Beyond Hypocrisy: Decoding the News in an Age of Propaganda

by Edward S. Herman

Book Overview

In a highly original volume that includes an extended essay on the Orwellian use of language that characterizes U.S. political culture, cartoons, and a cross-referenced lexicon of doublespeak terms... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0896084353
• ISBN13: 9780896084353
• Release Date: July 1999
• Publisher: South End Press
• Length: 244 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.4" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Interesting, Alarming, even Irritating!

This book challenges your beliefs that have been formed by reportedly deceptive press coverage and political action in the twentieth century. Half-truths and selective application of principles are uncovered in areas ranging from the Weapons Culture to the Crisis of Democracy in America. Your attention is captured in the preface during an account of the Reagan era manipulation of facts concerning events in Nicaragua and El Salvador. The reader is afonted with an attack on the beloved Reagan-Bush era and finds undivided attention is required to absorb the assertions made. These assertions shatter patriotic memories of America protecting the freedom of the press and free speech. Bluntly, this book is about doublespeak, the misuse of words by implicit redefinition, displaying how politicians, with assistance from the media, twist and manipulate news events to further their own interests. Politicians and the media thrive on big business contribution, therefore both reportedly exist to serve these market drivers. One exapmle of doublespeak is that allegedly, the American governmant was not actually interested in "containment" or "national security" during the Red Scare or later in the Soviet Threat, but rather in liquidating the New Deal coalition and covering up the upward redistribution of income. "Containment" and "national security" were merely attractive buzzwords redefined to achieve these political goals. The reader who is hoodwinked by the numerous allegations of government mis-use of funds or other deceptive practices presented in this book is no better off for it. If the reader blindly believes the approximate 100 half page incriminations presented in the 112 pages of this book, the reader will have no chance at deciphering fact from fiction when confronted with the actual media. While all these indictments could be in part true, each is worth more than the half-page given it. The Reagan-Bush era is particularly slammed, citing increased military spending and the "safe harbor" provision of the tax code. Concerning military spending, has the author heard of Keynesian economics? I'm no economist but the Keynesian economic model has been all but proven and indicates increased governement spending "jump starts" the economy and staves off recession. The safe harbor provision allowed the selling of unusable tax credits of companies with little or no taxable income to those who could use them. Under a microscope, this affect looks bad, but undoubtedly was not the original intent of the provision, at least not to increase the wealth of the already wealthy big businesses. In order to accurately look at the economic effects of Reaganomics, one must look at the long term and not just a snap shot of the immediate affects of the programs. How is the economy now? Let me make no mistake though and make it clear this book is definately an eye opener and should not be read unless you