Customer Reviews

Peepshow: Media and Politics in an Age of Scandal

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've been waiting for a book like this for a long time. It offers, at last, a clear-headed and incisive analysis of the whole scandal mess in today's media. It's short, to-the-point, delightful reading that I found tremendously entertaining. Anybody who listens to the daily diet of dirty laundry on the news will love this book.

Sabato was writing this book at the end of the Clinton era. His basic point is that the media was too focused upon the personal scandal that Clinton brought upon the White HOuse. However, presidential politics has moved so far beyond that as the Bush administration ushered in an era of hate, or adversarial media coverage. The book is a good review of what was happening, but I would argue it is no longer relevant because things have moved beyond what he describes. Get it for a good review of what was occurring, but don't expect it to offer an insight into what is going on today. Why have things taken this turn? Well, simply because covering the more risque aspects of a president's behavior no longer bring in the viewers. Rather, hating the president with whom you have little in common is what draws viewers.

My daughter read this book to help her write a research paper in her government class. I got curious, so I read it too. Excellent information, with lots of concrete examples of media invading the private lives of public figures. Also gives great examples of public figures wanting to use their private lives as part of their campaigns (for public image-building), and then resenting the intrusion of the media. I look forward to an updated edition, since this was published in 2000.