From the
Common Courage Press:
Media critic Norman Solomon has done it again. In this latest collection of columns, he details the most recent excesses and failures of America’s self-censoring mainstream media, and brings you the real story on issues like:
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The Orwellian logic behind calling bombings by Third World countries “terrorism”, while similar bombings by the U.S. are righteous “strikes against terror”.
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The irony of the Zippergate President (ol’ B.J. Clinton) preaching abstinence to poor women and putting millions of dollars into “chastity education” programs.
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The V-chip’s unexplored potential to zap out commercials.
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“Media Scenes We’d Like to See” — fantasies as appealing as they are unlikely, which include a vision of Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, and Peter Jennings donating their fortunes to a trust fund for independent journalism and vowing to tell the truth even if it gets them fired.
From the relentless pro-corporate spin of daily news to the media’s persistent lack of diversity, Solomon covers it all.
About the Author
Norman Solomon is executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy, a nationwide consortium of public-policy researchers. He is the author of Media Beat, a nationally syndicated column on media and politics that appears in the San Francisco Examiner and other daily newspapers.
A longtime associate of FAIR (Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting), Solomon has written op-ed articles on media issues for many papers, including the Boston Globe, Washington Post, Newsday, New York Times, Miami Herald, Los Angeles Times, USA Today and Baltimore Sun.
Norman Solomon’s books include:
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The Habits of Highly Deceptive Media
(collection of great “Media Beat” columns, 1999)
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Wizards of Media Oz: Behind the Curtain of Mainstream News
(collection of columns co-written with Jeff Cohen, 1997)
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The Trouble With Dilbert: How Corporate Culture Gets the Last Laugh (1997)
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Through the Media Looking Glass
(collection of columns co-written with Jeff Cohen, 1995)
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False Hope: The Politics of Illusion in the Clinton Era (1994)
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Adventures in Medialand
(collection of columns co-written with Jeff Cohen, 1993)
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The Power of Babble: The Politician’s Dictionary of Buzzwords and Doubletalk for Every Occasion (1992)
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Unreliable Sources: A Guide to Detecting Bias in News Media
(co-authored with Martin A. Lee, 1990)
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Killing Our Own: The Disaster of America’s Experience With Atomic Radiation (1982)
- Sitting on the Windpipe of the First Amendment
Related sites
Media Beat
http://www.fair.org/media-beat/
“Media Beat is the insightful weekly syndicated column on media and politics written by FAIR associate Norman Solomon. It runs in newspapers across the country.
“Utne Reader called Solomon one of ‘the fiercest and most articulate media critics around.’ A Los Angeles Times reviewer wrote: ‘The bold, muckraking tone of these columns offers a welcome respite from the decerebrated discourse that too often passes for contemporary journalism.’”
Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting — FAIR
http://www.fair.org/
“FAIR, the national media watch group, has been offering well-documented criticism of media bias and censorship since 1986. We work to invigorate the First Amendment by advocating for greater diversity in the press and by scrutinizing media practices that marginalize public interest, minority and dissenting viewpoints.
“As an anti-censorship organization, we expose neglected news stories and defend working journalists when they are muzzled. As a progressive group, FAIR believes that structural reform is ultimately needed to break up the dominant media conglomerates, establish independent public broadcasting and promote strong non-profit sources of information.”
Related books
Inventing Reality:
The Politics of News Media
by Michael Parenti
Manufacturing Consent:
The Political Economy of the Mass Media
by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky
Corporate Media and the Threat to Democracy
by Robert W. McChesney
War, Lies & Videotape:
How media monopoly stifles truth
edited by Lenora Foerstel; multiple authors
Pirates and Emperors, Old and New:
International Terrorism in the Real World
by Noam Chomsky
The Real Terror Network:
Terrorism in Fact and Propaganda
by Edward S. Herman
Censored 2000:
The Year’s Top 25 Censored Stories
by Peter Phillips & Project Censored
Body of Secrets:
Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency
by James Bamford
In 1962, U.S. military leaders had a top-secret plan for committing terrorist attacks on Americans in Miami and Washington D.C., while blaming Cuba. Codenamed “Operation Northwoods”, the plan was intended to provide the propaganda necessary to create popular support for an invasion of Cuba.
What Uncle Sam Really Wants
by Noam Chomsky
Derailing Democracy:
The America the Media Don’t Want You to See
by David McGowan
The Decline and Fall of the American Empire
by Gore Vidal
The Hidden Persuaders:
What makes us buy, believe – and even vote – the way we do?
by Vance Packard
Deadly Deceits:
My 25 years in the CIA
by Ralph W. McGehee
Toxic Sludge is Good for You!:
Lies, Damn Lies and the Public Relations Industry
by John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton
Secrets and Lies:
The Anatomy of an Anti-Environmental PR Campaign
by Nicky Hager & Bob Burton
Democracy for the Few
by Michael Parenti
Market Elections:
How “Democracy” Serves the Rich
by Vince Copeland
Corporate Predators:
The Hunt for Mega-Profits and the Attack on Democracy
by Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman
Dying For Growth:
Global Inequality and the Health of the Poor
Edited by Jim Yong Kim, Joyce V. Millen, Alec Irwin and John Gershman
Globalize This!
The Battle Against the World Trade Organization and Corporate Rule
edited by Kevin Danaher and Roger Burbach; multiple authors
The Sword and the Dollar:
Imperialism, Revolution and the Arms Race
by Michael Parenti
The Fire This Time:
U.S. War Crimes in the Gulf
by Ramsey Clark
Desert Slaughter:
The Imperialist War Against Iraq
by the Workers League
Rogue State:
A Guide to the World’s Only Superpower
by William Blum
Killing Hope:
U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since WWII
by William Blum
Western State Terrorism
Alexander George, editor; essays by Noam Chomsky, Edward S. Herman, Gerry O’Sullivan and others
The Culture of Terrorism
by Noam Chomsky
Terrorizing the Neighborhood:
American Foreign Policy in the Post-Cold War Era
by Noam Chomsky
Pressure Drop Press, 1991
Blackshirts and Reds:
Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism
by Michael Parenti
The Beast Reawakens
by Martin A. Lee
Bloody Hell:
The Price Soldiers Pay
by Daniel Hallock
Hidden Agenda:
U.S./NATO Takeover of Yugoslavia
by Ramsey Clark, Nadja Tesich, Michel Chossudovsky, Slobodan Milosevic, numerous authors
NATO in the Balkans:
Voices of Opposition
by Ramsey Clark, Nadja Tesich, Sean Gervasi, Sara Flounders, Thomas Deichmann, Gary Wilson and Richard Becker
Apocalypse 1945:
The Destruction of Dresden
by David Irving
Saving Private Power:
The Hidden History of “The Good War”
by Michael Zezima
Lies My Teacher Told Me:
Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong
by James Loewen
Dumbing Us Down:
The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling
by John Taylor Gatto