Weapons of Mass Distortion: The Coming Meltdown of the Liberal Media [Hardcover]

L. Brent Bozell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 6, 2004

Could Al Franken and his left-wing cronies possibly be right? Is liberal media bias just a myth propagated by conservatives, and have the mainstream media actually swung to the right?

Absolutely not.

In the new book Weapons of Mass Distortion, L. Brent Bozell III—founder and president of the Media Research Center, America’s largest and most respected media watchdog organization—presents the definitive account of how liberal bias in the news industry is alive and well.

But here’s the thing: The liberal media are headed for a downfall. Bozell demonstrates how their monopoly on information is at last coming to an end, in large part because journalists continue to deny the bias that infects their news coverage. His unrivaled expertise allows him to show readers exactly how the media landscape is changing—and to expose the even bigger changes that are coming.

Marshaling an astonishing amount of evidence, Bozell documents exactly how the news media deliberately attempt to set the national agenda through their slanted coverage. In the process he destroys the arguments that Franken and many other left-wing commentators have put forward regarding media bias.

Weapons of Mass Distortion also reveals:

• How the liberal media’s slanted coverage of President George W. Bush will play a huge role in the 2004 elections
• Why liberals’ claims about the influence of Fox News and the “conservative media” are wrong—and deliberately misleading
• How the mainstream press has waged war on the war on terrorism
• Never-before-told stories of how leading journalists, behind the scenes, betray the liberal bias they so forcefully deny in public—incidents that Bozell has witnessed firsthand
• How the same journalists who condemn the Right for “hate speech” regularly launch (and get away with) vicious personal attacks on conservatives
• Clear evidence that the major news outlets are hemorrhaging viewers, readers, and listeners precisely because of their liberal bias

By dominating the news media for so long, liberals have been able to control what we see and hear. But as Bozell makes clear, the Left will lose that control soon enough.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A political talk-show circuit regular, Bozell runs the Media Research Center, an organization that has published several books documenting liberal media bias. In his first solo effort, Bozell richly—and selectively—documents examples of liberal influence in America's newsrooms. There's little doubt that a good deal of what Bozell identifies does exist—there are plenty of examples of "liberal hate" that went unnoticed and undenounced in the press (e.g., the New Yorker's Seymour Hersh stating, "We have an attorney general [John Ashcroft] that is, I don't know, how would you describe him, demented?")—but his thesis nearly requires that he present a partial picture. Bozell enlists right-tilting Bernard Goldberg as rhetorical ally and labels Eric Alterman and his ilk as "liberal media deniers." Many similar books are rife with contradiction, and Bozell's is no exception (which isn't to imply that left-leaning books are any fairer). Thus Bozell mocks Newsweek as a left-wing rag akin to the Nation—until he approvingly quotes Newsweek pundit Howard Fineman when it suits him. Readers may come away thinking there's too much bias in both directions. Bozell's book is music to conservative ears and may even open some liberals' eyes—assuming they'll deign to read it.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Notwithstanding the large and growing numbers of conservative commentators on television and radio, Bozell, nationally syndicated writer and president of a media watchdog group, reveals what he calls staggering evidence of liberal bias in the media. Those who set the agenda for what gets into the news and the angle of the reporting have decidedly liberal viewpoints and an arrogant sense that they are the social conscience of the nation, Bozell asserts. He critiques recent books, including Eric Alterman's What Liberal Media? and Al Franken's Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them (both 2003), which claim there is a growing conservative bias in the media. Bozell begins by exploring how the media view conservatives and liberals and their respective roles in society and illustrates how the media promote liberal issues and try to influence events. Bozell concludes with a prediction of the coming meltdown of the liberal media as public confidence in news reporting erodes. Whether readers agree with his perspective or not, those interested in the media will find this an interesting read. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Crown Forum; First Edition edition (July 6, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400053781
• ISBN-13: 978-1400053780
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,717,488 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

150 of 185 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Authoritative & Essential, July 7, 2004

By 

G. Scimeca "GDS" (Richmond, VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Weapons of Mass Distortion: The Coming Meltdown of the Liberal Media (Hardcover)

Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell - the Harley riding iconoclastic Native American from Colorado - chuckled about the way the media coverage of him changed. Early in his career he was brash, bold, unconventional and exciting. Later he was called difficult, out-of-touch and lacking sympathy for ordinary people. The change? Campbell switched parties, going from Democrat to Republican. Though his voting record didn't vary, the media account of him did. This singular event, thoughtfully examined tells you everything you need to know about today's modern media. Thankfully, we have LOTS more examples due to the fine work of Brent Bozell and his Media Research Center. They are the authority on analyzing and categorizing the leftist tilt of the national news media. In the last 15 years both the Congress and Presidency have been held by each major party, yet the way the media attributes credit or blame to each somehow varies. When there was a budget impasse in 1990 it was Bush's fault, when again in 1995 it was Newt Gingrich and the GOP Congress' fault.

Of course much more than Congress is covered here. Nearly every social and cultural issue that can be politicized is examined. One of the most damning studies involves media labeling. Did you know you can be a Republican with a view on abortion shared by 51% of Americans and be labeled "extreme right"? Not coincidentally, your liberal counterpart can hold truly extreme positions advocating government funded abortion on demand and be labeled a "moderate." In fact if you had a nickel for every time the national media used a term like "extreme left" you might, with a little luck, one day own a nickel.

Economic studies are also devastating. The U.S. economy has not been recession for 2 years, and for nearly a year our economy has been growing at the hottest pace in 20 years. Despite this, the people whom the media inform still think the economy is IN recession. If you were a journalist, should you not be ashamed that people are so uninformed about such a vital fact? Not our national media, who don't mind misleading Americans about the state of our nation so long as it hurts Bush.

Bozell names names and tells it like it is in reporter's own words and exhaustive media studies. The 2004 race will be nasty, and the media has their job cut out for them in getting a democrat into the White House. Kerry doesn't have Clinton's charm and blarney so the press will be in turbo-mode to attack Bush and push Kerry. The media inform the public and characterize the state of the world -- such as with the state of our economy -- and are thus far more important to the state of society than ANY elected official. Read this book. Understand how those who control and disseminate information affect the nation and our future. This year it is as important as ever.

63 of 81 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Personal story of lunatic leftist tactics, July 19, 2004

By 

KEVIN MCCORMACK (Northern California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Weapons of Mass Distortion: The Coming Meltdown of the Liberal Media (Hardcover)

I just finished this book and logged on to write a review about it. I previously wrote a review of Barry Bonds: Baseball's Superman, written by my friend Steven Travers, so I checked it out. I was amazed to see all kinds of negative reviews of this book, which sold well and even won an award, I think. Then I read these reviews further and discovered that none of it had anything to do with Steve's book. It turns out Steve writes reviews of books and movies on Amazon himself. Like me, he is pretty conservative. He wrote some reviews about Michael Moore, books and documentaries by him, a few about him, etc.

Anyway, the stuff Travs wrote about Moore was not real flattering of Moore, but it looked to be researched and was basically within the framework of the stuff a lot of people write and say about Moore, who is pretty controversial either way you cut the mustard. It turns out somebody turned the Moore supporters on to Steve, how I'm not sure, but they all decided to give a bunch of negative, fake reviews of Barry Bonds: Baseball's Superman. Lord, I could not believe some of the stuff people were saying about my friend. Terrible reviews. One stars. Calling him a liar, claiming all kinds of untruths about him, and the Bonds book had nothing to do with politics. One clown apparently wrote more than one of the reviews, and when I looked at other reviews I saw this dingleberry shadowing Steve's reviews, sort of the way a kid repeats what another kid says on a schoolyard. The guy looks like he has several aliases or something and gives Steve "unhelpful" votes even when Steve gives the best review in the lot.

Is this the way the left operates? This book by Bozell details these kinds of tactics, and wouldn't you know that here it is, up front and personal. These people just hide and do hit-and'runs. Steve puts his name and email address up there like a man. If you like him or not, and he's opinionated so you might not like him, you know who he is and what he stands for. These people are cowards. This is what Bozell talks about. These people used to have all the power in this country, but not anymore. The way they deal with their lack of popularity is so telling. Just shut up or, if you have anything to say, be up front about it.

The mainstream media wants us to believe they are just reporting the news, but it is filled with bias. Conservatives stand right up and identify themselves and say, "Here I am, this is who I am, agree or disagree." Judging from recent elections and ratings, most people agree.

These liberals are so...untruthful.

23 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The shifting nature of the media is well documented here, March 26, 2005

By 

Michael Erisman (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Weapons of Mass Distortion: The Coming Meltdown of the Liberal Media (Hardcover)

This book covers the well documented shift in the media over the last decade. At some point, and it's hard to tell exactly when, the media evolved to be politically biased. The objectivity the previous generation grew up with was replaced by increasingly obvious attempts to make and impact the news through political labels, and clearly biased language and news coverage.

Much of this book covers issues well documented elsewhere, most notably in Goldberg's expose "Bias", wherein Goldberg describes how the CBS team became little more than paid Liberal spokesmen. So, as a few other reviewers have mentioned, the overall effect of this book is that is feels a bit dated. However, if you have not previously read or studied this issue, then this book is a great place to start.

The topics are organized into three sections. The first, The Real Source of Bias, covers the fact that the vast majority of those in media positions simply see the world through their own lens and project that outward, often without realizing it. Section two depicts how many of the significant moral and ethical issues of our time are increasingly presented with a slant far to the Left. So when election results and polls that show the American public is no where near at the level of alignment with how the media elite would have us believe, the media seem genuinely surprised. The key issues include abortion, the environment, religion, gay rights, gun control, and others. The final section looks at some of the most egregious depictions of bias, including the hilariously biased coverage by the networks in the 2000 Presidential election.

The book is so well documented it would be impossible to start quoting some of the hundreds of quotes and evidence of this media shift, and represent the book. I will say that those who may find themselves on the far left politically or socially may not want to read this, as the book itself is, ironically, biased against that end of the political spectrum.

Overall, easy to read, fascinating and well documented information, but perhaps a bit dated. Recommended for those who have an interested in better understanding why and how the media became so obsessed with being the news, instead of reporting it.