The Free Press [Paperback]

Hilaire Belloc (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2002

Hilaire Belloc, a great English essayist of the 20th century, takes an uncompromising look at the forces working against the freedom of the press. Targeting financial and political influences, along with the influence of advertising, Belloc exposes the powers and motives responsible for the suppression of news and the manufacturing of opinion. Neither pie-in-the-sky idealism nor an irrational conspiracy theory, The Free Press is a rationally argued essay explaining the origins of those influences and factors that make the press less than what it should be honest: fair, and independent. This is a topical work written almost a century ago. Times have changed, but the situation has gone from bad to worse, and thus this work is even more relevant today. This book will be of interest to anyone, particularly the student of journalism and its history, who is curious about the rise of the major papers and media networks, and about the forces both overt and semi-covert working to shape what is reported and which opinions are sanctioned.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A classic instrument of instruction" -- Rev. John H. Miller, Social Justice Review

"A classic work of enduring importance--perhaps even more relevant today than when he published it in 1918." -- Michael S. Rose, author, Goodbye, Good Men

"A must read for anyone concerned about a truly Free Press!" -- Tom Allen, Catholic Exchange, January 1, 2003

"Belloc details the particular dangers of mingling the work of journalism with paid advertising." -- Stephanie Block, Los Pequenos' Pepper, July 1, 2003

"[A] splendid introduction to Belloc’s thought and style." -- Scott J. Bloch, director, Hilaire Belloc Society, Washington, D.C., March 1, 2003

"[A]n annotated, illustrated—and altogether sparkling—new edition of Belloc’s analysis." -- Dr. James Hanink, New Oxford Review, December 1, 2003

"[A]n audacious thesis, even for Belloc." -- The Wanderer, December 4, 2003

About the Author

Hilaire Belloc began his academic career with a lecture tour of the United States in 1892. He became a member of the Fabian Society in the early 1900s and met George Bernard Shaw and H. G. Wells, who helped him obtain work with newspapers such as the Daily News and The Speaker. Eventually he became literary editor of the Morning Post. He was elected to the House of Commons in 1906. He also wrote several novels, such as Mr. Clutterbuck's Election and A Change in the Cabinet, along with historical works such as The French Revolution and the History of England. Belloc also published a series of historical biographies: Oliver Cromwell, James II, Richelieu, Wolsey, Napoleon, and Charles II.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Ihs Press (September 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0971489416
• ISBN-13: 978-0971489417
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,829,882 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Prophetic, June 18, 2009

By 

bookscdsdvdsandcoolstuff "bookscdsdvdsandcool... (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Free Press (Paperback)

Rarely have there been two authors as prophetic as G.K. Chesterton and Hillaire Belloc. That their books are still so relevant to so many today is testimony to their enduring greatness. Both these men are thoroughly Catholic authors, and it is this clear headed world view that leads directly to their timelessness.

The Free Press really and truly did shock me. I have known "traditional Catholics" who hate what I, as a Catholic loyal to Vatican II, stand for. Often they quote Belloc or other writers to back up their claims. They often attack ideas like freedom of expression, freedom of religion, etc. etc.

More often than not, when I go to the source materials, I see that the arguments they make rarely hold water. Here too, we see the same. Hillaire Belloc is a great defender of the notion of a free and independent press. He defends advocacy journalism because journals with a clear bias don't pretend to lack bias, so the reader can think about claims critically. He defends FREEDOM to write and think.

He is absolutely prophetic about the profit motive driving modern journalism and the lack of objectivity that causes. One wonders what he would have thought about the blogosphere! Given the content of this book I think he would have been supportive of much it stands for.

This was an amazing read. Heartily recommended.

21 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The mainstream media and the free media, December 23, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Free Press (Paperback)

This is a quite interesting work from the authorship of Hilaire Belloc, which correctly sustains that mainstream media are not nor objective, neither faithful to the truth, but simple tools in the hands of their owners, informing according the conveniences and interests of such owners, professional journalists being no more than mere subjects that must fulfil the orders of their employers, if they desire to keep their jobs.

Without surprise the reader notices that the picture described by Belloc didn't change since 1918, the year the book was written, continuing to be actual about the current mainstream media. In fact, the present situation is even worse than in the time of Belloc, reference media being a mere repetition of each other. Despite the fact they present themselves with different editorial statutes, they always agree in the same essential matters - party system oligarchy, one-worldism, multiculturalism, free immigration and the consequent forced integration -, astonishingly remembering the media of a totalitarian society like the former Soviet Union.

How can we surpass this situation? In this point, Belloc's message is also actual: having recourse to independent or free media not dominated by plutocratic interests, in order to obtain a clearer vision about the events going on the world, complementing the information received from mainstream media or, even, giving that one such mainstream media have hidden. Despite some weaknesses that independent media also suffer, to those who turn to them, a complex whole of events will become perfectly understandable or, at least, much more clear, fighting in that way the occult censorship imposed on and by mainstream media (and, today, we have the internet, a tool unimaginable in the time of Belloc, that is the paradise of free media).

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Reader and Viewer Beware!, October 25, 2004

By 

Brad Shorr "Brad Shorr" - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Free Press (Paperback)

Belloc's prognosticative prowess goes full tilt in his 1918 essay on the press. Belloc sees the development of the press as a child of capitalism: by 1918 the establishment press in England is driven by profit instead of truth, and has incredible power to shape policy and control policy makers. Why? Newspapers sell for less than it costs to produce them. The difference is made up by advertising. Thus newspaper owners are beholden to advertisers and are not inclined to run stories counter to their interest. Newspapers can make or break politicians at will. They tend to suppress discussion of real political issues in favor of manufactured ones so they can spin news according to their own interests.

Sound familiar? Many people will find truth in these descriptions even today, with regard to the major news networks. Belloc sees a remedy: an independent free press. Belloc argues that by reading many different perspectives, extreme though they may be, one can distill the real truth of the matter. He observes this is exactly how we develop opinions outside of the mass media--by listening to a variety of people describe the event and assess their credibility, as in a criminal trial for instance. A free press did exist in 1918, but was in its infancy. Thanks to the Internet, we finally have the truly free press that Belloc predicted would flourish.

This tract might make you rethink the idea of digesting a steady diet of network news only. What you get is not necessarily what you see.