3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
worthy of being read but needs a larger historical context, September 2, 2008
This review is from: The Kingmakers: How the Media Threatens Our Security and Our Democracy (HC) (Hardcover)
For those who are interested in familiarizing themselves with how the media treats events and, especially, campaign issues, this book is useful. It balances out popular myths created by the media, in particular, by major news commentators ranging from Russert to Blitzer, et al. Through substantial exemplification, it exposes, quite correctly, bias, favoritism, neglect and the absence of objective and realistic analysis. As a major explanation for this, Gravel identifies, partially correctly, the concept of news commentators "following the story line" that habitually and temporarily excites the masses and is used for marketing and selling techniques.
To be sure, this is a major weakness in America's media, and Gravel and Eisenbach expose it with rigor and convincability. And it does pose a threat to security and democracy.
Unfortunately, this book has a narrow and limited focus. Its purpose is not to place the function and performance of the media into a larger comparative historical context. Had it done so, it could have offered the reader a profound and highly important insight into how overemphasizing and adulating democracy actually contributes in a major way to the very problem this book exposes. Overpoliticizing the masses and overadulating democracy erodes ethics and engenders what should be called "demofascism," i.e. people oppressing people.
Edward Bernays, the founding father of the modern public relations industry who wrote his famous book "Crystallizing Public Opinion" in the early '20s, though Jewish, had his book elevated to be the pride of Goebbels' library of propaganda books. Bernays was obviously shocked when he became of aware of this in the early '30s. His actions span more than 60 years, and he had presidents and major corporations as his customers. Advocating that all corps. need their pr depts., his advice contributed to the current nasty habit of having nearly all major bureaucracies devote a shocking percentage of their resources for selling themselves, for sugarcoating and whitewashing their actions and, generally, fooling the public. A fascist element is part of the media, of marketing, public relations and selling something. This has to be pointed out and would support the book's message.
Beyond this, Ernst Hanfstaengl, a well-connected Harvard political science graduate, who seems to have observed closely U.S. political party conventions, became Hitler's campaign advisor and introduced the Nazis to U.S. election techniques and pep rally hoopla as well as U.S. cheer leading and associated musical support to whip up the masses into hysterical frenzy which surfaces in both Nazi and U.S. political rallies par excellence. Hanfstaengl, in his autobiography, admits having introduced Hitler to America's electioneering method and associated media techniques and the custom of cheerleading the masses. He composed at least 12 storm trooper songs based upon the hyped up beat of American music, according to his own testimony. If Gravel and Eisenbach desire to point out how the media threatens security and democracy, including this could have cemented their case.
All of this and more is missing in Gravel's book and needs to be understood. Nevertheless, Gravel's book is very important insofar as it does raise the issue of America's neglect of a realistic domestic analysis of its socio-economic conditions, but it is only a necessary start.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Kingmaking Media, April 27, 2010
This review is from: The Kingmakers: How the Media Threatens Our Security and Our Democracy (HC) (Hardcover)
This is a competent and focused analysis of trends and patterns in the American public News Media. Specifically considering the coverage of political events and election campaigns, the Senator finds clear patterns of myth-making and myth-breaking, which often determines and drives the news.
Poor or non-existent background research is a major syndrome Gravel documents here. The media become simply a funnel for the story line and slogan emphases of the Administration or a particularly favoured personality. It should be no surprise that Gravel's excellent and readable presentation here documents the sensational celebrity-style portrayals and faddish hype in much of the supposed news of the popular media.
Despite ranting by one radical end of the spectrum or the other, Gravel's analysis shows that the American News Media do not, in fact, always favour Left over Right or vice versa. More commonly, he finds they actually serve as disseminators of the party line and propaganda of whatever administration is in power.
A grand example of all the media hype and repetition of the fear-mongering and international posturing of the Bush administration in whipping up fervour for the Iraq War, after an incredible non-response and indifference from the Bush White House in the early hours.
But don't think Gravel gives the Democrats a pass in his exposé of the neo-con hysteria and illogic. He is an equal-opportunity analyst, and I appreciated his objective and focused tone. He does not whine and complain, in the common tone we have come now to expect from the news "commentary" corps. He does not lambast and call people distracting, derogatory and degrading names to distract listeners or readers from the actual facts of the matter, a common approach of Rush Limbaugh.
He lays everything out, Democrat, Republican, conservative, liberal, moderate, neo-con, New Left, whatever. The Press are processing their own commercially-driven agenda, focusing on attracting attnetion and raising ratings. This leads them to look for sensation, glitter, gaffe, mis-statement, and other secondary trivia. Then they throw puff-ball questions to their favorite politicians and badger anyone handy on the fad topics of the day.
Gravel makes a credible case for created agendas, as well, where a trend or claim in national or international politics originates in their circles, then gets hyped through the "echo chamber: of the circular sourcing Media. Whatever your conclusion about the News Media, you will gain insights into recent American national cultural and political focuses.
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