 |
MEDIA RESOURCES PROJECT REWIRE Edition: Trade Paperback |
|
|
LINKS Word Format Plain Text Hi-Res Cover Art: Tiff File(zipped) Tiff File (zipped) Project Rewire in Print Media: “Historian explores the landscape of the new media” The Ann Arbor News (permalink) “Former Courier reporter takes hard look at the media” WCF Courier (permalink) “Journalist uses power of the Web to check media” Cedar Rapids Gazette (permalink) "Former reporter keeps eye out for media bias" Livingston Daily (permalink) Judy Daubenmier on the Radio: WITH AL FRANKEN WITH GUY RATHBUN ON THE YOUNG TURKS WITH THOM HARTMANN ON BREAKFAST WITH NANCY by Tom Sumner, Series Editor: Judy’s book is the latest in a series that brings political bloggers and Internet journalists to print. I kicked off this series last year to fill a need I was feeling after a few years of reading blogs. You may know this one--you get into reading a blog post or other Internet article, find a link you cannot resist clicking, go read that post, then inevitably find more links there to click. Like the childhood game of telephone where a message morphs slightly with each transmitted and received whisper, it does not take long to find yourself far from your original topic. It’s very active, interesting, and lively reading, but I always desired the alternative--what would happen if the Internet sat still and just got read? No links, no ads, no animation--just words on the page. If you picked the right material, would it work? Well, it works for me. Judy has pulled together disparate voices--some of them giants of the Internet like Josh Marshall, Robert Parry, and David Sirota, some of them smaller independent bloggers like Eli Stephens of Left I on the News and Bob Pagani, the Cranky Media Guy, some of them big-time establishment media journalists like Jeff Jarvis, Eric Margolis, and Greg Palast--and pieced together posts that tell the story of the current state of American media. It’s a depressing tale of missed opportunities and deceit on the one hand; tremendous diligence and hope on the other. The importance of the new Internet media is emphasized, but so is the role of establishment media. Many familiar (but possibly forgotten) stories, such as Carl Cameron’s bogus news story about John Kerry’s manicures and major media’s dismissal of The Downing Street Memos, are cast in the context of a bigger picture of the current state of media. As David Bender, Air America host of “Politically Direct” put it: “Judy Daubenmier has panned for gold in the free-flowing Internet stream of ideas, and the result is this treasure trove of a book.” If you need more by way of endorsement, there’s Judy’s own contribution--an introductory essay that covers the history of American news coverage from the beginning of the television era to today. Like the good historian she is, she succinctly and correctly characterizes the movements of the media over the past 50 years, and the policies that drove them. When we showed it to David Barsamian of Alternative Radio, his response was this: “Her own context-setting essay is a must read.” There are two addendums to the book. The epilogue runs down four areas where Internet media and Internet activism are working to drive positive changes in the media, either by being better presenters of the news (as in the better blogs) or advocating for policy changes (or, as in the case of Net Neutrality, AGAINST policy changes). The appendix is a list of questions about media policy to be put to every candidate for public office, generated by Free Press. It’s like Cenk Uygur, host of “The Young Turks” says: “Her aim isn’t to tear the press down; it’s to help it rise back up. Let’s hope people read what she has written so they can figure out how to do just that.” BACK COVER COPY “Project Rewire is an antidote to the toxic waste spewed by the corporate media. News Hound Judy Daubenmier has assembled a brilliant collection of voices. Her own context-setting essay is a must read. It’s high time to send the golden rolodex of gas bags and mountebanks and the networks that promote them to the media ashbin. Wire up with this book now!” —David Barsamian, Director, Alternative Radio “Judy Daubenmier has panned for gold in the free-flowing Internet stream of ideas, and the result is this treasure-trove of a book. Project Rewire powerfully reminds us of what the old media has plainly forgotten: that truth is not a matter of opinion.” —David Bender, host of Politically Direct, Air America Radio “If you want to know where the mainstream press went wrong and how it got there, this is the book to read. Judy Daubenmier gives us hope, though, that there might be rewiring that leads us out of this dark period for the press. Unlike the right wing, Daubenmier understands that a healthy democracy needs a free press. Her aim isn’t to tear the press down; it’s to help it rise back up. Let’s hope people read what she has written so they can figure out how to do just that.” —Cenk Uygur, host of The Young Turks and contributor to The Huffington Post :JUDY DAUBENMIER is a veteran AP reporter who left journalism
after becoming disillusioned with editors who wanted “‘light’
stories, After leaving journalism she
earned a Ph.D. in history and became a lecturer at the University
of Michigan. She has been a volunteer media |