What Liberal Media? The Truth About Bias and the News

Rating:
Summary: Uncredited rip-off of Chomsky & Edward
Review: My political views come from the far left, so the basic tenet of this book--that the idea of "left-leaning media" is laughable--is something I accept as fact. However, I should have been warned by the word "liberal" in the title. The only thing that raises my ire as much as a conservative is a wishy-washy reformist liberal. Alterman is just that.
The major problem with this book is that the only useful parts of it are almost directly from "Manufacturing Consent" by Noam Chomsky & Herman S. Edward. Alterman's analysis of the American media as being corporate-driven is completely the same as the ideas Chomsky has espoused for decades. The fact is, corporate decisions are made at the top. No individual journalist, no matter how leftist his/her ideology is, will ever be allowed to explore things that don't fit the goals of corporations and the power elite in this country. Again, that is "Alterman's" thesis by way of Chomsky.
Once the reader gets beyond Alterman's borrowed ideas, however, you get to the real problem. This book is really just Alterman's platform to whine that he and his liberal friends at "The Nation" don't get enough attention. In doing so, he spends a good deal of the time bashing true leftists like Chomsky and Alexander Cockburn (the only one of his colleagues at "The Nation" who isn't being sufficiently ignored, according to Alterman). It's absolutely repugnant the level of character assassination he stoops to, especially in the case of Cockburn, whom he refers to as a "Stalinist".
If you're looking for an analysis of the mainstream media from a leftist perspective, pick up either the book or video of "Manufacturing Consent" or nearly anything by Chomsky. Don't waste your money on secondhand ideas and character assassination.

Rating:
Summary: Pointing out the elephant in the room
Review: The myth of "liberal media bias" is one of the most useful propaganda tactics that conservatives have. However, as Alterman indicates early in the book, even they know that it is false. Unless they were irrational, they would *have* to know that it is false, just as, aside from a few religious hysterics, Creationism & "Intelligent Design" proponents *have* to know that the actual scientific evidence overwhelmingly refutes their claims. However, they don't care. Their favored interpretation of their favored translation of their favored religious book says "God did it," and that's that, for them. To a totally unwarranted degree, though, they are allowed to get away with espousing things that are obviously false (of course, only a "god-hater" would say that is due to the USA's deeply-ingrained pro-Christian bias).

Alterman does an excellent job of dissecting the myth about "liberal media bias,' although it does at times get quite dry, as has been noted. Even so, it is necessary that the information be presented. Quote after quote after quote from conservatives themselves provide a mind-boggling display demonstrating the elementary reality that conservatism in practice is nothing more than a rationalization for greed, malice, and deceit. One of my favorites is from "Joseph Farah, a columnist for Worldnet," who "warned his readers in October 2002, 'The Democrats--far too many of them--are evil, pure ans simple. They have no redeeming social value. They are outright traitors themselves or apologists for treasonous behavior. They are enemies of the American people and the American way of life.'" The spin doctors who spout the "Rush is an entertainer" nonsense might try to do the same with Farah, but it is clear enough that Farah, Limbaugh, et al. are in fact thoroughly unprincipled political propagandists. Comments like Farah's are quite common from conservatives. I see plenty of that sort of thing in the supposedly "liberal" local daily newspaper. In common with the broadcast media, this newspaper displays a glaringly obvious double standard where conservatives and everybody else are concerned. Conservatives are allowed to spout inflammatory and obviously malicious bilge, whereas everybody else is supposed to be "responsible" and not say nasty things.

Certain events occurring after this book was published are relevant to the subject.

First, all the hysteria over CBS's use of documents relating to Dubya's National Guard "service" has obscured the unpleasant reality that the *content* of the documents has been verified. The supposedly biased "liberal" media has barely been able to bring itself to mention that.

Second, the Sinclair network is demanding that its stations preempt their schedules to broadcast a particularly crude piece of anti-Kerry propaganda.

Furthermore, it is worth pointing out that the conservative bias of Fox News always has been and still is painfully obvious. It is, in effect, a propaganda arm of the Republican Party.

I concluded years ago that conservatives don't just use the "liberal media bias" Big Lie because it is useful and they can get away with it. They use it because they are *infuriated* by the very existence of non-conservative opinions and actions. Their "narcissistic self-pity" drives them to treat any sort of disagreement or, heaven forfend!, opposition as a heinous affront, thereby inevitably creating a very real "us or them" situation in which this country simply is not big enough for conservatives and for self-respecting non-conservatives. I only gave the book four stars because Alterman seems too inclined to give conservatives credit for some sort of warped "sincerity." The local "liberal" daily does the same thing. Time after time after time, they whimper about the "sincere religious beliefs" of Creationists, homophobes, etc., as though religious belief could possibly justify bigotry!

All in all, though, not a perfect book, but a useful and valuable one.