Project Rewire: New Media from the Inside Out [Paperback]

Judy Daubenmier (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 16, 2006

Judy Daubenmier collects the work of some of the most important press critics working today. Bloggers and journalists, they take us through the most important blunders of the mass media, from the 2000 election to the war in Iraq. It's a litany of missteps, fraught with instances of laziness, lies and manipulation, that leaves the reader with an overwhelming picture of a Fourth Estate for sale.

Surprisingly, this isn't a hopeless situation, nor are its chroniclers cynical. Daubenmier and the critics she gathers in this volume point out media mistakes not out of a desire to point and laugh, but out of a hunger for a return to the role the press once provided: watchdogs of government and representatives of the people.

They criticize because they believe very deeply in the value of good reporting and good reporters, and that belief shines through every piece in Project Rewire, making it a must-read for anyone who cares about the health of our democracy.

[From the Foreword by Allison Hantschel]

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Daubenmier has panned for gold in the Internet stream of ideas, and the result is this treasure-trove of a book." -- David Bender, host of "Politically Direct," Air America Radio

"Judy Daubenmier has assembled a brilliant collection of voices. Her own context-setting essay is a must read." -- David Barsamian, Director, Alternative Radio

"To know where the mainstream press went wrong and how it got there, this is the book to read." -- Cenk Uygur, host of "The Young Turks"

From the Publisher

The three main sections of this book tell you what you need to know about the current state of American media.

"Unwired: how the media got disconnected," the introductory essay by Judy Daubenmier, tells the story of where American media has been in the past 50 years, from the dawn of network TV news with Edward R. Murrow encouraging the captains of the new TV industry to make it be more than "wires and lights in a box," to 24-hour cable news channels, to an emerging Internet media.

"The Great Rewiring: Internet media covers the media" is a collection of featured contributors, including some of the most esteemed writers for online media: Josh Marshall, Bob Somerby, Jay Rosen, Greg Palast, Russ Baker, John Nichols, Kelly McBride, Robert Parry, and many others. This material, culled from the Internet and presented in a logical order, make the case--in a variety of ways--that the new Internet media, relatively free from editorial boards and constraints of advertisers, shows promise for becoming far more than the "wires and lights in a box" Murrow warned us about.

The epilogue, "Forever Wired: keepers of the Internet media," looks at four areas where Internet media can be a source of information and an agent for media reform: keeping the Internet free and open, media activism, media watchdog sites, and the blogosphere.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 190 pages
• Publisher: William James & Company (October 16, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590280512
• ISBN-13: 978-1590280515
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,032,435 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars When journalists investigate journalism, March 1, 2007

By 

Kat Ricker "The Mighty Kat" (PNW) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Project Rewire: New Media from the Inside Out (Paperback)

Here is a tight, thoroughly readable crash course on the evolution of news media. The public is hungry for an explanation of why the mainstream news media is the the way it is, why so many important stories receive little coverage or biased coverage, and how it gets away with it. Judy Daubenmier offers a full-bodied context for this, plus the history of news media over the past decades, from Murrow to Murdoch, and a look at how new media (the independent journalism blog) is changing the landscape ahead.

4.0 out of 5 stars Permanence for the best of the blogs, February 14, 2007

By 

52 weeks, 52 books (ID) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Project Rewire: New Media from the Inside Out (Paperback)

If you believe network and cable news have a liberal bias, you may have to do some reading to understand this collection. If you know the meaning of "faux news" and "Rupert Murdock," however, you will appreciate Daubenmier's championing of the role of bloggers in combatting corporate media. Especially noteworthy are the items on attempts to censor and control bloggers. The 25 authors featured here are a "who's who" of progressive bloggers.

0 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Look Elsewhere for the Truth, September 18, 2007

By 

metal321 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Project Rewire: New Media from the Inside Out (Paperback)

If you've been so brainwashed by the Left that you actually believe this dreck, then there is probably no hope for you. Otherwise I would suggest getting one of Bernard Goldberg's excellent books. It's not much for a conservative like me to admit that he despises someone like far-left newsman Andy Rooney, but I have to give him credit for telling it straight when he admitted on Larry King that most people in the news business are liberals.