The Death of Media: And the Fight to Save Democracy

Schechter's talent is his ability to communicate a complicated topic. While THE DEATH OF MEDIA may not break any new ground, it is the only book that has ever made me think seriously about the media.

This book covers a lot of ground in its 170-something pages. Schechter is real media man, having worked at CNN and ABC, but he has also had some run-ins with media trouble. As he details in this book, a PBS produced told him that a documentary on South Africa wouldn't be interesting to Americans. Schechter is clear about one thing in particular: Americans have a legal right to a healthy and vibrant media. It is a constitutional issue: and FOX NEWS and CNN don't get us there. The public airways are responsible for being interesting and useful to Americans. I, for one, am joining the media reform movement that is documented in this book.

Schechter has made me realize that the battle to save America's media from ideologues, corporate interests, and casual censorship is already going strong. He's compiled a big list of folks who are already at work on this important issue, and he tells you about much of the work they have been doing. Think pirate radio and IndyMedia, but also think about free WiFi Internet and news professionals in revolt. Amid much talk about blogs, here is a guy who gives real examples of folks who are opening up the media.

This is a short book, but it is an important one. It's actually so short that you might actually read it. And it's not a bad introduction to some of the craziness that has been going on at the FCC and PBS. If you have only been watching the evening news, it is a great first step. I grew up listening to Schechter on the radio. He tells the news like nothing that you would believe. My favorite part of this little book is Schechter's observations about independent filmmaking. Schechter was behind the independent film WMD: Weapons of Mass Deception a couple of years back, and here he shares his own experiences about how and why he made the film. When you think about how little the mainstream media did to tell the story of the lead up to the Iraq War, you realize that documentaries have a huge role to play in our media landscape. Now all of the big media is going back, looking over their records and trying to figure out what went wrong with their reporting. But the alternative media, and Schechter himself, told the story almost as it was happening. This dedication to following the story seems to define a new generation of media makers, ones that work outside the big TV networks. Schechter also talk about self-syndicating to PBS stations and other tricks to get one's media message out into the world. In short, he is talking about how the "good guys" work in today's media. The book also ends on a really funny note about Pope John Paul II and the last official letter that he wrote before his death. It turns out that he wanted the media to reform itself. Schechter notes that this story was almost entirely covered up, even though the American media made a nauseating media spectacle out of the Pope's last days. This book is worth it for his little section alone. It is almost as if the mainstream media didn't want you to know about media reform....

I think Chomsky said it best: Danny Schechter has "literally educated a generation." Always check out his blog, www.newsdissector.org, which is always enlightening. But this book is also a nice treat for folks who have not followed Schechter closely. He takes on the American media in a whole new way.