The More You Watch the Less You Know: News Wars/(sub)Merged Hopes/Media Adventures [Hardcover]

Danny Schechter (Author), Jackson Browne (Foreword), Robert McChesney (Foreword), Robert W. McChesney (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 7, 1997

A candid insider's tale of how the media really works and why it doesn't work the way it should, The More You Watch, The Less You Know has emerged as a key catalyst in the debate on media reform. The More You Watch, The Less You Know recounts Schechter's media adventures, from when he was "Danny Schechter the News Dissector" on Boston's WBCN radio, to his stints as a producer at ABC's 20/20 and CNN, to his personal odyssey chronicling the anti-Apartheid revolution in South Africa, to his development of innovative programming like South Africa Now and Rights & Wrongs as an independent producer. In this age of telecommunications bills and media mergers, The More You Watch, The Less You Know is an insider’s passionate plea for freedom of the (electronic) press.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

From his beginnings at a Boston rock station, to a producer's spot with 20/20, to his extensive contributions as producer and director of television specials, Schechter's media experiences have put him at the head of the line to comment on the industry's eccentricities. Throughout, he has closely observed the people, politics, and conglomerates of the media world with uncanny recall, providing an absorbing retrospective replete with astute observations on the subtleties underlying content, "slants," players, and messages conveyed to the public. The result is an intelligent and saddening yet humorous depiction of the inner workings of giant media groups and behind-the-scenes forces that often mold public reaction to world events. For those with an interest beyond the superficial in news and media, this will be particularly thought-provoking. For general circulating libraries, especially those with media collections.?Carol J. Binkowski, Bloomfield, N.J.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

This behind-the-scenes look at America's media monopoly might more aptly be titled ``The More You Write, the Less You Remember Your Point.'' Although Schechter offers many interesting insights about the world of journalism and where it is going (downhill, fast), this book suffers from a lack of cohesion. If this were one of the documentaries or news programs Schechter (Emmy Awardwinning producer for 20/20 and CNN) directed or produced, you'd have to assume he'd be yelling, ``Cut, cut!'' Hints that this was going to be more than a tad rambling come in the introduction, which is a whopping 54 pages long. There is also more than a little back-patting going on in this memoir/expos‚. Readers are constantly reminded that plenty of other journalists may have sold out, but Schechter did not. That said, he does America a service by warning of the problems inherent in a society in which journalism has become synonymous with entertainment, and media mergers mean news that is one-sided and sanitized. Not one to simply whine, Schechter closes the book with suggestions about what journalists and the American public can do to change the status quo. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 496 pages
• Publisher: Seven Stories Press; First edition. edition (October 7, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1888363401
• ISBN-13: 978-1888363401
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.9 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,979,107 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Strong material poorly organized, August 9, 2000

By 

Douglas Doepke (Claremont, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The More You Watch the Less You Know: News Wars/(sub)Merged Hopes/Media Adventures (Paperback)

Despite the dead-on title, Sheckter's narrative works better as personal reminscence than serious critique of a sterile media. A chief reason lies in the general absence of structure. There is no observable principle ordering the text. This results in an unpredictable and erratic narrative, which a more astute editor, I believe, could have presented more effectively - the material is there. Unfortunately, the whole adds up to considerably less than the parts.

At bottom, Sheckter's book provides insights into both strengths and weaknesses of the New Left from which he hails. None of the Old Left's rigid dogmatism enters into the text. On one hand, this allows him to confront a lock-step media in a more agile and less preconceived manner than critics of old. On the other hand, it produces a hopeful innocence that seems to learn much less from informed experience than should be the case. Does the author really expect these corporate entities to reform themselves in a progressive manner as his recommendations indicate. Here we arrive at a crux of the dilemma confronting any erstwhile reformer. Can real, humane change be expected of those entities whose bottom line is always money, even when an inventive and dedicated gadfly like Sheckter burrows from within. Without serious pressure from outside the industry, can such gadflys serve as anything more than occasionally troublesome house radicals. Given the temper of the times, that may be as much as anyone can expect.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Some good thoughts ... but author gets WAY off track, January 24, 2002

By 

Hanover Foote (Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The More You Watch the Less You Know: News Wars/(sub)Merged Hopes/Media Adventures (Paperback)

The author does make some excellent (and scary) points about the state of modern journalism in the first 2 or 3 chapters of the book.

However, the book soon veers off course focusing mainly on the aphartide in South Africa. While this does correspond with the theme, I don't know if it deserves 3/4 of the book.

I also got the impression that the author sees himself as a saint, impervious to the trends that are affecting the rest of the media.

Not a bad book, I suppose, but there are better out there.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thought-Provoking, June 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The More You Watch the Less You Know: News Wars/(sub)Merged Hopes/Media Adventures (Hardcover)

This book is an overall excellent read. Although a little wordy and self-promotional at times, "The More You Watch..." is definitely a book that'll make you think. It gives behind-the-scenes details of the fall of journalism and the incredible dangers of corporate media culture. I was particulary interested in the "dumbing down of America", I feel that Schecter is right and that we as people in a democratic society should start questioning the media and not allow the government to give away our right to information!