Reviews (5)

Must reading
Who should read this book? Anyone with a conscience and a brain and a beating heart who cares about the United States and its place in the world. Anyone who is frightened about rapidly disappearing concepts like truth, justice and due process. Anyone who understands that our fragile democracy is vitally dependent not only on verifiable elections, but also on a voting public well informed by aggressive, independent, skeptical journalists rather than embedded reporters who regurgitate self-serving, manufactured reality and trade truth for access.
Energy, Passion for the Truth, Bravery
I recently shared a day with fellow progressives at The Fighting Bob Fest in
Still an Important Alternative Voice That Needs to Be Heard
Unlike the proverbial lone voice in the wilderness, Amy Goodman's is sounded every day on Democracy Now! with a partner, Juan Gonzalez. Even in New York City, Ms. Goodman and Mr. Gonzalez are hardly able to raise their voices above the media trash heap filled by the likes of Rupert Murdoch and Fox News, the increasingly sensationalist CNN (whose kidnapped baby can we bloviate about today?), the disappointingly ineffectual New York Times, the superficial Brian Williams, and everybody's oh-so-cute CBS newcomer, Sally Fields (You like me! You really like me!). Oops, make that last one was Katie Couric. Democracy Now! languishes in NYC, nearly invisible on public access cable every morning at 8:00.
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Subjects:  1. 1989-    2. Conspiracy & Scandal Investigations    3. Government - General    4. International Relations - General    5. Mass media    6. Political Science    7. Political activists    8. Political aspects    9. Politics / Current Events    10. Politics and government    11. Politics/International Relations    12. United States    13. Current Events / Mass Media   

Editorial Review

An absolutely brilliant analysis of the ways in which individuals and organizations of the media are influenced to shape the social agendas of knowledge and, therefore, belief. Contrary to the popular conception of members of the press as hard-bitten realists doggedly pursuing unpopular truths, Herman and Chomsky prove conclusively that the free-market economics model of media leads inevitably to normative and narrow reporting. Whether or not you've seen the eye-opening movie, buy this book, and you will be a far more knowledgeable person and much less prone to having your beliefs manipulated as easily as the press. ... Read more

Reviews (78)

More conspiracy theory propaganda
Wake up and understand who controls the media and who they vote for.Why would these Dem voting owners and employees possibly push a Republican Agenda?Can you possibly answer that?
ed herman's a genius
Ed Herman has often written quietly behind Chomsky's bigger name but he's no less important a messenger and translator of American media and foreign policy bias and hypocrisy. Manufacturing Consent is a withering analysis of these "inconvenient truths."Herman and Chomsky's important writings, both as collaborators and individuals, have been largely ignored by the mainstream press for the last 40 years, affirming, ironically, their very thesis. If you read this book undefensively, putting aside your biases, you will experience Kierkegaard's "fear and trembling." If you read Ed Herman's other books, you'll appreciate why he's not more widely known, but should be.

A very important book
In Manufacturing Consent, Hermann and Chomsky present a very powerful institutional analysis of the media.The authors put forth a "propaganda model" which outlines various ways in which the media filter information to serve the interest of the powerful elites.Although the propaganda model makes sense from a logical and theoretical standpoint (given the economic constraints faced in the news industry), the real power of the book are case studies that provide near bullet-proof support for the model.In fact, the model is introduced in the first chapter, while the remainder of the book is a series of case studies.Even the most skeptical reader (as I was) will be pretty hard pressed to poke holes in the model after the gauntlet of case studies it is put through.Because this book tells us so much about the objectivity of the news we receive from the agenda setting news sources, I honestly believe that Manufacturing Consent is one of the most important books ever written.
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Subjects:  1. Current Affairs    2. Government - U.S. Government    3. Mass Communication Media And Politics    4. Mass Media    5. Mass media and propaganda    6. Media Studies    7. Ownership    8. Political Process - General    9. Politics / Current Events    10. Politics/International Relations    11. Propaganda    12. Current Events / Mass Media   

Editorial Review

Jean Kilbourne first gained prominence in the 1970s as the maker ofRead more

Reviews (17)

Phenomenal
This book was OUTSTANDING.The only thing that pains me about it is that I bought it out of bargain bin.I would have gladly paid full price. Only a little out of print...
This powerful and vital book is out of print - but only under this title. "Deadly Persuasion" was released in November 2000 under the new title "Can't Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel". Under that title, the book has never gone out of print, so it is easy to acquire. And you definitely should acquire it!

Deadly Persuasion
A brillient and stunning consideration of how advertising affects society. Rather than the more popular route of blaming problems of the modern world on entertainment media, Kilbourne convincingly argues that it is, indeed, the unnoticed and unceasing stream of advertisments which is harmful. Required reading for anyone who ponders modern sociology. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Advertising    2. Advertising & Promotion    3. Consumers    4. Media Studies    5. Social Control    6. Social Science    7. Sociology    8. Sociology - General    9. Women consumers    10. Women in advertising    11. Women's Studies - General    12. Consumer issues    13. Current Events / Mass Media   

Reviews (843)

Thinly Veiled Personal Rant
It's clear that Mr. Goldberg is hurt by his personal and professional troubles with CBS and Dan Rather.It is made even clearer by the fact that he constantly brings it up over and over again throughout most of this book.
At best, "Bias" is merely an assemblage of personal anecdotes...
I'm going to risk the possibility of getting "not helpful" votes from people with a political axe to grind, but here goes.I am going to review "Bias" AS A BOOK, without taking any position about its message or its politics.
Bias Proves it's Point

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Subjects:  1. Current Affairs    2. General    3. Journalism    4. Mass Media    5. Media Studies    6. Objectivity    7. Politics/International Relations    8. Pop Arts / Pop Culture    9. Television broadcasting of new    10. Television broadcasting of news    11. United States    12. Performing Arts / Television / General   

Reviews (17)

Good book on resource geopolitics. My 13 yo son loves it
We all knew that respources, like money, move the world. And that by explaining the concentration, consumption and need to control them, everything we see in geopolitics can be somehow explained.
Needs a 2nd edition
This is a decent book.It is well researched and referenced, and it contains a lot of interesting information about foriegn policy with respect to resources (especially oil and water).Klare remains rather nuetral throughout, which is rather refreshing.Unfortunately, it is a little dated by now (written when the Taliban still controled Afganistan and before the Iraq war).Most of the US foreign policy dates back to the Clinton era.
balanced and dispassionate analysis
Thirty or forty years in the future, people will look back at Resource Wars by Michael Klare as one of those books they wished they had read, or as one that policymakers should have read.
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Subjects:  1. 1989-    2. Current Affairs    3. International    4. International Relations - General    5. Mass Media    6. Natural Resources    7. Political Freedom & Security - International Secur    8. Politics / Current Events    9. Politics/International Relations    10. Security, International    11. World politics    12. International relations    13. Media studies    14. Theory of warfare & military science   

Subjects:  1. Education    2. Mass media    3. Media Studies    4. Politics/International Relations    5. Pop Arts / Pop Culture    6. Social Science    7. Sociology    8. Technological innovations    9. Current Events / Mass Media    10. Impact of science & technology on society    11. Technology: General Issues   

Editorial Review

No one more epitomized the world of gangsta rap than Suge Knight, the oftenbrutal CEO of Death Row Records. Author Ronin Ro shows courage in detailing thefrightening means used by Knight to corner the market on the most hard-core of urbanmusic. It's a tale that reads like it was written by the bastard offspring of Horatio Alger and Quentin Tarantino.Knight's forceful style and legal entanglements have been the stuff of legend for years.Most music reporters, coming face to face with the thugs who enforced the rules at DeathRow, have been afraid to tell the story. With Knight safely behind bars and Death Row indisrepair, Ronin Ro finally has the chance to put this violent soap opera in print. ... Read more

Reviews (36)

Violently Entertaining and Informative
Before I start this review, I'd like to defend Ronin Ro for his writing. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the way this book was written: the author carefully weaved in each character who was essential in the Death Row scandal.I saw no editorial mistakes and it was organized sufficiently.If a reader does not like the experiences in the book, that's one thing; but to insult the writer is ridiculous, especially since this was such an interesting and well-researched book.
The Best Book For Any True Rap Fan!!!!!
This book gives you an inside look at one of the most powerfull companies in history.Its not just contracts and courtrooms, its murder, shooting and violence.It keeps your interest from start to finish.You see what a true gangsta Suge Knight was, doing anything to get what he wanted.It covers Dr. Dre, Suge Knight, N.W.A., the DOC, Tupac, Snoop Dogg, and many more.Ronin Ro puts direct quotes and doesnt altar or change anything, its raw, real, true.The language is definatly for 16+ but its great regarless.Go behind the scenes of the biggest indusry in music, and go inside the EastVs. West Coast Rap Battle.Once it arrives you will never put it down.

"Have Gun Will Travel" Review
Ronin Ro's "Have Gun Will Travel" is probably one of the most entertaining books ever written on the subject of Suge Knight's Death Row Records. However, a good deal of the information in this book should be taken with a grain of salt. Ro paints Knight as a thuggish bully who used violent tactics to extort his way into the music industry and helped create a feared "gang presence" behind the scenes at Death Row. It explores his partnership with Dr. Dre, a talented music producer who Knight pulled from rival Ruthless Records only to knock out of the picture when he was able to acquire an even-larger artist, Tupac Shakur. It goes into detail about the reported beatings of Dre production assistant, Sam Sneed and the infamous boat party where Warren G and his crew were assaulted. Ro tends to have a personal vendetta with some rappers, most noteably Tupac Shakur and DJ Quik. Shakur is written as a loud-mouthed, arrogant gangsta rapper who was falsely praised as a "revolutionary" because of his mother's fabricated past as a member of the Black Panthers. Quik is also written about in a less flattering way as Ro takes a biased look at his feud with MC Eiht, accussing him of hiding behind gang tactics and using violent threats while Eiht attempted to reconcile the problem. It fails to mention that Quik's diss record was a lyrical retaliation to a series of diss tracks called "Def Wish" where Eiht verbally punked Quik or that following the death of Biggie, Quik began recording positive anti-gang records including "You'z A Gangsta" where he made a call to end his problems with Eiht. Still, the star of the show, Suge Knight, takes the brunt of the beating in an editorial assault that makes Michael Moore's portrait of George W. Bush in "Farenheit 9/11" look kind in comparison. When he's not being accussed of assaulting record executives, promoting violence within the recording industry, or setting up rappers to be murdered, Knight's sexuality is also questioned as Ro explores a "supposed" homosexual relationship between Suge and his label's R&B crooner, Danny Boy, who is also his adopted son. If you were even a slight fan of West Coast rap music in the 90's, "Have Gun Will Travel" is one hell of an entertaining read, though most of its information is more "National Enquirer" than LA Times. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business Aspects    2. Current Affairs    3. Genres & Styles - Rap & Hip Hop    4. Mass Media    5. Mass Media - General    6. Murder - General    7. Music/Songbooks    8. Politics/International Relations    9. Current Events / Mass Media    10. Music   

Subjects:  1. Current Events / Mass Media    2. Mass Communication    3. Mass media    4. Media Studies    5. Performing Arts/Dance    6. Social Science    7. Social Science / Sociology / General    8. Sociology    9. Current events    10. Sociology - General   

Subjects:  1. Case studies    2. Demography    3. Deviant behavior    4. Great Britain    5. Minority Studies - General    6. Social Science    7. Sociology    8. Sociology - General    9. Subculture    10. Young adults    11. Current Events / Mass Media    12. Media studies    13. Social groups & communities   

Subjects:  1. Current Affairs    2. Gay Studies    3. Gays in popular culture    4. Gender Studies    5. Homosexuality    6. Homosexuality in art    7. Homosexuality in motion pictur    8. Homosexuality in motion pictures    9. Lesbian Studies    10. Mass Media    11. Public opinion    12. Sociology    13. Cultural studies    14. Current Events / Mass Media    15. Film theory & criticism    16. Gay studies (Gay men)    17. History of specific subjects   

Reviews (1)

Little new here
"Media Spectacle" presents Douglas Kellner's critique of contemporary high-tech, media-driven society which, he proposes, is dominated by the phenomenon of spectacle. The whole notion of "spectacle" as the dominant mode of capitalist/consumerist society is by no means original to Kellner.His analysis seems inspired in part by the philosophy of Guy Debord (Society of the Spectacle, 1967), and by theAmerican historian/philosopher Daniel Boorstin, whose provocative 1961 book "The Image" is an earlier and more accessible exposition of the same ideas.Boorstin referred to "pseudo-events" and famously defined the celebrity as one who is "known for his well-knownness."Read more

Subjects:  1. Mass media and culture    2. Media Studies    3. Popular Culture - General    4. Popular culture    5. Social Science    6. Sociology    7. Sociology - General    8. United States    9. Current Events / Mass Media    10. Press & journalism    11. USA   

Reviews (30)

Hard Facts
Goes after the sacred cow, the New York Times. Put things in prospective of why and how news is reported. Also lets you into the inner circle of the mainstreet media and how it operates. Good education for the person who is not familiar on behind the scenes of news organizations.

A Journalism Junkie's Must Read!
Read it. It's a great book. Five stars.
Exciting Arc of a Tale
Hard News is about the brief and troubled reign of Howell Raines as executive editor at the New York Times.It is a powerful story and is ably suited for the book form with its sweeping arc of great success (winning six Pulitzers early) and then a great scandal followed by defeat and resignation in tight twenty-one period (although the author kindly expands this a little to give the reader context concerning life at the Times).The troubled writer Jayson Blair fits into this narrative but it is definately not his story.Besides being both gripping and informative, this is also a book for anyone who cares passionately about the concept of unbiased news, an idea that is sadly almost becoming quaint and old-fashioned in this new Fox-centric universe.This is also a story for those who actually care about the New York Times because despite its troubled period, the passionate people who work at this paper come out very well in this book.It is a book that is hard to put down, a tale told well by Seth Mnookin.Highly recommended. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 21st century    2. History    3. Journalism    4. Language    5. Language Arts & Disciplines    6. Media Studies - Print Media    7. Newspaper Management    8. Pop Arts / Pop Culture    9. Popular Culture - General    10. Press    11. Sociology    12. United States    13. Current Events / Mass Media   

Subjects:  1. Beauty & Grooming - Fashion    2. Pop Arts / Pop Culture    3. Popular Culture - General    4. Sociology    5. Communication Studies    6. Current Events / Mass Media    7. Fashion design    8. Social & cultural anthropology   

Reviews (6)

Exposes the Media's Voyeuristic, Shock And Awe Tendencies
"At breakfast and at dinner, we can sharpen our own appetiteswith a plentiful dose of the pornography of war, genocide, destitution and disease."So says one of the first lines in introduction to Compassion Fatigue.With that statement as simultaneously an opener and a teaser of the things to come, Professor Moeller takes the reader on a guided tour of the presentation and commodification of human tragedy and suffering.
Good read, but cliche conclusions
Moeller divides her book into six sections; an introduction, a section on media coverage of disease, a chapter on media coverage of famine, a chapter on coverage of assassinations, a chapter on coverage of genocide, and a conclusion. Each section if filled with case studies and alternately amusing and horrifying anecdotes; she recounts, for example, that the editor of one Boston paper said that "the distance from Boston common divided by the number of bodies" decides which stories make the final cut. The book makes a great read (especially relative to the bulk of academic writing), and you'll certainly pick up little tidbits you can later cite in conversations about current events. Profoundly important and a good read to boot.
Susan Moeller gets right to the heart of the weaknesses of how the American media covers foreign news and the way the American audience percieves it. But she doesn't just paint a picture of the problems -shespells out some constructive and doable means to fix them. As a journalistmyself, I recommended this book to all of my peers -both in the industryand out of it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Contemporary Issues In Mass Communication    2. Current Affairs    3. Disasters    4. Mass Media    5. Media Studies    6. Politics / Current Events    7. Popular Culture - General    8. Press coverage    9. Sociology    10. Television broadcasting of new    11. Television broadcasting of news    12. United States    13. War    14. Art / Popular Culture    15. Media, information & communication industries    16. POLITICS & GOVERNMENT    17. Psychology    18. Television   

Editorial Review

Robert Anton Wilson is the grand pooh-bah of late-20th-century conspiracy theory, but regular Wilson fans may find Read more

Reviews (36)

Fun, but needs updating
This book is great for browsing through occasionally - would probably be good bathroom reading - as long as you don't take it too seriously. The "conspiracies" range from satirical to loopy to almost believable. My favorite is the unbelievably convoluted "plot" surrounding the death of Princess Diana. Since I've just finished another book about conspiracy theories, I was disappointed not to find anything on the "reptilian" aliens, which seem to be quite popular on the late-night fringe - or at least they were a few years ago when I worked the third shift across from an Art Bell fan.
The book THEY don't want you to read
`Everything is Under Control' is an A to Z listing of hundreds of conspiracy theories and cover-ups that pervade the minds of paranoids. The main issue I had with the book is how quickly the author cruises through topics. Some items are touched on so lightly that I'm not even sure what Mr. Wilson is talking about. It's disappointing not because the subject matter is boring but because it's so interesting that the short descriptions left me wanting more.
Unreadable
This book is lousy.There is no depth to any theory portrayed and it is organized as an encyclopedia.
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Subjects:  1. Conspiracies    2. Conspiracy & Scandal Investigations    3. Controversial Knowledge    4. Curiosities & Wonders    5. Current Affairs    6. History    7. Mass Media    8. Miscellanea    9. New Age / Body, Mind & Spirit    10. Politics/International Relations    11. Unexplained Phenomena    12. Political Science / Political Freedom & Security / Intelligence    13. Self-Help & Practical Interests   

Reviews (28)

Very Sensible and Interesting
Dan Gilmor here presents the attitude toward technology & journalism that any journalist will need to have if he/she will survive long in this new era. They need to embrace, or at least reckon with, the new media.
Interesting read about the changes occurring in journalism...
If you ever wondered what is changing in journalism, then this book is for you. It not only describes the logging phenomenon, but also describes why the big media might not last.

A Journalist Passionately Embraces the Internet
Many people blame the Internet for accelerating the long-term decline of newspaper circulation, and think that the Internet is crippling the future of American journalism.
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Subjects:  1. Computer - Internet    2. Essays    3. General    4. Information Technology    5. Internet    6. Internet - World Wide Web    7. Media Studies    8. Online journalism    9. Political Science    10. Political aspects    11. Politics/International Relations    12. Social aspects    13. United States    14. Computer / Internet    15. Computer Software Packages    16. Computers / Internet / World Wide Web    17. Current Events / Mass Media    18. Social Science/Media Studies    19. Web publishing    20. journalism, online journalism, citizen journalism, reporter, reporting, online reporter, media, new media, technology, weblog, blog, blogging, online writing, sms, rss, wikis, forums, newsgroups, pod casts, pod casts, video blogs, vlogs, screen casts,   

Reviews (11)

Buffy as a Study for Scholars?
Unbelievable, but true.Buffy has become such a cultural icon that college professors and scholars have written critical essays on the teen television series.Buffy as a television series was entertaining, but these scholars have dug deep enough to unearth a smarter Buffy.There is more to Buffy than dressing fashionably, vampires, and Sunnydale.And this book reveals it.

Pretty deep
This is a very well written informative book. However it reads like a college level psychology text book. Pretty bland and pretty intellectual. A bit over my highschool head.

a solid body of academic work on the series
As a collection of critical essays on pop culture, I'd probably only give this 4 stars, but this is head and shoulders above the rest in comparison with the other collections of Buffy academia I've slogged through lately. (Reading the Vampire Slayer and Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy - both good in their own right, but rather unpolished).Read more

Subjects:  1. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Fict    2. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Fictitious character)    3. Buffy, the vampire slayer (Tel    4. Buffy, the vampire slayer (Television program)    5. Current Affairs    6. Mass Media    7. Mass Media - General    8. Media Studies    9. Politics/International Relations    10. Pop Arts / Pop Culture    11. Television - General    12. Performing Arts / Mass Media    13. Radio & television industry    14. Television    15. USA    16. c 1990 to c 2000