Producer, pundit, and media critic Jeff Cohen offers a fast-paced romp through the three major cable news channels--Fox, CNN, and MSNBC--and delivers a serious message about their failure to cover the most urgent issues of the day.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Television news is so bad, says Cohen, the founder of progressive media watchdog group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), that "Walter Cronkite would have big trouble getting a job today in TV news." Thus, the wry media critic kicks off this excellent, high-energy look back at his trials and tribulations at CNN, Fox News and MSNBC. Though opinionated and incisive, Cohen's memoir is not the confession of a tortured progressive; Cohen freely admits to being a "telebimbo" and a "well-paid party to the feeding frenzy." In 1987, Cohen began a stint as a guest on CNN's Crossfire, representing FAIR and progressive concerns; before he knows it, he's an enthusiastic member of the media "kakistocracy," the "rule of the worst." Doing battle with conservative gadflies Pat Buchanan, Robert Novak and others proves exhilarating, but a disturbing trend of "genuflecting to the political right" leads CNN executives to replace Crossfire co-host Michael Kinsley with two Democratic centrists. Surprisingly, Cohen finds punditry nirvana as a panelist on Fox News Channel's News Watch, "the smartest and most balanced show on Fox and perhaps anywhere in cable news." At the behest of Phil Donahue, Cohen moves to MSNBC, where the handwriting is literally on the wall: at network headquarters, posters celebrate news coverage "highlights" like the death of Princess Diana and the Columbine shootings. Though he chides himself and his colleagues repeatedly for ignoring real news in favor of sensationalism ("Nuclear tensions rise; we talk sex on Fox"), Cohen's willingness to mire himself in the swamp of infotainment amply mirrors the situation of viewers drawn into the cable news runaround, doomed to get their news from "three dogs chasing each other's tails to the right."
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
About the Author
Jim Hightower is a syndicated columnist, national radio commentator, the publisher of the Hightower Lowdown newsletter, and the New York Times bestselling author of Thieves in High Places. Susan Demarco is a writer, former radio talk-show host, public-interest activist, and longtime Hightower partner-in-crime.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Jeff Cohen's new book Cable News Confidential offers readers a rare behind the scenes look at the 24 hour cable news world. Cohen describes his experiences at CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC. He offers many personal stories, which were always engaging and often quite humorous. They painted a clear picture of how conservatives control and frame the news we see on cable. While I have read many other books on this subject, I have never seen a book that offers as many crisp, clear examples of the way today's cable news industry operates.
I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in the news media, politics, or the future of our country.
I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in the news media, politics, or the future of our country.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Jeff Cohen, founder of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) had some faith in the budding, at the time, cable news. It was, he felt, a phenomenon that could take the place of that joke which we colloquially refer to as TV news. He was surprised.
As a little background, I won't allow television news on in my house. Long, long ago I was a television addict; that's what I used to keep myself occupied in my lonely days in high school. However, the summer before I was a senior in high school I was in a nearly fatal automobile accident which kept me in the hospital for some time. While there, I had little to do but watch television. Like a bad hangover can cure a potential drunk, being forced to watch the idiot box convinced me that the television is an idiot's medium. So I've sworn off it.
In Cohen's case, he was an ACLU attorney. He was disillusioned with what he saw as a right-leaning medium. When "cable news" came about, CNN, the pioneer, offered him a job.
Now, I don't want to go into details of Cohen's life then. Read the book if you want to find out about that. But he opened my eyes to a few things. First of all, while I've never been a CNN fan, it seemed better that Faux. ANYTHING is better than Faux, right? That's why I was surprised that Faux was not first on Cohen's list. But Cohen admits early in the book that Faux didn't start the rightward swing, but the pioneer, CNN did. Cohen pointed out that all his tenure at CNN consisted of was the shouting matches. It's drama so it sells...
The 2nd section of the book is on Faux, for which Cohen worked for 5 years. (!) His witty descriptions of his time there include, of course, his run-ins with o'leilly. In fact, I appreciate his description of Billow, that o'leilly is a good debater, but ill-prepared, for example, and that o'leilly really does see himself as the little guy taking on the big, bad "liberal" monster. That o'leilly is grandly deluded is not a surprise to anyone, I suppose, but it's interesting to hear it from someone who worked so closely with him.
Another interesting tidbit of Jeff's tenure with Faux is that he was to debate the Grande Dame of shock jocks, Ann Coulter, but, despite Jeff's extensive preparation for the experience, Coulter wouldn't appear with him! That demonstrates what I've always believed of Coulter, that she has no guts, just the right lines for the audience she knows all too well.
Then onto MSNBC. Now, I'm an Olbermann fan. I don't watch him on the tube but I do tune into his web page frequently as I think he as something intelligent to say. (And I can tell he does as the "right" despises him!) So I was surprised to hear of their, for a start, gutlessness. Cohen took a job with them as he was happy that MSNBC was hiring Phil Donahue. Indeed, Cohen was Donahue's producer. But even those "liberals" who tuned into Donahue did so less. It seems MSNBC's management was telling Donahue that he's too far left, that your flag waving "silent majority" was, in their focus groups, rather turned off to him. Cohen's role was dwindling too; he was limited in how he was allowed to help Donahue prepare.
Cohen was game to how Rupert Murdoch, Faux's owner and grandfather of right wing radio, was making headway. He focused on a particulary demographic. He wasn't going to appeal to everyone, but Faux knew the type to whom, say, o'leilly appealed. And to them, Faux sold. But MSNBC wasn't interested. So eventually, Donahue lost his job as he was perceived as too "anti-war."
The focus of the book, alas, is that cable news is hopelessly "corporate." War sells, as do shark attacks and alleged kidnappings. Cohen would have a shouting match with someone and the stations' staffs would comment on how good it looked, without so much as a syllable on the content.
Yes, there is a lot of cynicism focused on the media today. The "right" claims that the media have a hopelessly "liberal bias." Cohen not only challenges that, but shows that the cable networks in particular are centered on the almighty buck. So they go for the drama, the show, rather than on any substance.
There is a word of optimism at the end of the book, though. There are alternatives developing. So those of us completely disillusioned with cable noise can begin to tune into those alternatives, many of which Cohen lists.
If you're expecting a dry dissertation with refernces up the wahzoo, this may not be your cup of tea. But if you want an insider's story, a broad outline of why the media are getting as bad as they are, I recommend this witty milestone.
As a little background, I won't allow television news on in my house. Long, long ago I was a television addict; that's what I used to keep myself occupied in my lonely days in high school. However, the summer before I was a senior in high school I was in a nearly fatal automobile accident which kept me in the hospital for some time. While there, I had little to do but watch television. Like a bad hangover can cure a potential drunk, being forced to watch the idiot box convinced me that the television is an idiot's medium. So I've sworn off it.
In Cohen's case, he was an ACLU attorney. He was disillusioned with what he saw as a right-leaning medium. When "cable news" came about, CNN, the pioneer, offered him a job.
Now, I don't want to go into details of Cohen's life then. Read the book if you want to find out about that. But he opened my eyes to a few things. First of all, while I've never been a CNN fan, it seemed better that Faux. ANYTHING is better than Faux, right? That's why I was surprised that Faux was not first on Cohen's list. But Cohen admits early in the book that Faux didn't start the rightward swing, but the pioneer, CNN did. Cohen pointed out that all his tenure at CNN consisted of was the shouting matches. It's drama so it sells...
The 2nd section of the book is on Faux, for which Cohen worked for 5 years. (!) His witty descriptions of his time there include, of course, his run-ins with o'leilly. In fact, I appreciate his description of Billow, that o'leilly is a good debater, but ill-prepared, for example, and that o'leilly really does see himself as the little guy taking on the big, bad "liberal" monster. That o'leilly is grandly deluded is not a surprise to anyone, I suppose, but it's interesting to hear it from someone who worked so closely with him.
Another interesting tidbit of Jeff's tenure with Faux is that he was to debate the Grande Dame of shock jocks, Ann Coulter, but, despite Jeff's extensive preparation for the experience, Coulter wouldn't appear with him! That demonstrates what I've always believed of Coulter, that she has no guts, just the right lines for the audience she knows all too well.
Then onto MSNBC. Now, I'm an Olbermann fan. I don't watch him on the tube but I do tune into his web page frequently as I think he as something intelligent to say. (And I can tell he does as the "right" despises him!) So I was surprised to hear of their, for a start, gutlessness. Cohen took a job with them as he was happy that MSNBC was hiring Phil Donahue. Indeed, Cohen was Donahue's producer. But even those "liberals" who tuned into Donahue did so less. It seems MSNBC's management was telling Donahue that he's too far left, that your flag waving "silent majority" was, in their focus groups, rather turned off to him. Cohen's role was dwindling too; he was limited in how he was allowed to help Donahue prepare.
Cohen was game to how Rupert Murdoch, Faux's owner and grandfather of right wing radio, was making headway. He focused on a particulary demographic. He wasn't going to appeal to everyone, but Faux knew the type to whom, say, o'leilly appealed. And to them, Faux sold. But MSNBC wasn't interested. So eventually, Donahue lost his job as he was perceived as too "anti-war."
The focus of the book, alas, is that cable news is hopelessly "corporate." War sells, as do shark attacks and alleged kidnappings. Cohen would have a shouting match with someone and the stations' staffs would comment on how good it looked, without so much as a syllable on the content.
Yes, there is a lot of cynicism focused on the media today. The "right" claims that the media have a hopelessly "liberal bias." Cohen not only challenges that, but shows that the cable networks in particular are centered on the almighty buck. So they go for the drama, the show, rather than on any substance.
There is a word of optimism at the end of the book, though. There are alternatives developing. So those of us completely disillusioned with cable noise can begin to tune into those alternatives, many of which Cohen lists.
If you're expecting a dry dissertation with refernces up the wahzoo, this may not be your cup of tea. But if you want an insider's story, a broad outline of why the media are getting as bad as they are, I recommend this witty milestone.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
An excellent insight into the inner workings of cable news. I had no prior understanding of the increadable bias that exists on cable TV news. I highly recomment this book!!!!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Behind enemy lines
CABLE NEWS CONFIDENTIAL: MY MISADVENTURES IN CORPORATE MEDIA recounts the years media critic Jeff Cohen spent working in the cable television news industry he had monitored - and... Read more
Published 7 months ago by J. L LaRegina
5.0 out of 5 stars
Timeless worth
This book is a must read for anyone interested in the changing arena of journalism and one man's experiences with corporate journalism.
Published 17 months ago by R
5.0 out of 5 stars
How do we get them to disclose bias?
A good look from the inside. We all know the shows are stacked with conservative talking heads, but it's easy to fool the uninformed. Read more
Published on June 10, 2010 by Joseph Phillips
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good stuff
I appreciated the fact that Jeff has extensive experience at all three cable news networks, and that he doesn't hold back to share his experiences. Read more
Published on September 2, 2009 by Omar Martin
5.0 out of 5 stars
Corporate media is the true axis of evil
This is an important addition to the equivalent of taking the red pill in The Matrix. Take this and a little Noam Chomsky and you will develop a healthy skepticism about what... Read more
Published on July 6, 2009 by J. Serrano
5.0 out of 5 stars
Cohen explains my frustrations well
A big thanks to Jeff Cohen for confirming that I'm not crazy. He "found inside cable news was a drunken exuberance for sex, crime and celebrity stories, matched by a grim timidity... Read more
Published on April 23, 2007 by Zaine Ridling
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great book!
I really enjoyed reading this book, and highly recommend it to everyone...especially people who don't really understand what a joke this all is.. Read more
Published on March 4, 2007 by Steven Hunt
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting read
A good read. Although the book felt a little short - I guess I'm used to novels - Cohen does get through his points without a lot of extra, unneeded pages. Read more
Published on January 4, 2007 by K. G. Soto
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 11
books:
See all 11 books this book cites
3
books
cite this book:
- Princess Diana by Mary Virginia Fox on page 95, and page 123
- Bowling for Columbine by Michael Moore on page 121
- American Democracy by Lewis Lipsitz in Back Matter
- Eight Is Enough by Tom Braden on page 22
- Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neil Postman on page 95
See all 11 books this book cites
- Jacked: How "Conservatives" Are Picking Your Pocket (Whether You Voted for Them or Not) by Nomi Prins in Back Matter
- The Spirit of Disobedience: Resisting the Charms of Fake Politics, Mindless Consumption, and the Culture of Total Work by Curtis White in Back Matter
- House of Ill Repute: Reflections on War, Lies, and America's Ravaged Reputation by William Rivers Pitt in Back Matter
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