Review: It's the Media, Stupid

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It's the Media, Stupid
by John Nichols and Robert W. McChesney

Publisher: Seven Stories Press
ISBN: 1583220291

The 17th publication to be released as part of Seven Stories Press' Open Media Pamphlet Series, media scholar Robert McChesney and Madison, WI Capital Times newspaper opinion page editor John Nichols lay out a compelling chronicle of the media's role in the 'dumbing down' of the American people.

It's the Media, Stupid begins with a short overview of what's gone wrong with the mainstream U.S. press - again, the drive for profits over public good plays a large role in the media's ignorance of stories that really matter to people and its gravitation to stories that are sensational and easy to produce.

Next, McChesney and Nichols examine the rise of global media conglomerates - many originally thought that transnational media companies would be good for the world, as their resources and reach would be excellent tools to cover news and issues in ways smaller, less well-funded operations could never accomplish.

Instead, It's the Media, Stupid shows how these conglomerates use their huge financial power to pressure indigenous and dissenting opinions out of mainstream coverage - thereby hurting those countries in which they expand.

What results is a homogenization of native thought, opinion and public agenda as massive media conglomerates work to 'corner a market' overseas.  It's probably the worst export America has today.

Finally, the pamphlet examines some of the movements of resistance that have cropped up around the globe; some have had much success.  For example, in Australia and New Zealand, politicians have recognized the importance of a truly free media on their societies, and have successfully fought the privatization of national broadcasting systems.

They've also been able to mandate air time for alternative viewpoints and informational programs which might not be money-makers, but recoup their value in spades by the enlightenment they give to their countries' populaces as a whole.

Now, how do we take the successes found overseas and make them work in America?  McChesney and Nichols don't have easy answers to that question; obviously, the first step is to make the American public aware of the influence the media has on their daily lives and decision making.

The major problem, argues this pamphlet, is that 'the media' is such a huge and complex entity that most Americans simply can't grasp how to get a handle on it and speak out for change.

This is the dilemma authors leave you with, but they offer several examples of how to break the message down into manageable pieces and then push for change incrementally.  It's a big job, but somebody's got to do it - and as a media democracy movement begins to foment in the United States, It's the Media, Stupid provides a valuable blueprint for gestating and expanding that movement.