Customer Reviews

It's the Media, Stupid

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While all industries have undergone tremendous consolidations in the past decade, none of them have the impact on our culture and democracy as do the media giants. The delivery of targeted viewers and users to advertisers is the goal of the media giants, not the creation of an informed citizenry. In fact, the author demonstrates that considerable censorship is exercized to prevent views that question the corporate order as well as their own restricted information flows from reaching the public.

The author emphasizes that the corporate media system will have to be addressed before democracy stands a chance. But a real quandry exists. Usually an active citizenry requires good information to become energized - the kind that is needed from the very media in need of drastic reform. It is a most unpromising picture.

This indepth analysis should put an end to the myth of liberal bias in the media. As the Left has been saying for years, the media is only as liberal as the conservative corporations that own them. We seem to be tumbling towards a world in which everything is owned by a relatively few number of conjoined companies whose activities are reported on by a handful of aqenda-driven media giants all bent on diseminating a particular view of predigested news aimed at the lowest common denominator. There has to be another way although, like a previous reviewer, I'm not sure all the solutions in this book will work. I would also like to point out that 90% of National Public Radio's funding comes from donations made by listeners and from corporate underwriting. Only 10% of the NPR budget comes from the federal and state governments and all of that is in the form of grants used for specific programs (science, history, music, literature, etc).

Ever wonder why the rightwing fascists and fake liberals in both parties get away with destroying America? It's the media, stupid ! Yes, some rightwing lunatics will cry "Liberal media" while others will cry "conservative/corporate media" but folks, the media is nothing more than a puppet for anti-America government that exists in Washington D.C. . The book does take a strong swipe at the ever corrupt and dishonest media but the reader might still feel powerless as there are no truly working solutions except to quit watching the TV set. Then again, not watching the telly might give the American people more time to get to work and take back their country. Read this book and fight back !

I have just finished this book for an Electronics Media class I am taking at USF.

Although I agree with most of the complaints that the authors expound about the problems with global corporations and the current state of the media today, I do not see their Socialist fixes as any kind of real solution. In fact, in many instances, they are just power grabs by the Left to get you to pay for their programs (ie National Public Radio and Public Television, which are dominated by the Left).

I agree with the concept of microradio stations to help spread media access around, but not their demand for government subsidies to help the "less fortunate" pay for their stations. They are not that expensive to buy and maintain.

I believe a more Libertarian approach to open media access would be more productive than the authors brand of Socialist "fixes"... which in the end would probably just lead to abuses by the Left.

But it is a good read from the point-of-view of defining all that is wrong with the current state of the media today and why it is out of control.

Personally,this book may be on the extreme side. Some of these suggestions might be nice, but many of them are unpractical. The media gives people what they want essentially, in order to make a change in it, it does not need to become an issue in political debate. It needs to become an issue in the hearts of people. People need to be educated enough to find for themselves what is the truth. If the people seek the truth, the media that provides it will be the most successful. Its a simple business, supply and demand.