It would be more accurate to state that she concludes thatmedia depictions of violence have several effects.It is probably a sadcommentary on the state of public debate that Bok must take extra care tostate the modest nature of the conclusion.Media depictions of violenceare not the only factors that lead to these negative consequences, shepoints out with stress, nor are we all influenced in the same ways.Thesepoints, which should be obvious even to those who would challenge Bok'stheses and assumptions, seem to take force from Bok's arguments anddiminish the power of the book.In other words, the need to deal withdisingenuous counterarguments harms the overall result.

Ultimately, itmay be that Bok is a little too careful, though she does suggest thatcensorship on some level might not be such a bad thing.Her arguments maybe too restrained out of an effort to avoid the excesses that seem todominate the popular debate.While Bok certainly avoids any appearance (tome, at least) of being a demagogue or hidebound ideologue, the result isnot anything near a definitive treatment of the topic but instead more of aprimer.The effort at objectivity is certainly wonderful, and the text isrecommended for those who have not given the issue serious consideration. For those who have ruminated at length on this issue, "Mayhem"probably offers little new. ... Read more

Product Description
Cyberpundit And Media Scholar David Shenk Launches A Trenchant And Informed Critique Of The Impact Of Data SmogInformation OverloadOn Individual Well-Being And Our Society As A Whole. Picking Up Where Silicon Snake Oil And The Gutenberg Elegies Left Off, Shenk Skillfully Explodes The Rosy Myths Of The Technological Revolution, Points The Way Toward A Saner And More Meaningful Future, And Offers The Most Convincing And Thorough Rebuttal Yet Of The Overhyping Of The Information Age.

More Praise For Data Smog:

"Over The Past 150 Years, Humanity Solved The Problem Of Information Scarcity. In Solving It, We Created The Problem Of Information Glut, Incoherence And Meaninglessness. David Shenk'S Brilliant Book Names The Problem, Describes It, Explains It AndGod Bless HimOffers Us Help In Coping With It."

- Neil Postman, Author, Technopoly And Amusing Ourselves To Death

"This Could Be The Silent SpringFor The Digital Age. Data Smog Shows The Very Real Threats That We Now Face. We Ignore Them At Our Peril."

- Simson Garfinkel, Columnist, Hotwired

"Data SmogIs Quite Wonderful...A Smart Warning By A Savvy Aficionado Of Cyber-Culture To Be Wary Of Too Much Of A Good Thing."

- Orville Schell, Dean, Graduate School Of Journalism, University Of California At Berkeley

"This Book Breaks New Ground. Here You Will Find A Public Ethic For An Era Of Too-Much Information, Delivered In A Succinct And Heroically Civil Style That Puts To Shame An Entire Shelf Of Books On The Coming Media Environment.Shenk Is A Citizen Writing For Other Beleaguered Citizens...Data SmogIs Really A Book About Democracy And What It Will Take To Keep That Troubled Idea Alive And Breathing In Years Ahead."

- Jay Rosen, Director, Project On Public Life And The Press, New York University

"This Book Is An Oxygen Mask. Take It Along When You Need To Breathe. This Careful, Informed And Passionate Argument Should Take The Stuffing Right Out Of The Cheerleaders Of The (Indiscriminate) Information Age."

- Andrei Codrescu, Commentator, National Public Radio

"Data Smog Offers A Rare Combination Of Extensive Research, Clear Thinking, Lucid Writing And Valuable Advice. It'S A Must For Anybody Feeling Overwhelmed But Underserved By Today'S Information Sources."

- Edward Tenner, Author, Why Things Bite BackAmazon.com Review
It is said that information wants to be free, but most days onthe net, don't you feel that all it wants to do is be in your faceevery last minute? Did you ever feel yourself go "tilt" whena search engine retrieves 30,000 possible hits to your query? Ordownloads 50 pieces of new e-mail? Perhaps some relief will come whenyou know the Laws of Data Smog that frame this book, amongthem: Silicon circuits evolve much more quickly than human genes;Equifax is watching; Beware of stories that dissolve all complexity;Too many experts spoil the clarity. David Shenk is certainly going tostir controversy with his conclusions, especially that governmentshould get involved in reducing the information glut. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Somewhat Outdated
I read this book as a requirement for a master's degree course.Although the information presented is very compelling, it is somewhat outdated.

Written in 1997, many of the topics that author David Shenk describes in the future tense have already occured.For example, he goes into great detain about the Y2K computer problem and the effect it could have on people's computers.We all know that this turned out to be no problem at all.Further, he mentions the need for a national no-call list for telemarketers.Again, this has already happened since this book was published.I feel that it is time for a new edition to be published with more up-to-date information.

I do feel that the idea of "data smog" the overabundance of information that is overwhelming people today, is covered very well.I found the thirteen laws of data smog very interesting, and the antidotes to combat these laws were informative and helpful.

Overall, this book rates slightly above average, due to it being 8 years old, and many of the topics discussed have already taken place.If the author were to write an updated edition, then I would rate it higher.However, there are some good points that will make the reader think about the amout of information being placed for consumption and what we as consumers must do to filter out the smog so we can make good and informed choices.

New approach to information overload, yet no solutions
This book covers interesting ground regarding the social ramifications of too much information.However, it offers little in the way of hands-on solutions.

Overwhelmed by Information?This book might help
Are we drowning in a sea of information? Blinded by a smog of data? That's Shenk's premise, and I have to admit I'm in somewhat of an agreement with him. It's either agree with him, or admit that I'm getting old and can't keep up anymore. We are of an age, however--he relates how his first computer was a Macintosh in 1984. He talks about becoming involved in the early days of digital communication (back then, there was Compu$erve, the $ource, and local BBSes). He went on the reporting route, while I took the technology route. Now we both feel surrounded by too much stuff, data being the prime component. Shenk blames it on the new medium, whereas I think that maybe it is the nature of our general society.

Don't get me wrong. I love data. Databases are your friend, and they've certainly been mine, as I make my living off maintaining them, writing interfaces for them, and creating reports from them. The problem seems to go back to something much older than the Internet, but to the early days of computing. There is a term, not in much use today, called GIGO: Garbage In, Garbage Out. Too much data being stored in databases these days was dumped there, without editing, without sorting, without review. Just because modern tools allow you access to data in these storage areas better, faster, and cheaper, does not mean that data poorly stored has any more value. I am sure many of you have run into a case where the computer was supposed to help you with a task, but instead it just seems that you were able to process more data, not necessarily do the job quicker or easier. More data, as Shenk discusses, is not a solution. Better data would be, but no one is providing quality.

And this is where I say the problem is not the technology but the society. Americans have a hard time with quality. We give it lip service, but what we really want is quantity. The tagline for Godzilla, "Size matters," was perfect for us. Yes, we want more. We want a biggie fries and a biggie shake. We want to Super Size that Extra Value Meal. We purchase Range Rovers and the only range we rove is the median when there's a traffic jam. Let's go to CostCo and get the five-pound jar of spaghetti sauce, even though we only eat spaghetti at home once every two months. We'll take 52 channels of crap on the cable, although only four are worth watching. Bigger, we imply, is always better. Our hardware store here has a tagline that says they have "more of everything."

Shenk says, more is less. You are a limited creature; you can only handle a limited amount of input. Why not get some quality input for a change? I like the idea, and I have to admit that Jill and I were already working towards this goal before our move. Jill calls it "divesting ourselves of the material culture," but mainly it's just getting rid of stuff. Why did we have 700 CDs? We couldn't listen to them all, and hadn't listened to more than 5% in the last year. Why did we have 2000 books--did we intend to reference or reread all of them? I have been keeping bank and billing records for the last 15 years? Why? We cleaned out the closet, evaluating the things we really needed to meet our goals. And it isn't that much. Why did we have all that stuff. Because we were being good little members of the consumer society.

This simplification of the life style is one of Shenk's answers to Data Smog. The others include being your own filter (limit your inputs--cut off the TV, unsubscribe from those lists [well, except from mine]), being your own editor (take your time to understand what you read and hear, don't settle for sound bites), become a generalist (Robert Heinlein said, "Specialization is for insects."), and, lastly, take part in government rather than forsaking it. These antidotes are strong medicine towards regaining control of your life. Shenk probably didn't mean this as a self-help book, but if the tool pouch fits....

The good and the bad of information
David Shenk's examination on the information flow is somewhat sobering. Shenk has a good grasp on the major problems resulting from too much information. From moral decay to highlighted social distinctions, Shenks dissect all negative aspect of the information age. Weather directly or indirectly, at the end of the day, everybody is affected. His book is divided into four parts where the first three emphasize the problems and consequences of excess information. The last part gives antidotes to be able to deal with the the consequences. In general, the book is very accurate and makes you think a lot. However, I only gave three stars to the book's rating because I felt that the book was a little depressive. I understand that sometimes the truth is not always pink but Shenk wrote in such a way as to depress the readers. Facts are one thing but personel opinions should at least sound a little more positive. In all, I'm glad I read the book but would not recommend this book to any of my friends.

Data Smog filled with Good Information
Mr. Shenk does a fine job of informing us of the potential pitfalls of the information explosion.He uses excellent examples of how too much information stuns some people, makes others tune out all information or disbelieve most information, prevents others from discerning from true and false information, creates in some people a constant anxiety that they are not up to speed, or drive some people to seek the simplest solution from an ever more complicated world.
Mr. Shenk also provides several rational antidotes to this data smog.From limiting one's access to information, using care in output amount and distribution, to working with government to control data smog, Mr. Shenk provides reasonable solutions.
Since the book only focuses on the bad side of the information glut, one needs to be careful when reading the book not to forget the huge benefits in productivity and standard of living that are achieved with increased access to information. ... Read more

Product Description
A collection of impassioned essays by a popular talk-show host considers such contemporary issues as racism, adultery, capital punishment, and bad drivers, and offers insight into his education, political analysis, and sense of morality. 100,000 first printing. Tour. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (44)

Uncommon clarity
This book seems as relevant in 2010 as it was when it came out in the mid-90's.The topics Dennis highlighted then are still headline topics today.

The book spends lots of time on ethics.I consider myself pretty thoughtful in my beliefs and actions, but this really made me reexamine both my beliefs and actions.It made me "think a second time."

In his radio show, Dennis always prides himself on valuing clarity over agreement.This book embodies that.

Essays That Challenge
Dennis Prager thinks that most people form their beliefs about life's most important issues at a young age and do not change those views at a later date, and wrote this book to encourage people to reexamine beliefs that might have been formed when they had much less knowledge about life and the world.

"Think a Second Time" consists of 47 essays covering a wide range of topics, including television news, capital punishment, hypocrisy, astrology, the 1992 Los Angeles riots, school choice, extremism, and many other issues.

One of the essays even more timely than it was when Prager wrote the book in 1995 is the one that discusses the judging of motives.The author notes that we frequently do not even recognize our own motives, and that it is very unwise to question the motives of others.However, we see this all the time in public discourse, including in 2008 when candidate Obama claimed that people cling to guns or religion out of bitterness.Recently, a caller to Michael Medved's show concluded that Medved's long-standing opposition to tattoos must have been the result of him being beaten up in college by someone with tattoos.Even some conservatives rely on this line of attack as well; I am not a libertarian, but I have been annoyed by some conservatives who, instead of pointing out the areas in which libertarianism is wrong, make personal attacks about the background of libertarians.It seems that fewer and fewer people today understand why ad hominem attacks are invalid and that more and more people are launching them.

One of the more controversial essays discusses whether an adulterer can be a good president--regardless of which side you take, one must acknowledge that Prager makes a strong case in defense of his beliefs.

Prager got his start in radio doing a show on religion, and several of the essays examine thoughts on God from a Jewish perspective.

The book closes by discussing the case of Danny Warburton, the boy who was taken from his adopted family in 1995 by the Illinois Supreme Court, and the related essays discuss both the legal and moral issues raised by the case.

If you are a longtime listener to Prager's show and have for years heard him discuss both this book and Happiness Is a Serious Problem, you will be glad that you finally got around to ordering and reading the books--as you would expect, there is plenty of thought-provoking material in them.

This book has Wisdom
Wisdom is the knowledge of unintended consequences.Ideals, ideas, ones view of life and man all have consequences in our lives and society.
This book explains how some views can cause happiness or disaster.

In my experience, the late 60s produced a philosophy that was feelings based and focused only on the present.Consequences and history were ignored.This produced a part of our society that was narcissistic and was prone to repeat the errors of the past.Just look at today's trend of narcissistic leaders pushing socialist agendas.

The alternative to this book is to live a long life, read and understand books of antiquity, know history, and understand the there are always multi levels of consequences.

Two, follow up books, that I would recommend are both by Thomas Sowell:
"Applied Economics, Thinking Beyond Stage One"Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage Oneand "A Conflict of Vision, Ideological Origins of Political Struggles" A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles

They both explain some the philosophy that Mr. Prager communicates so easily and naturally.

Love this book!
This has always been a favorite of mine.

But I'm wondering if anyone else agrees with me that the Dennis Prager who wrote this book is much different than the Dennis Prager who writes articles post-9/11.And not for the better.

It just seems like he was much more balanced, measured, and, well, more open to thinking a second time back then whereas now he strikes me as much more dogmatic.This is based on a sample of his articles on[...] .I unfortunately live in an area where I cannot listen to his show, so perhaps I just haven't heard/read enough of him lately.

Interesting view on many casual things
I wouldn't say that this book was an eye opener, but I definately can not say that this is a waste. It's a very non-standard, maybe a little bit conservative, view on many everyday things.
I would reccomend to read it to lots of my friends. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

On the Firing Line
On the Firing Line:The Publi Life of Our Public Figures written by William F. Buckley, Jr. is about the interviews Buckley had on the televison show "Firing Line."Lasting for twenty-three years and hosted by Buckley, this book contains parts of those interesting shows.

You'll find a whole host of dramatis personae in this well written tome.As with the televison show, this book has concise and cogent reviews as Buckley tries to interview the men and women who actually think seriously and rigorously about the way we govern ourselves.I found a dry wit and humor in spots all to entertain, challange, inevitablely chiding at times, but always wickedly brilliant.

The list of people in this book reads like a who's who and covers the major issues of our time, as Buckley discusses , uses rhetorical tactics and techniques with sometimes unpredictable results.You will laugh is spots as hilarious dialogues engage you.This is a valuable witty and learned tome with discourses making wonderful reading.

If you were a fan of "Firing Line," then you'll really like this book complete with Buckley's own annotations giving this book a flavor all its own. ... Read more

Product Description

"This anthology of essays on Steven Spielberg's 1993 film is a solid achievement. It is a repository of considerable critical insight and frequently passionate argument." -- Holocaust and Genocide Studies

"An excellent collection; highly recommended for general readers and students at all levels." -- Choice

"This collection of essays opens further the debate on how to represent the Holocaust as Holocaust representation and memory move into ever-greater areas of daily American and Jewish American culture." -- Tikkun

Schindler's List not only afforded director Steven Spielberg a cinematic vehicle loaded with Hollywood-hardware to create his master narrative about the Holocaust, the film also invited a renewed scholarly and intellectual discussion about racism, "historical voyeurism" and the "limits of representation." This thought-provoking critical anthology tackles these issues and many others.

Customer Reviews (1)

Stimulating Debate of the Merits of Spielberg's Film
Perhaps unfortunately, many of the essays in this fine collection would have to fall under the category of univocal Spielberg-bashing.The director is berated by a chorus of academics for his documentary-style authoritarianism in his approach to representing the story of Oskar Schindler and the Schindler Jews.What merits the movie does have are, by and large, swept under the carpet in the interest of pointing out its glaring faults and moments of irresponsible over-reaching.This robs the debate of a good measure of balance, but the wealth of different critical perspectives brought to bear on the discussion more than makes up for any lack of diplomacy.

The book's greatest stengths are just this sort of breadth--there are essays here by film experts, historians, literary theorists and other academic luminaries, most notably Geoffrey Hartmann and Omer Bartov.Another virtue of Loshitzky's collection is that the reader comes away with a much better grasp of the larger debate over representing the Holocaust.Essays point repeatedly to Claude Lanzmann's interview-style documentary as an ideal form, but the more careful essays admit that this is not the version most viewers would sit through, as it's too long, too slow, etc.

There are some shocking revelations, too, like things Spielberg has said in interviews that should curdle the blood of even his most vociferous supporters.He compares his trials of being rich and famous and recognizable with the suffering of victims of the Holocaust, and one wonders what on earth he could possibly have been thinking.

Those tidbits aside, though, the most useful, convincing and durable essay here is, in my opinion, the balanced assessment by Bartov, a Holocaust historian, who candidly admits that Spielberg's triumphalism and hero-narrative are terribly misplaced in this corner of history.Unlike the other essayists here, though, Bartov challenges critics to focus more on the positive accomplishments of the film, and especially the fact that it has raised overall awareness of the tragedy in extraordinary fashion.This must not be forgotten in a judgment of the film, he argues, since it is likely (and he writes this, of course, before the breakout success of Benigni's "Life is Beautiful") the only Holocaust film most people--and certainly most Americans--will ever care to see.

While certain of the pieces cater more obviously to an academic crowd well versed in the ongoing debate and most current scholarship on the topic of the Holocaust, the book in general is quite accessible to more mainstream audiences who wish to see Spielberg's version of the Shoah challenged in an often very productive way.I highly recommend this book. ... Read more

Product Description
This excellent translation makes available a classic work central to one of the most interesting controversies of the eighteenth century: the quarrel between Rousseau and Voltaire. Besides containing some of the most sensitive literary criticism ever written (especially of Molière), the book is an excellent introduction to the principles of classical political thought. It demonstrates the paradoxes of Rousseau's though and clearly displays the temperament that led him to repudiate the hopes of the Enlightenment. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Rousseau's Blast Against Falstaff as King
In this work Rousseau took to task the French theater and, to a great extent, much of what passed for enlightened thinking about censorship and republican government. It is difficult for a modern reader to tolerate his arguments after they have largely been displaced by the concepts of our own Media age: the essential goodness of total freedom of the arts, uncensored publications, and all that goes with these.
Rousseau's rhetorical criticism of the theater, and the French Enlightenment figures, such as Voltaire, is carefully considered and extensive. He separates the intellectual deceits from what he considers bedrock issues, such as the absolute importance of a virtuous citenzry, and offers up a strict, severe Calvinist indictment of the foibles of passing off political thought as scientific reasoning. Rousseau makes no cheap arguments - his attack on the French theater is not predicated on some cheap vulgar play deserving of our disdain, but instead he confronts Moliere's masterpiece, the Misanthrope. And Rousseau shows in a magnificent reading of the play, which he admires, how Moliere deliberately subverts the truth for the effect of comedy. In this, Rousseau believes, virtue has been damaged more than we recognize. Rousseau believes comedy, and comic characters, strike at the heart of society's greatest strengths, pride in civic virtue, unity of purpose, repect for its leaders. He concludes that the theater is far more dangerous than the simple divertisement and amusement we think it, that supporters would have us believe. And he roundly rails against those who suggest the theater has the ability to improve society.
Much of what Rousseau argues echoes in our own society. However reactionary it all sounds at first, there is a deeply troubling truth in the pictures he draws of the duplicity behind Enlightenment pronouncements. He is also quick to point out conceited Philosophical attitudes devoid of any strict self-appraisal or self-criticism. Much of what he writes sounds almost upside down from modern accepted belief.
Harsh it certainly is, but Rousseau is very challenging, and his final words, for this essay was written near the end of his life, are not easily dismissed as final rantings of old age and bitterness with the future.
Although I am certainly not a conservative, I would suspect this book would be interesting to anyone holding such political views. For others, it offers a chance to see the darker side of what many of us take too readily for granted: freedom of press, an open - wide-open - popular theater (i.e. the movies) and the certaintude that many Democrats have in the absolute rightness of their beliefs.Rousseau throws buckets of cold water on all of us, and plays Prince Hal as King to our infatuation with the Falstaffian ethos.
There is an excellent and very necessary introduction by Allan Bloom.

A counter-blast to the trumpets of elitism
In this work, Rousseau replied to an article in the great "Encyclopedie" penned by D'Alembert.The article concerned Rousseau's hometown -- Geneva, and D'Alembert was for the most part quite complimentary about that city.But he did quarrel with the absense of any theatre.He was surprised, he said, that "in a city where proper and correct theatre is forbidden, coarse and silly farces as contrary to good taste as to good morals are permitted."

Rousseau was right to see elitism in those words.The intellectuals of D'Alembert's crowd naturally thought that they could decide for everybody what it "proper and correct," what is "coarse." Rousseau was right, furthermore, to issue this counterblast.

I'm not an advocate of every sentiment here, but I think I get the general drift of Rousseau's contention about art, festivals, and the public good.And I believe he got the better of the argument. ... Read more

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An eye-opening look at how the top media covers world news. Explores the pack mentality that drives reporters and how it distorts what we know about global news, economics, wars, human rights and more. Vividly illustrated with incisive anecdotes, it argues that while individual reporting is at its peak, the system is less reliable than ever. Analyzes coverage of recent hot spots such as Iran, Somalia and Eastern Europe. Features interviews with media stars. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Understanding the news
For anyone who wishes to understand the process of news gathering, this book is the best available. I use it in all my international news classes at Scripps School of Journalism. Rosenblum extracts from his lifetime of journalism a clear, logical and comprehensive explanation of how the story you read got there, and what influences affected its selection and presentation at every stage of the process. It's also a fascinating and exciting read, by one of the world's most prolific and professional journalists. He introduces you to individual correspondents, both as individuals and as types. He explains how geography, economics and sheer prejudice can determine what you learn about the world. He tells great bar stories -- the kind of thing journalists tell each other over a beer. And he does it all with skill and style. Worth reading by anyone -- a must for anyone interested in news.

Speak up!
A great book. Even though it focuses primarily on american media, it's lesson can be applied in all parts of the world: We need to start making demands on the media, instead of letting it dictate what we need to know.An eye-opener. ... Read more

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In the beginning, commercial television was filled with promise. Offering convenient, round-the-clock and easy access the latest news and information, it became the reliable medium whenever anything out of the ordinary came along. We came to believe that it was a truly democratic medium, which enriched people's lives. Today, the airwaves are inundated by programming that panders to the audience's most base interests. Americans are spoonfed shows by a communications industry that regards human beings as little more than demographics. Explaining that the USA surrendered virtually the entire command of its public airwaves to the commercial sector, this text reveals that television's primary purpose has nothign to do with quality programming. Its main concern is to deliver certain audiences or demographic groups to advertisers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

A good account, but not quite complete
Exploring television's history, these authors suggest that the downfall of television programming is a result of both government regulation and deregulation. They offer hope that television will improve. This book offers historical perspective.I would like to have seen more on other First Amendment abuses.

A Very Informative Read
Personally I found this to be a great read, very informative. It really opened my eyes to aspects of the media industry with which I was completely unfamiliar. I totally understood Mr. Walker's points on the declining quality and motives behind mass media, and agreed with him whole heartedly. His references, which were plentiful, were a great help, as I found myself seeking out many of the sources from which he drew his information. Having spent a great many years in the media industry, Walker has seen much of its evolution, as well as its degeneration into many of the avarice-driven machinations so characteristic of its present-day form. As for the Kirkus Review of the book, I have to say I think they're a little too high up on that high-horse of theirs. This book was a fascinating read, very engaging; I pretty much read it from first to last page in a matter of days, I was so enthralled by it. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about the workings of our contemporary media, how it got to where it is, and where it just might be going. AND, what it could be: Baker hasn't lost his idealism after so many years in the industry. Mr. Baker's style makes for an easy and engaging read, which is quite good when dealing with such complex subject matter.

Television has more than fulfilled its promise
In this historically wide ranging book, theauthors overlook the large numbers of excellent programs on many of the cable channels. My understanding of the authors point of view is that the government has losta wonderful outlet for its propaganda. Cable television has lead to thefulfillment of televisions promise, and has also rendered PBS obsolete.

Intelligent, insightful and interesting!
If you are at all interested the history of television, and how it got tobe the vast wasteland that it is, you need to read this book! Itultimately gives a glimmer of hope to those of us who think television istoo far 'Down the Tube' to be redeemed.

Highly recommended.
I am the CEO of a public television station, so I read the book with great interest and in an informed and critical frame of mind.I found it intelligent, analytical, and very felicitous in its combination of fact and philosophical judgment.It's a pleasure to read, and should be enjoyable and useful to anyone nterested in television, whether as a viewer or as a professional. ... Read more

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Chuck Morse, Boston’s “Radio Voice ofReason,” is perhaps the most controversialtalk-show commentator in America. A self-described“politically conservative Jew,”he offers a unique and fresh perspective oncontemporary political events and theirimpact on societal trends. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Incisive & Original Commentary
This is a remarkable collection of essays enlivened by scholarship and original analysis, phrases much used but rarely achieved. Chuck Morse is always readable which is a great gift in someone who responds to the pressure and excitement of breaking events.Part of what makes his essays (they offer far more than your typical topical columns)so engaging is the amount of scholarship into 20th century history, social science and philosophy that Morse packs into his lively and polemical discussions of current issues. He elevates consideration of familiar topics (the decay of public education, the intrusions of the Federal and State governents into individual and family life, the coercive uses of tax monies)to a level of clarity where readers can surprise themselves with fresh thoughts and insights on subjects too often buried in cliches. Visiting the essays in this collection is like browsing through an excellent library, where a skilled researcher has laid out key texts for the visitor. Morse is at his best in analyzing the history by which "change agents" from departments of Education and think tanks have purposefully shaped education into social and behavioral engineering with consequences it behooves all parents and citizens to consdier. This is a lively and engaging volume that sparkles with fresh insights and a passion for truth. Morse has been one of the best kept secrets of American commentary. A wider audience soon will be gratefully singing his praises, and applying his thoughts to local activism.

A burden of proof met
The mantra in science circles is that extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. Chuck Morse's claim is that he is the most controversial commentator in America, an extraordinary one given people like G. Gordon Liddy, Oliver North, Don Imus and even Rush Limbaugh could claim that crown. Morse will be familiar to readers of Enter Stage Right as a senior writer and regular contributor. Based out of very liberal Boston and a self-described "politically conservative Jew," he also holds court every weeknight with a nationally syndicated talk show on the American Freedom Network.

To his credit, Morse marshals some strong evidence for his claim in a book of his collected work, "Thunder Out of Boston: Collected Columns of Chuck Morse," many of which have appeared in this magazine and others on the World Wide Web. Touching on subjects as wide-ranging as the Second Amendment to world government, why Bill Clinton shouldn't have been impeached - you read that right - to why Jesus Christ wasn't a communist, Morse pulls absolutely no punches. With a ruthless efficiency, Morse systematically takes on the sacred cows and deeds of liberalism one by one.

On the impeachment: while the "web of deceit and swirling around Clinton will forever remain a loathsome and despicable debacle," Morse states that the "impeachment has stained and cheapened the letter and spirit of impeachment in the Constitution. The charges did not include treason, bribery or high crimes and misdemeanors." Rather, he writes, presidents like Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Lyndon Johnson should have been hauled before Congress for actions they undertook.

Morse also trains his considerable guns on American policies both past and present, blasting in equal measure radical elements in the militia movement, the jihad against National Rifle Association president Charlton Heston, the cultural denigration The Beatles were responsible for, the role America played in installing Fidel Castro ("Fidel - Our Man in Havana" as Morse refers to him), and sex education, among others. There are few hot buttons that Morse fails to bash in the fifty essays that comprise the collection. While some of the issues presented in Thunder Out of Boston are no longer front-page items, Morse's take on them are interesting enough to warrant a second look.

If Morse has a failing it's that he sometimes comes across repetitive in both tone and words - leaving him open to the charge that he takes shortcuts instead of carefully building up his case. Repeatedly referring to your ideological enemies as communists may play well with John Birchers, but Morse a better writer than that and should avoid what could be construed as name-calling. Thunder Out of Boston also could have used some more editing with several essays suffering from typos.

As a case for Morse's claim, Thunder Out of Boston is difficult to ignore. Some conservative commentators have been moving towards the center in recent years, perhaps in a bid to prove they can extend their popularity beyond the stereotypical angry white male, and becoming less interesting in the process. It would be difficult to accuse Morse of a similar charge, either in print or on the air. Given how prolific he's been recently, don't be surprised to see a second edition that will prove becoming soft is a sin that Morse won't commit any time soon. ... Read more

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In this book you'll meet some of the best-known women in Canada, past and present: Barbara Frum, Betty Kennedy, June Callwood, Ann Medina, Doris Anderson, Hana Gartner, Pamela Wallin.

Susan Crean has written profiles of more than a hundred Canadian media women, print journalists, writers, editors, radio and television broadcasters. They tell the stories of their careers, and the obstacles they've overcome in pursuit of success and power. Women are more prominent than ever before in the media--but as this book makes clear, many barriers to advancement remain.

Newsworthy: The Lives of Media Women offers lively portraits of many of Canada's most successful media personalities. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (8)

Excellent Book!!!
Elizabeth Trotta has spent her entire career in television news. You will not find a better qualified opinion of the current state of that media. She has exposed CBS and NBC (where she has plenty of personal experience) for what they have become. Since she has "blown the whistle" on the mass media, they have attacked her non stop. I also give her an A for putting up with the constant onslaught of criticism for having done so. She tells it like it is.

SHE WANTS SOMEONE TO MURDER OBAMA
Why would anyone buy her book if she is such a racist devil pig?
How does she sleep at night?

A true pioneer
Trotta was one of the first female war correspondents on television.This book is a must read for her Vietnam reflections as well as her story of what it was like to be a woman in the network "boys club".

Trailblazing Journalist
Liz was an awesome reporter in Vietnam; she could get down and dirty in the mud with the troops in an era where talking heads reported from mahogany desks in NYC thousands of miles away. She was honest and conservative in an industry which was devaluing both. Finally she was a woman, one of the first to go into the jungle to get the tough stories. This is a compelling book of a great reporter's life,and the story of an amazing woman.

Who is this frau?
Gee, I think Ms. Trotta would like to be given credit for the assassination of an American senator, eh?She would have felt right at home in Nazi Germany, where calling for the death of a political opponent was completely acceptable.

Why are we stuck with these monsters?How can we get them to climb back under their rocks??? ... Read more

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Recalling his role in the World War II sorties of the fabled Tuskegee Airmen. General Benjamin O. Davis Jr. describes it as a second front in the black aviators' war for dignity. In contrast to his bold decision-making as Secretary of Defense in the 1960s, Robert McNamara looks back on that era with regret, especially the misguided policies he had advanced during the Vietnam War. These are but two of the candid, deeply personal revelations in this collection of conversations from "dialogue," a weekly radio and television series from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. "dialogue" is broadcast by about 150 U.S. radio stations, the MHz WORLDVIEW channel and MHz NETWORKS, National Public Radio Worldwide, the Armed Forces Radio Network, and the ichannel in Canada, reaching hundreds of thousands of listeners and viewers worldwide.

Whether the guests are celebrities like Lee Hamilton, Bill Bradley, or Shelby Foote, or lesser-known scholars, poets, diplomats, officials, and authors, the conversations are uniformly gripping and thoughtful. Presented as "conversations about ideas," the broad range of topics is emblematic of the scope of human endeavor in the arts, sciences, history, and culture. The twenty-four interviews selected for The Art of Conversation are favorites from among the 900 broadcast over the past twenty years. Guided by host George Liston Seay, the guests consistently display, he says, "the joy of people who take each other seriously." In solid, plainspoken fashion they demonstrate that there is an art of conversation and that even in this fragmented video age, it still flourishes.

Customer Reviews (1)

Prime information right from the people themselves.
Candid, personal revelations are just two of the things said of the weekly radio and television series 'dialogue', held weekly from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington D.C. "The Art of Conversation: Dialogue at the Woodrow Wilson Center" is a compilation of twenty four favorite interviews presented in a neat, easy to read text format. The interviews cover various figures such as Robert McNamara, President Chissano, Bill Bradley and many, many more. Highly recommended to American history collections in general and any one who enjoys prime information right from the people themselves. ... Read more

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"Why do I like soap operas?" Laura Stempel Mumford asks, and her answer emerges in a feminist analysis of soap opera that participates in current debates about popular culture, television, and ideology. She argues that the conventional daytime soap has an implicit and at times explicit political agenda that cooperates in the "teaching" of male dominance and the related oppressions of racism, classism, and heterosexism -- so that they seem inevitable.All My Children, General Hospital, Another World, One Life to Live, Days of Our Lives, The Young and the Restless: a close reading of their texts will also answer some larger questions about television and its place in the broad landscape of popular culture.

Customer Reviews (1)

The Theory in this book doesn't fit the facts.
This attack on soap opera attempts to tell the readers that soap opera,like other forms of popular entertainment, glorifies the role of the fatherand brainwashes its viewers to be submissive to patriarchal imperitives However, the theory in this book simply panders to the most narrow-mindedof extremist feminists.The theory does not fit the facts.Soap opera isone of the major popular entertainments that permits critical questionsabout the excesses of the father's prerogatives to surface.By discussingsmall fragments of soap opera story arcs as if they were the whole thing,this book distorts its subject and renders a major disservice to itsreader. ... Read more

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"... acute look at the state of contemporary culture... A humorous... book, it yields rewarding advice for our perception of reality and fiction." -- Back Stage / Shoot

"Mellencamp's ease of movement between the conceptual and the commonplace is the great strength of this work.... High Anxiety is an invaluable contribution to the cultural studies debate... " -- Art + Text

Written with wit and flair, High Anxiety is a critique of the temporality of U.S. television, a narrative journey between Freud's texts on obsession and the cult of anxiety pervading contemporary culture. Operation Desert Storm, I Love Lucy, Anita Hill, Twin Peaks, and Oprah are a few of the subjects which form this "anxious" mosaic of popular culture.

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Ten innovative interviews explore how producers of documentary media--filmmakers, journalists, and artists--located in societies considered marginal to the high-tech global centers respond to local and international audiences in creating their works.

We meet a South African playwright who is shaping a distinctive form of activist journalism; a New Guinean producer who manages several media careers; Polish and German filmmakers developing critical documentaries on compromised new orders; a Columbian artist who provides powerful representations of endemic violence in her society; and writers from Martinique and Argentina with varied careers in the arts, media, and politics who provide tragicomic accounts of the marginal situations of their societies.

Cynical, hopeful, ambivalent all at once, these cultural producers in perilous states share a keen awareness of the marginality of their societies in the broader context of global change, and associate integrity in the reporting of local events with a critical politics of representation. ... Read more