Don't Shoot the Messenger: How Our Growing Hatred of the Media Threatens Free Speech for All of Us

"Don't Shoot the Messenger" is a triumph in every way. The writing is clear, strong and engaging. The message it carries should be required reading for every thinking American. With wit and passion, Bruce Sanford issues a sorely needed wakeup call to the press, the courts and we, the people. The devil of any book is in the details. Sanford names names and lays out his case -- our case, really -- with a clarity that makes plain the torturous complexities of cause and effect creating the growing gulf between us and our increasingly unfree press. Few messages could be as important in a democracy, where the truth is vital if the public is to choose wisely. Sanford unflinchingly outlines the weaknesses of the press that have led us to mistrust and even despise them. He points out how we, as consumers, tacitly contribute to the excesses we disparage, and how our increasingly negative attitude spills over into the courtroom for both juries and judges, resulting in verdicts that may feel right even as they eat away at our freedom and well-being. He shows the chilling effects of a number of recent lawsuits by the rich and powerful against the press and gives us a scary look at the road ahead if this trend continues. "Don't Shoot the Messenger" is riveting reading, but more than that, it is a passionate argument in defense of us all by what must surely be one of the nation's best and brightest lawyers.