Book Description
Oriana Fallaci is back with her much-anticipated follow up to The Rage and the Pride, her powerful post-September 11 manifesto. The genesis for The Force of Reason was a postscript entitled Due Anni Dopo (Two Years Later), which was intended as a brief appendix to the thirtieth edition of The Rage and the Pride (2002). Once Ms. Fallaci completed the postscript, she chose to expand it into a book, a continuation of her ideas set in motion in The Rage and the Pride.In The Force of Reason Fallaci takes aim at the many attacks and death threats she received after the publication of The Rage and the Pride. Ms. Fallaci begins by identifying herself with one Master Cecco, the author of a heretical book who was burnt at the stake during the Inquisition seven centuries ago on account of his beliefs, and proceeds with a rigorous analysis of the burning of Troy and the creation of a Europe that, to her judgment, is no longer her familiar homeland but rather a place best called Eurabia, a soon-to-be colony of Islam (with Italy as its stronghold). Ms. Fallaci explores her ideas in historical, philosophical, moral, and political terms, courageously addressing taboo topics with sharp logic.
Customer Reviews:
A Reasonable Polemic.......2007-07-24
I think that Oriana Fallaci and similar minded people need to be heard. Basically she is tired of the debasement of Western Civilization and the unfounded extoling of alternative cultures. Much of her rhetoric is passionate and funny. In the end we are all human and it is our thinking and culture which set us apart. Western Civilization has done much bad throughout history; however, it has also done much that is good. To naively dream that all thinking or ideas are equally valid is utter nonsense. People should be respected but not dysfunctional behaviors. This is one of the major points that Fallaci makes. In addition, it is sad to hear some of her stories about the defacing of important historical buildings in Florence and other parts of Europe. She providies a number of interesting vignettes.
What is needed, is a new Renaissance and Age of Reason. I only wish that Ms. Fallaci had lived to translate her third book in this series.
A must read for all who believe that Islam is not the religion of peace.......2007-05-14
To get a true grip on whats' happening in the world today because of Islam , you must know its' history and motives . Fallaci was quite well read and a very passionate writer. You should read the rage and the pride before starting this book .
I love it.......2007-04-11
One of the best books without political correctness and leftist liberalism twists.
Oriana's overview of Radical Islam.......2007-02-02
Quite a book! A lot of information not read in the daily media. Oriana brings her lifes work and experiences to bear on a topic that she is very agitated about, Radical Islam.
I found her final chapter interesting, worth thinking about at length, comparing the Inquisition to Radical Islam. RIP
The Force of Reason by Oriana Fallaci.......2007-01-11
This is a book which should be read by all. Fallaci is a major intellect; clear-thinking, a powerful writer and backs up her statements with verifiable proof. The free world is in great danger but by many insidious methods we don't notice, just as she says she did not notice for twenty years because she was so involved in fighting other wars.
I highly recommend her previous book The Rage and the Pride as well. The world lost a priceless treasure when she died.
Book Description
Al-Jazeera and other satellite television stations have transformed Arab politics over the last decade. By shattering state control over information and giving a platform to long-stifled voices, these new Arab media have challenged the status quo by encouraging open debate about Iraq, Palestine, Islamism, Arab identity, and other vital political and social issues. These public arguments have redefined what it means to be Arab and reshaped the realm of political possibility. As Marc Lynch shows, the days of monolithic Arab opinion are over. How Arab governments and the United States engage this newly confident and influential public sphere will profoundly shape the future of the Arab world.
Marc Lynch draws on interviews conducted in the Middle East and analyses of Arab satellite television programs, op-ed pages, and public opinion polls to examine the nature, evolution, and influence of the new Arab public sphere. Lynch, who pays close attention to what is actually being said and talked about in the Arab world, takes the contentious issue of Iraq-which has divided Arabs like no other issue-to show how the media revolutionized the formation and expression of public opinion. He presents detailed discussions of Arab arguments about sanctions and the 2003 British and American invasion and occupation of Iraq. While Arabs strongly disagreed about Saddam's regime, they increasingly saw the effects of sanctions as a potent symbol of the suffering of all Arabs. Anger and despair over these sanctions shaped Arab views of America, their governments, and themselves.
Lynch also suggests how the United States can develop and improve its engagement with the Arab public sphere. He argues that the United States should move beyond treating the Arab public sphere as either an enemy to be defeated or an object to be manipulated via public relations. Instead of wasting vast sums of money on a satellite television station nobody watches, the United States should enter the public sphere as it really exists.
Customer Reviews:
The Way the Arab World Sees the News.......2006-04-18
'To see ourselves as others see us' (from Robert Burns) is not something that we are usually granted. In today's world Al-Jazeera is presenting us with that opportunity.
The Arab world is for the most part characterised by leadership that is less than ideal. In most Arab countries the news is heavily censored, controled or owned by a state that just wants its own views to be shown. These media had relatively little to tell us as they were simply parroting the governments view. ==In recent years, Al-Jazeera and other smaller satellite based news agencies have begun presenting a relatively unbiased news report that goes around the official government reporting.
This book is first a report on Al-Jazeera and the way it presents the news. Second, it offers a series of suggestions on how the United States can develop and improve its engagement with the Arab public sphere.
This is one of the few books to report on the Arab view, and further to discuss the changes in the information dissemination area. It is a book that deserves reading by anyone interested in developing a realistic view of the conflict that is emerging between the US and the Arab world.
A fascinating study of the history, present day, and future of new voices flourishing in the middle east.......2006-04-07
Voices of the New Arab Public: Iraq, Al-Jazeera, and Middle East Politics Today boldly reveals that the era of monolithic Arab opinion are over. Examining how Al-Jazeera and other satellite television stations have revolutionized Arab journalism and politics by breaking state control over information, Voices of the New Arab Public particularly focuses upon the Al-Jazeera era in context of the challenges facing modern Iraq. Political science professor Marc Lynch offers a fascinating study of the history, present day, and future of new voices flourishing in the middle east.
Product Description
21st Century Journalism is a training material that helps journalists to extend their knowledge and support their activities on the internet. The book contains a knowledge base CD-ROM insert, this is a large collection of articles and other information in PDF format. The content of this book is used for journalist trainings at Nemzeti Sport and Népszabadság (Hungary) and at Compact (Romania). In addition the authors run courses at the Ringier-Népszabadság School of Journalism and the University of Economics in Budapest. The book is supported by a website and a weekly newsletter. For more details please, visit http://www.21stCenturyJournalism.com
Customer Reviews:
Great Content.......2007-03-25
A small book of uniquely great content. Short texts and plenty of useful illustrations, no hype -
so finally here is book that was really designed for practicing journalists. This is a must for those print editors and journalists who want to keep their job in the next few years. Like me.
Book Description
Killed resurrects remarkable articles that prestigious publications such as The New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine, Harper's, and Rolling Stone assigned to accomplished writers for sizeable fees, then discarded for reasons having nothing to do with their quality and everything to do with their potential for unwanted controversy, political incorrectness, or undue pressure from an advertiser. Read for the first time Mike Sager’s profile of Palestinian militants involved in the intifada of 1987 that was killed by the Washington Post Magazine because his story did not side with Israel, and Ted Rall’s essay on his deadbeat dad that was deemed too dark by the New York Times Magazine for its Father’s Day issue. While the notion of a killed article is nothing new, the breakneck pace of media consolidation has raised the stakes for contrarian writers and readers as independent publishers dwindle. Killed arises out of this moment, bringing these outstanding pieces of censored journalism into the public arena for the first time. Some of the other contributors included are Rich Cohen, Daniel Asa Rose, Alec Wilkinson, Noam Chomsky, Douglas Rushkoff, Pat Jordan, Robert Fisk, Clive Thompson, Silvana Paternostro, Glenn O'Brien, Christopher Hitchens, Gore Vidal, and Luc Sante.
Customer Reviews:
Spiked.......2006-12-31
I read very few non-fiction books, and most of them are histories. I DO read journalism every day. But this is a first in that I've just finished reading and am now reviewing an entire BOOK comprised solely of journalism---ahem, it was a Christmas gift.
And, so, what do I think about this book about killed (or "spiked" seems to be the operative word in Journalese, at least in this book) pieces of journalism? I feel grateful to the gods, or Fate, or genes or whatever powers that may be or may not be that I never felt compelled to go into journalism. Even Joe Conason, whose blurb for the book tops the front cover, says in his review for Salon that the overall effect of the book is one of depression. True, literary endeavours, with which I'm more familiar, can be just as cruel and cutthroat when it comes to publication, but this is to be expected. In the arts, it's either feast or famine - Mostly famine- One ends up working for the sake of art itself. If it ends up finding grace with some publisher or agent, it's a nice lagniappe. If not, not. But journalists are in it to have their work published, posthaste. It's not so much that these pieces were killed that irks one (although, of course, that plays a part), it's the red-in-tooth-and-claw nature of the day in and day out life of a journalist that I found monumentally depressing.
Well, a few comments and I'm done: The most robust article (unsurprisingly) is P.J. O'Rourke's "A Ramble Through Lebanon," written in O'Rourke's uncanny, inimitable style combining erudition with a keen eye and ear for the absurdities of life. The "spike" was made by Tina Brown, who ends up being the "killer" of many of these pieces, who simply wrote, "You can't make fun of people dying." What a blockhead! It's clear that Ms. Tina Brown has no sense of nuance or irony or she would have seen that this is exactly NOT what O'Rourke is doing here. I consider myself lucky that I had never even heard of her before reading this book.
Award for eccentricity: Tad Friend's article "Jesus Worms" on an engaging few days spent with eccentric (and histrionic) Brit travel writer Redmond O'Hanlon. I've read O'Hanlon's works and fancy them, regardless of the obvious fact that you have to take them with more than a few pinches of salt. He belongs to that "Dr. Livingston I presume" tradition of intrepid, eccentric Brits losing themselves in various hearts of darkness to cheerfully emerge and write memoirs that encourage people like Noel Coward to write pieces like "Mad dogs and Englishmen".-The only thoroughly enjoyable piece of the lot.
Finally easily the finest piece of reportage here, splendidly well-written and well-documented, is John Entine's "The Stranger-Than-Truth Story of The Body Shop." This piece clearly deserves some sort of award. I'm so out of touch with this whole journalistic enterprise that I don't know what sorts of awards are bestowed on pieces like this one. But whatever they are, this piece is worth the entire book. I'd never heard of The Body Shop either. But I have no compunction now in saying that some public-spirited citizen should have taken an acetylene torch to these stores long ago. - To restate, this superb writing and investigation all for nought make it also one of the most depressing stories of the bunch.
That's it. The book was well worth the read. But I'm plunging back into literary fiction tomorrow.
A stimulating compilation of noteworthy articles .......2006-09-25
I have not finished reading all the articles in "Killed..." because it's that kind of book; some you'll read and some you won't. It certainly was worth the price and if it weren't for the overly stimulated front cover, it's a good one to have lying around.
What is unfortunate for some of the articles is that there is often a shelf-life to humor. And what was "too hot to print" may really be past its prime.
But there are some real gems. I loved Erik Hedegaards piece on Mellencamp's battle with smoking. A rather incomplete ending, but the article illustrates how journalists thrive on taking advantage of the weak and famous.
What I found most interesting about the articles I read, was not that they were necessarily "Great Journalism or Too Hot to Print," but that they illustrate how advertisers dictate content. Any medium that is primarily subsidized by advertising risks rejection.
I don't know if I'd consider this book as "ground-breaking" as the back cover suggests, but there are lots of good pieces that should interest all sorts of readers.
Worth it for the Fisk and Sager articles alone.......2005-01-04
This book is an anthology of articles that have been rejected by print media but the article by Robert Fisk gives examples of self censorship in TV media too. Fisk's article "Remember 'the Whys' was killed by Harper's magazine in 2002. It dealt with Israel. Mike Sager's article was also killed and it was about the "gripping account of life in a squalid Palestinian refugee camp." The Washington Post Magazine killed that article, called "Travels With Bassem", in 1988. The editor of this book said in an interview, "I realized that I had a book after I read 'Travels With Bassem,' a remarkable piece by Mike Sager about living in a Palestinian refugee camp during the first Intifada."
Does David Wallis Rule?.......2004-11-01
On the surface of it, Killed: Great Journalism Too Hot to Print is a good idea. You can tell a lot about a culture by looking at what it isn't allowed to read, but who made David Wallis God?
The fact that most national and international magazines are owned by corporations which have agendas of their own is true, and very possibly damaging to the objectivity of the editorial policy of the publications so owned, but who made David Wallis an objective observer all of a sudden?
Who says any writing is, or even can be, objective? Who annointed David Wallis to determine what is great journalism anyway? What's to say his selection process is any less biased by the forces that have made him than the editor who initially rejected the pieces he features in his book?
I think that David Wallis has done the world a service by pointing out some of these overlooked articles, but there is a kind of autocracy in his approach to this subject which he is unwilling to admit.
After a recent lecture, I asked Mr. Wallis if he honestly thought press censorship today is actually worse than when the robber barron William Randolph Hearst used his iron hand to crush reporters who did not agree with him. Wallis just reiterated that grave offenses had been committed today.
In the 1830s and 40s in America you'd buy the newspaper you wanted according to what spin you wanted on your news. It may be a little more subtle now, but people will be people and there's no avoiding that. Virtually all publications have a known bias, and we all manage to find the point of view we want to read in our magazines and newspapers. We know the rules.
In this book, David Wallis seems to be making a plea for something that is not humanly possible, and he fails to understand that he is human too.
I guess I just wish this book were a little more self-aware.
Book Description
On May 11, 2003, The New York Times devoted four pages of its Sunday paper to the deceptions of Jayson Blair, a mediocre former Times reporter who had made up stories, faked datelines, and plagiarized on a massive scale. The fallout from the Blair scandal rocked the Times to its core and revealed fault lines in a fractious newsroom that was already close to open revolt.
Staffers were furious–about the perception that management had given Blair more leeway because he was black, about the special treatment of favored correspondents, and most of all about the shoddy reporting that was infecting the most revered newspaper in the world. Within a month, Howell Raines, the imperious executive editor who had taken office less than a week before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001–and helped lead the paper to a record six Pulitzer Prizes for its coverage of the attacks–had been forced out of his job.
Having gained unprecedented access to the reporters who conducted the Times’s internal investigation, top newsroom executives, and dozens of Times editors, former Newsweek senior writer Seth Mnookin lets us read all about it–the story behind the biggest journalistic scam of our era and the profound implications of the scandal for the rapidly changing world of American journalism.
It’s a true tale that reads like Greek drama, with the most revered of American institutions attempting to overcome the crippling effects of a leader’s blinding narcissism and a low-level reporter’s sociopathic deceptions. Hard News will shape how we understand and judge the media for years to come.
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
Hard Facts.......2006-08-10
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! .......2005-10-18
Read it. It's a great book. Five stars.
Hard News has three parts (Before, Spring 2003, and After), and provides a good overview of the history of The Times, the workings of the newsroom, Blair's quick rise as a reporter, details of the Blair fiasco, and how the Times dealt with it.
Mnookin concludes the book with a thoughtful Note on Sources, more than 250 source notes, and a good bibliography.
If this is a topic you followed, or you are a journalsim junkie or a Times-ophile, this book is a must read.
Exciting Arc of a Tale.......2005-09-22
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.
A Now Familiar Tale Retold Well.......2005-09-05
"Hard News," Seth Mnookin's fascinating and well-researched account of the now-infamous Jayson Blair scandal that shook the foundations not only of the New York Times but also the way journalists do business, is a crisp read. The author is always objective, and his sourcing would seem to be impeccable. For the most part he uses sources who will speak on the record, and when they would not he claims to have verified what they've said with others. And source notes and a bibliography are provided.
In Mr. Mnookin's version, the story focuses on what happens to people who make wrong choices that they easily could have avoided--that is, if they were not the prisoners of their own ideology and life experiences. The account starts with the misguided notion of New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. that the head of the op-ed page, Howell Raines, a narcissistic, inflexible left-wing ideologue best known for his invective-laden editorials against, mostly, conservatives, but also Bill Clinton, could function as the newspaper's executive editor, in which position he would be in charge, not of a small group of like-minded ideologues, but of a newsroom with hundreds of employees of varying opinions and, of course, abilities.
Generalissimo Raines couldn't function in that job, and in the process of failing he managed to alienate most of the staff while turning the newspaper into the journalistic version of a banana republic, led of course by himself.
Then, the author moves on to the equally bizarre decision by Raines and his no. 2, managing editor Gerald Boyd, to send Jayson Blair out on big stories (the DC Sniper, Jessica Lynch). Blair, a dimestore sociopath, fantasist, and substance abuser, had already been warned by his direct supervisors about his job performance, but Raines and Boyd would eventually claim, improbably, not to know of this when the scandal broke.
And scandal there would be. Blair would repay their trust in him with plagiarism, after which he graduated to fabrication, and ended up writing stories with out-of-town datelines without ever having left the Times Building on West 43rd St. in New York. (In the process, as Mr. Mnookin outlines, he demonstrated creative uses for cell phones and photo archives.)
When Blair was exposed and forced to resign, the Times assembled a group of reporters and editors to investigate every story Blair had written, and the result was the sensational report that appeared in the paper one fateful Sunday in May 2003.
That report made the Times the butt of jokes, and within two months Raines and Boyd were fired; then, after a brief interregnum in which the previous executive editor, Joe Lelyveld, who Raines disdained, returned to pick up the shattered pieces, Sulzberger selected Bill Keller, who had been passed over in favor of Raines two years before. Keller moved rapidly to restore order and institute changes, among them the hiring of the Times's first public editor.
As for Mr. Sulzberger, he escaped unscathed--which is unsurprising: his family owns the New York Times Corp.
The book is compulsive reading. Even though the outcome is known, "Hard News" nevertheless has the feel of a police procedural. Maybe you'll start imagining who might be cast as the principals if (or should I say when) there's a movie made of this cautionary tale.
an insider peek.......2005-08-18
Yes, Hard News tells the story of the Jayson Blair scandal, but that's really not the most interesting part of the book. What's more interesting -- and more the point -- is getting to see inside the institution that defines East-Coast intelligentsia, scares politicians, and produces Sunday Styles. And what better time to peek behind the curtains than when the editorial staff is slinging mud and the paper is in shambles?
It's weirdly suspenseful, too, for a book whose ending you already know (hint: Blair made up sources). In the end, the book begs the question of whether the Times' handling of the crisis was a staff revolt against a tyrannical editor, an exercise journalistic navel-gazing, or a fight for the standards of media integrity. It's a pretty juicy read for a book that's also thought-provoking.
Book Description
er comments turned Charlie Rose red in the face. Bill Clinton called her 'hostile, combative, and even disrespectful.' Newt Gingrich said to her, 'You're the kind of reporter I warned my mother about.' Meet Amy Goodman, award-winning journalist and host of the daily hour-long talk show that is a beacon for passionate, critical, and hard-hitting news. On subjects ranging from the deceptions of the George H. W. Bush administration to the corruption of media monopolies and corporate influence over the government, Amy Goodman attacks and exposes the lies and hypocrisy that put democracy at risk. Goodman has traveled the world reporting and speaking out in defense of human rights and offers no apologies for her advocacy. At lectures, rallies, and other public appearances, thousands turn out to hear her speak the truth. Now, in her first book, she offers her no-holds-barred perspective on world events.
Download Description
She reduced Sally Jesse Rafael to tears. Charlie Rose was red in the face after her comments. Bill Clinton called her "hostile, combative, and even disrespectful." Newt Gingrich said to her, "You're the kind of reporter I warned my mother about." Meet Amy Goodman, award-winning journalist and host of a daily hour-long talk show that is a beacon for passionate, critical and hard-hitting news that cow-tows to no one. On subjects ranging from the deceptions of the Bush Administration to media monopolies and from the Patriot Act to corporate influence over the government, Amy Goodman attacks and exposes the lies and hypocrisy of officialdom everywhere.
Customer Reviews:
Must reading/ listening re:current events.......2007-09-20
I read the book last year and then listened to the CD's on a car trip. This is such relevant information to understand what's going on in the USA and the world. Amy Goodman is the premier journalist who digs deep, asking the most important questions, tying world events together in a network to promote the comprehension of the interrelationship of seemingly unrelated events. Big media fails to do this, so there little understanding the cause and effect of all important global events. Watch Amy Goodman's Democracy Now! to get a clear picture of world events.
Radio Free America - On CD.......2007-06-14
Far more intriguing format than the book! This profound document comes across far better on CD than in print. Like an extended "Democracy Now" with the addition of subjective commentary. If you listen to "Democracy Now", buy it, asap! If you don't, well... you should. For the past half century, Pacifica Radio has been doing much of the most important journalistic work in America. The Goodmans' stunning journaling of events spanning the period from 1991-2003 is at once highly intimate and of universal importance. I feel this set of CD's maybe the greatest "audio book" ever recorded. Like Ed Murrow's "You Can Hear It Now" LPs of the 1950's, the essential stories of our era are here, recorded up close and personal, as they rightly should be. The complicity between the U.S. government - brutal militaries and paramilitaries world-over - the arrogant and unconscionable greed of the dominant corporations - and a submissive media - is illumined once again in the light of damning evidence (as is the battle to shed that light). That battle is crucial for the survival of life on upon this planet, and Amy et all are leading the way. One can only wait for the CD version of "Static".
Is Amy Goodman a liberal who is protecting the Neo-Con? This is a paradox indeed! .......2007-06-11
Is Amy Goodman a liberal who is protecting the Neo-Con? This is a paradox indeed!
I read this book when it first hit the store shelves and back then I was very pleased with Amy Goodman's reporting on "Democracy Now." She seemed to genuinely care about the issues of the day, or so I thought.
The many topics she tackles on her show as well as in this book will lance through your consciousness until time indefinite, but unfortunately her discourse comes-across as downright hollow and insincere since she receives contributions from the likes of the Ford Foundation, the Soros Foundation, the Carlyle Group, the CIA, The Council On Foreign Relations, and The Trilateral Commission. (Just to name several sources of income for her daily TV/radio program).
Furthermore, she vociferously addresses her outrage against the establishment media when in reality she is apart of it. Hyperion publishing published her book, which is a subsidiary of Walt Disney. Of course that doesn't really matter considering most authors have to travel through the mainstream avenue to get their voices heard, so no one can fault her for that. But what we can fault her for is accepting money from secret societies, which are making her exorbitantly wealthy, and not reporting 9/11 truths.
Amy was about a mile from the World Trade Center Building 7 sight when it imploded at 5:20pm on September 11, 2001 and she failed to report that fact.
So the axiomatic conclusion in ascertaining this story is elementary. Amy Goodman witnessed WTC 7's collapse and for some reason or another she deemed it wasn't news worthy and decided not to report it to the public, which in my opinion is egregiously insidious and treasonous...making her apart of the conspiracy!
So, the next inquiry has to simply be, whose primary interest was she protecting?
And if you need proof of Amy Goodman's media deception just watch the footage on-line of her running in the opposite direction as WTC7 collapses.
I had to digress about that before I went on with the review of this book because I deem it a personal responsibility to tell the truth as I ascertain it.
Insofar as "The Exception To The Rulers" goes it's an exceptional read. There's a litany of information and anecdotes that she toils around with in this book that everyone should read even though they may have heard it all before. Much of the same diatribe can be found in Greg Palast's books and news reports as well as Noam Chomsky's and Gore Vidal's.
Also, I must confess that I loved her sardonic approach! It was outstanding, especially in chapter 2 "Oilygarchy" where she lampoons characters such as Dick Cheney and uncovers detailed information about the Bush, bin Laden connections and how George W. Bush blocked FBI counter-terrorism chief John O' Neill's investigation of Saudi involvement in terrorist acts. This was great stuff in the tradition of Alex Jones and Anthony J. Hilder.
However, what was disappointing was chapter one titled "Blowback" she starts her diatribe on how her day was progressing just before the September 11 attack. She then goes into detail about the tumultuous events in New York City from her own perspective, which is an engrossing story. Unfortunately, it is just that...a story because the term "Blowback" means revenge.
In this case the title "Blowback" is in reference to Al Qaeda attacking us on 9/11, but Al Qaeda isn't a real terrorist organization, so in reality Amy Goodman is promulgating the official story, or should I eloquently say "official fabrication."
In chapter 3 "Crackdown," Amy does expose the USA Patriot Act provisions that eviscerated our constitutional rights. Read the book to find out what she says about it because there is so much information in it that I would have to write a 12-page report to scratch the surface.
It's abhorrent to think that so much corruption is being proliferated from Washington D.C., which Amy Goodman elaborates on by saying "the assault on civil liberties doesn't end with the USA Patriot Act. President Bush decided that he can declare an American citizen an `enemy combatant' who can be locked up, denied counsel, and tried before a military tribunal instead of a regular court. The United States can send these prisoners into a legal netherworld on Guantanamo Bay in Cuba." Then Goodman asked the million-dollar question, "Whose warped vision of America is this?"
That is the question Amy never reveals and that's what is so sad about this book. 80% of what is in this book is accurate, she just doesn't go far enough so I'm giving this book four stars. I think it's worth reading for surface history/politics, but if you're looking for a deeper analysis then look elsewhere. But if you are new to this then start here. I have mixed emotions about Amy's creditability because in reality she's protecting the perpetrators of 9/11. By not exposing that 9/11 was an inside job when there is a plethora of evidence to behold is irresponsible. Even still Ms Goodman's style of reporting is vital even though she won't go for broke!
kt99l.......2007-05-14
Good book but is only the tip of the iceberg. Watch America Freedom to Facism. And Vote Ron Paul president in 2008.
Amy is exceptional !!.......2007-03-24
For those of us who just listen to the mainstream media, this is a wakeup call. You know how much you are missing once you listen to her.
Book Description
'Tumber and Palmer have provided an invaluable review of how journalists covered and reported the Iraq war and its aftermath. Their exhaustive research has resulted in an impressive analysis that makes this book essential reading' -
John Owen, Executive Producer of News Xchange and Visiting Professor of Journalism, City University
'This is a meticulously researched book that lays bare the way the war was reported. Decide for yourself whether the media 'embeds' - of whom I was one - were the world's eyes and ears inside the military, or merely the puppets of the Pentagon and the Ministry of Defence in London' - Ben Brown, BBC
'Media at War offers insights into the ways in which media at war inevitably become participants in both the military and the political wars' - Professor Michael Gurevitch, University of Maryland
International media coverage of the war in Iraq provoked public scrutiny as well debate amongst journalists themselves.
Media at War offers a critical overview of the coverage in the context of other preceding wars, including the first Gulf War, and opens up the debate on the key questions that emerged during the crisis. For example,
- What did we actually gain from 'live, on the spot' reporting?
- Were journalists adequately trained and protected?
- How compromised were the so-called 'embedded' journalists?
Tumber and Palmer's analysis covers both the pre-war and post war phase, as well as public reaction to these events, and as such provides an invaluable framework for understanding how the media and news organisations operated during the Iraq Crisis.
Average customer rating:
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When the Press Fails: Political Power and the News Media from Iraq to Katrina (Studies in Communication, Media, and Public Opinion)
W. Lance Bennett ,
Regina G. Lawrence , and
Steven Livingston
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
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Binding: Hardcover
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American Carnival: Journalism under Siege in an Age of New Media
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Projections of Power: Framing News, Public Opinion, and U.S. Foreign Policy (Studies in Communication, Media, and Public Opinion)
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News: The Politics of Illusion (7th Edition) (Longman Classics in Political Science)
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Governing With the News, Second Edition: The News Media as a Political Institution (Studies in Communication, Media, and Public Opinion)
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Fighting for Air: The Battle to Control America's Media
ASIN: 0226042847 |
Book Description
During the gravest moments of George W. Bush’s tenure—the response to 9/11, the buildup to war with Iraq, the Abu Ghraib scandal—the media largely reported reality as his administration scripted it. Why, in these times when we most need a critical, independent press, does this essential pillar of democracy fail us? A sobering look at the intimate relationship between political power and the news media, When the Press Fails argues that reporters’ dependence on official sources disastrously thwarts coverage of dissenting voices from outside the beltway.
The result is both an indictment of official spin and an urgent call to action that begins by questioning why the mainstream press neglected to cover considerable evidence against the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Drawing on hard-hitting interviews with journalists and analysis of content from major news outlets, the authors show that such catastrophic blind spots, particularly during the Abu Ghraib controversy, have stemmed from a lack of high-level sources within government willing to question the administration publicly. Contrasting these grave failures with the refreshingly critical reporting on Hurricane Katrina—a rare event that caught officials off guard, enabling journalists to enter a no-spin zone—When the Press Fails concludes by proposing new practices to reduce reporters’ dependence on power.
The authors ultimately contend that if ordinary Americans start to hear alternative perspectives aired in the legitimizing arena of the mainstream press, they just might begin to act as a public—no longer suffering with private shock and awe as world-changing events unfold before their eyes.
Book Description
The heartland's answer to Sarah Vowell and David Rakoff, Nancy French tells it like it is--one laugh-out-loud anecdote after another about a red state American's experiences living in the blue states.
For the first 20 years of her life, all Nancy French knew of the world was Paris--Paris, Tennessee, that is. When the former homecoming queen trades in cow-tipping, big hair, and the Catfish Capital of the World for a new life in the Big Apple, she is in for a real education. With a keen sense of humor, French discusses everything from the South's obsession with church attendance to the blue-state notion that red staters think as slowly as they speak.
Customer Reviews:
Laugh Out Loud for this transplanted Southern Girl.......2007-01-15
It's been a while since I finished reading this book. I enjoyed it a great deal. I was 27 when I left the South and moved to upstate NY -- like the author I found that life was VERY different outside the South. A lot of her observations rang true and made me laugh out loud.
Very funny and a good read.
Excellent Book!!.......2007-01-11
A wonderful glimpse at the subtle (and not so subtle) cultural differences in our country. Mostly funny, but with some serious points, and relevant throughout. I would recommend this book to anyone.
Funny and timely.......2007-01-09
I loved this book. Nancy French is able to point out the cultural differences in our society through anecdotes which are very funny. Conservatives will be encouraged and I think liberals will see that conservatives aren't as intolerant as the main stream media portrays them.
Hoping for Funny.......2006-12-24
And this book didn't deliver it.
The author has a good voice and a lovely, light writing style. She knows how to set up a good domestic story and make it funny as sin. Unfortunately, she spends entirely too much time whining about the "liberal" North and complaining about how horrible things are in the Northeast.
As a transplanted Southerner living in Taxachusetts, I thought I'd enjoy this book. I stopped reading half way through, sick to death of her whining. She didn't finish her degree at NYU because all the liberals were soooooo mean to her. Her friends in New York froze her out just because she wrote a nasty article in the paper. Her newborn baby had to wear cloth diapers. Oh the pain. Oh the agony.
Poor upper middle class, suburban Republican stuck amongst the Democrats!
Jeesh. From her book, you'd think all Southerners are White, middle-class, right-leaning Republicans. Speaking as a Yellow Dog Democrat Evangelical from the deepest part of the South I can only say that obviously she sees what she wants to see and disregards the rest.
Funniest book I've read all year.......2006-12-14
This isn't the type of book I'd normally pick up, yet I found myself laughing with each and every chapter. Nancy truly has a gift for words. It doesn't matter where you live, or what your political and religious beliefs are, this book will make you smile. As a Texan who works in New York and lives in California, I could totally relate to just about everything Nancy wrote - her grocery store and garbage dump experience, her mother's cardboard box collecting obsession. I can't wait to read Nancy's next one.
Book Description
21st Century Feature Writing makes feature writing accessible for students through a combination of student and professional examples. The feature story, research, different types of feature writing, and the various industries and outlets for feature writing. Feature writing and magazine writing.
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- The New Media Reader
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- The Screenwriter's Bible: A Complete Guide to Writing, Formatting, and Selling Your Script
- The Secret
- The Simpsons One Step Beyond Forever: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family...Continued Yet Again (Simpsons (Harper))
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