Media Wars: News at a Time of Terror

By Danny Schechter

Book Overview

"Limiting access, limiting information to cover the backsides of those who are in charge of the war, is extremely dangerous and cannot and should not be accepted. And I am sorry to say that, up to and including the moment of this interview, that overwhelmingly it has been accepted by the American people. And the current administration revels in that, and they take refuge in that." -CBS News Anchor Dan Rather on BBC News Night, May 16, 2002

In Media Wars: News at a Time of Terror, MediaChannel founder and editor, Danny Schechter, "the News Dissector," critically examines media coverage since 9/11. Schechter analyzes what has been covered and, more tellingly, left out, in news coverage of the terrorist attacks and their aftermath. Drawing from the reporting of over one thousand worldwide radio, newspaper, television, and internet affiliates, the result is a scathing account of how the media has become a megaphone for the U.S. military and its war on terror. More than just a critique, Schechter suggests a series of changes to improve our news sources and return them to the vital role a free and independent press must play to preserve a democracy.

Media Wars is a timely assessment of what we are and are not being told in the most important story of our new century.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0742531090
• ISBN13: 9780742531093
• Release Date: April 2003
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Length: 280 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.4" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

Thought provoking

I would normally consider myself conservative, politically speaking, and I wasn't sure what I would think of Danny Schechter's book. Prior to reading it I had never heard of him, or mediachannel.org. That said, I found this book very thought provoking and I don't watch the news in the same way anymore. Schechter provides important questions for a news consumer to ask, and makes even a casual news watcher more critical of any inherent bias in the media. Perhaps because Schechter would call me a victim of American media, I found some of his Middle East commentary difficult to follow. I am probably not educated on those topics enough. Instead, I most appreciated the critiques of domestic 9/11 coverage. I also thought that at times the book seemed to be overly "selling" the author's website (mediachannel.org). After reading the book, I can appreciate why he is trying to popularize the site, but I thought there were just too many mentions of the site...it got in the way of what may have been more salient points. The book seemed a little long, toward the end.In a weird tangental way, this book is an interesting partner with Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine, as it asks many touchy questions regarding the media's role in US culture.In the end...it's worthwhile reading regardless of your political views, as long as you don't mind taking a critical eye toward the media.