Unreliable Sources: A Guide to Detecting Bias in News Media (Paperback)

by Lee (Author) "The news, and the journalists who provide it to us, can't be understood outside the context of the media industry as a whole..." (more)
Key Phrases: nuclear allergy, disco bombing, other major media, New York Times, Washington Post, White House (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Associated with the media-watch group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), Lee ( Acid Dreams ) and Solomon ( Killing Our Own ) here document their assertion that the media have come to assume the role of spokespeople for the American business establishment, which allegedly runs the U.S. in general and Washington powerbrokers in particular--and whose press releases and other self-promoting testimonials often wend their way, verbatim, into newsprint. Citing the reluctance of newspapers and TV networks to present dissenting views on military spending, environmental pollution, economic policies that frustrate blacks and Hispanics, and American gunboat diplomacy in Latin America, they make a compelling case for the contention that newsmen and women distort current events. And though in the Reagan-Bush era, theirs is certainly a minority viewpoint, the authors remain convinced a change can be wrought.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
"The most sacred cow of the press is the press itself." In this book, Lee, publisher of Extra , the journal of the Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) organization, and Solomon, an investigative journalist, make mincemeat of that maxim and detail how often the press is biased. For example: many journalists just wade through their Rolodexes for sources; others make unobjective "we we" on the air ("When are we going to get Noriega?"); and stories on "unpopular" perspectives on race, gender, and politics often go unreported. While this book is most appropriate for serious media collections, all libraries would benefit from a book that advocates media activism, in which "one can learn to be a more critical consumer of the news."-- Judy Quinn, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 452 pages
• Publisher: Lyle Stuart (August 25, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0818405619
• ISBN-13: 978-0818405617
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #670,782 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Very Important Book!, June 24, 2000

By	JPM (Gardiner, Maine) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Unreliable Sources: A Guide to Detecting Bias in News Media (Hardcover)

This is one of the single most thought provoking books I've ever read. It provides the reader with a real behind the curtain look at the media and politics. This is a must read for every American!

15 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Unreliable Writing!, February 25, 2002

By	Steve Bunten "steve_bunten" (Colorado) - See all my reviews

First, I was surprised to find out that the media is as conservative and Republican as it apparently is. One would certainly not guess it from the reporting that is done. And what was really lacking in this book was any kind of even handed approach to bias in the news. I'd grant that there is bias towards the right in some reporting. But by reading this book you'd think that there was only far-right leaning reporting only with nary a lean to the left in any news reports.

One point raised by the authors more than once was the use in news reports of unnamed sources and few hand-picked named "expert" sources. But throughout their diatribe against the right-wing controlled media they used many of these same techniques with many an unnamed source as well as the (over)use of a small number of "expert" sources used to prove their points.

I was truly looking for a book that helped in understanding and, as they say, detecting biases in the news media. What I came away with in this book was that it was written by some far left wing fanatics (should have guessed based on the foreword being written by Ed Asner) who did not want to give a balanced treatment to this topic (who but someone like Asner could have guessed that the NY Times is really a Republican mouthpiece!)

2 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars useful guide to analyzing media at the institutional level, April 7, 2003

By	Edgar Hopida (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Unreliable Sources: A Guide to Detecting Bias in News Media (Hardcover)

This book carefully in no nonsense language, analyzes the media bias and the institution of the media and how it operates and how the final product gets aired on news televison or in print. This along with Manufacturing Consent by Herman and Chomsky is a must if people want to know the truth about the media