About the Author:
Robert W. McChesney, professor at the University of Illinois, is the author of the award-winning Rich Media, Poor Democracy (The New Press, 2000) and, with John Nichols, Our Media, Not Theirs. He lives in Champaign, Illinois. John Nichols is The Nation's Washington correspondent and an editor at the Capital Times. He is the author of The Rise and Rise of Richard B. Cheney and Jews for Buchanan. He lives in Madison, Wisconsin, and Washington, DC.
From Booklist:
Nichols, a correspondent for theNation, and McChesney, a journalism professor, excoriate the media for failure to hold politicians accountable for their words and deeds, thereby failing in their responsibility to protect American democracy. The authors examine current media practices in the context of press freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights and the concepts held by the Founding Fathers. The troubling recent presidential elections and the war in Iraq--and the lackluster reporting by the media--are the latest in a long trend toward a kind of corporate media that treats Americans as consumers rather than citizens. The authors compare manipulation of American news reporting and elections to practices of the Soviet Union at its strongest, with the political Right exerting more control of the news cycle. The authors also examine some promising trends--including the Internet and creation of independent media. The book includes interviews with John Kerry, Howard Dean, Barack Obama, and other key political figures, exploring concerns about the media's role in democracy. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.