Into the Buzzsaw: Leading Journalists Expose the Myth of a Free Press (Hardcover)

~ Kristina Borjesson (Editor), Gore Vidal (Foreword) "In the thirty years I have been a freelance investigative journalist, I've seen books suppressed in varying ways, sometimes by the subjects of books, sometimes..." (more)
Key Phrases: media shills, coal mine canaries, into the buzzsaw, United States, New York Times, Washington Post (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this uneven yet illuminating anthology, editor Borjesson succinctly explains the journalist's predicament: "The buzzsaw is what can rip through you when you try to investigate or expose anything this country's large institutions be they corporate or government want kept under wraps." Indeed, if members of the general public read this book, or even portions of it, they will be appalled. To the uninitiated reader, the accounts of what goes on behind the scenes at major news organizations are shocking. Executives regularly squelch legitimate stories that will lower their ratings, upset their advertisers or miff their investors. Unfortunately, this dirt is unlikely to reach unknowing news audiences, as this volume's likely readership is already familiar with the current state of journalism. Here, Murrow Award-winning reporter Borjesson edits essays by journalists from the Associated Press to CBS News to the New York Times. Each tells of their difficulties with news higher-ups as they tried to publish or air controversial stories relating to everything from toxic dump sites and civilian casualties to police brutality and dangerous hospitals. Some, like BBC reporter Greg Palast's, are merely rants against "corporate" journalism, but others, like New York Observer columnist Philip Weiss's, will serve as meaningful lessons to nascent and veteran writers alike. Most of the sentiments here are especially relevant given the current reports of the war in Afghanistan and questions of their validity, making this timely and essential reading for students and scholars of journalism. (Mar.)Forecast: With Bernard Goldberg's Bias riding high on bestseller lists, Borjesson's offering on news media manipulation is bound to attract serious attention and sales.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School-The buzzsaw, explains Borjesson, is what journalists encounter when they attempt to reveal information that the nation's "large institutions-be they corporate or government-" prefer to keep secret. She presents 18 firsthand accounts by authors and print and television producers and reporters who challenged the media structure, often with devastating results to their careers. While Borjesson's and David Hendrix's narratives on the 1996 TWA Flight 800 disaster alone are worth the price of the book, other contributors chronicle their experiences with everything from books suppressed by the publishing industry to drug-war "shills" (those hoping to convince an audience that the "game is honest") to Bobby Garwood, who spent 14 years as a POW in Vietnam. Self-censorship is rife, they say, forcing limits on what constitutes news and whose voice is being heard. This desperate state of modern journalism relates directly to the fact that while good investigative reporting demands time, money, and risk, news executives are more concerned with profitability. Suggested reforms include providing "news that matters" and a return to the First Amendment's promise of a "free press." Many of the essays are blunt; all are provocative, substantiated by examples and evidence. The issues each one raises should spark lively debates in journalism and government classes and stimulate the critical thinking of news consumers. A brief biography and photograph of the contributor prefaces each chapter.
Dori DeSpain, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 392 pages
• Publisher: Prometheus Books (March 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573929727
• ISBN-13: 978-1573929721
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #592,332 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

85 of 91 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars what is bias, April 7, 2002

By	Persefoni "danielle11" - See all my reviews

There has been much talk about the supposed liberal bias of the media. I find this absurd. The true bias is pro-establishment, pro-free trade (a misnomer if ever there was one), pro-rich, and anti anything that contradicts these. This is a book for those who wonder why, who question authority, and demand truth. I was introduced to a word in this book; to "privish" is to print too few copies to make a book financially viable. I hope that this is not the fate of this book, as it is a true eye-opener. We live in Orwellian times: Peace is War, Truth is ignorance, etc. To know the inner machinations of journalism is a necessary part of being informed. To read the stories of those who refused to lie down is to remember what "fight" means. Don't be a sheep, even if you believe that the saviour of the human race is a lamb.

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Courageous Journalists (and a Few Bitter Ones) Fight Back, March 29, 2004

By	doomsdayer520 (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

In various ways, all the submissions in this book prove how the "Free Press" in America is not always so free. With a few exceptions, most of the essays here are by ace investigative journalists who have had their stories crushed by economic or political pressure from the power elite. This has more to do with the elite holding onto power, rather than inaccuracies in the always professional reporting. In recent times, this pressure increasingly comes from corporate media owners. As a bonus, this book also offers several actual investigative stories, including two with hard-to-dismiss conclusions about friendly fire and TWA flight 800.

The high points in this book are the powerful submissions by Monika Jensen Stevenson, covering the preposterous injustices heaped by the US government onto Vietnam POW Bobby Garwood; Michael Levine, covering the mainstream media's complicity in the drug war's ethical and practical failures; and Gary Webb, concerning his travails after exposing CIA drug trafficking operations (the "Dark Alliance" story). All of these stories, and others in the book, were crushed by government pressure in order to protect the power elite. Theory and media watchdog pieces by Carl Jensen and Robert McChesney are also very enlightening.

However, this is an uneven collection with some dismal low points that come close to sinking the overall effectiveness of the book. Kristina Borjesson (the editor) and Jane Akre are unprofessionally bitter in their essays, concerning TWA 800 and Monsanto abuses, respectively - their travails with wimpy editors and official harassment notwithstanding. Severe low points of the book include directionless and self-aggrandizing biographies from Maurice Murad and April Oliver, while Karl Idsvoog's piece is little more than a windy sales pitch for his media consulting firm. But overall, if you can stomach some bitterness and inconsistency, this revealing book will both damage your respect for the modern journalism business, but give you faith that there are still courageous journalists out there who are striving for the truth. [~doomsdayer520~]

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Media watchdog" ensnarled in conflicts-of-interest, April 10, 2002

By	Graeme Sephton (SHUTESBURY, MA USA) - See all my reviews

Borjesson's "Buzzsaw" is a collection of well-researched insider stories from journalists who sometimes had to fight insurmountable odds to tell the truth. Because these are heroic tales from survivors, the book is a real page-turner from beginning to end.

These heroes fought (and most are still fighting) deep behind the newspaper banner pages and out of sight of the cameras - fought to give you the facts on various stories. Most of these people have paid a very high price for their dedication to the truth. These are the stories about the stories - and information that powerful vested interests preferred that we not hear about. Reason enough to read this book.

If you are at all interested in how the news gets "processed" on its way to your eyes and ears you have to read these stories. That process is currently impaired. In the land of the free press our media got sold to commercial interests and that is the story that we now urgently need to understand. Like the air we breathe, the media is somewhat tranparent. But even if it gets polluted slowly and imperceptibly we will still suffocate.

Borjesson brings tales of the possibility of fresh air.

A democracy depends on a well-informed citizenry and therefore an unbiased watchdog in the media. Universally, survival depends on clear minimally distorted perceptions of the world.

As a design engineer myself, I can assure you that no system is perfect. But after you better understand the news process problems scrupulously detailed in this collection, you may realize like I did that you must do something about it yourself. Thankfully we still live in a nation where we can effect improvements.

Continued ignorance may be bliss, but it is not safety.