Dissecting
the News Dissector:
Review
of
Blogothon:
Reflections and Revelations from the News Dissector
by
Danny Schechter
"It's
all about target[ing] the banksters on Wall Street as well as the politicians
that do their bidding."
"Ideology
has become a substitute for clear thinking while posturing and polarization
define the issues of our times, leading to a stalemate and paralysis."
"[T]he
struggle is my life."--Nelson Mandela
"[T]elling
untold stories moves audiences to care and to act."
What follows is a laudatory review of an excellent selection of blogs documenting and commenting on events that occurred in 2010-2011, referring always backward and forward, of course, from the McCarthy era to Election 2012. And earlier and later ("the future").
Edward
R. Murrow, who busted Senator Joe McCarthy's "crusade against communism" (see
the film Good Night and Good Luck if you haven't already) was Danny
Schechter's mentor, exemplifying journalism at its finest, which involves
changing the world for the better. Power of the word and film and the
encompassing profession.
Schechter's
collection spans issues and events from the Financial Crisis, Media Coverage,
"Politics and Politricks," Culture and Resistance, Foreign Travel, and the
cataclysm that lifted Apartheid in South Africa, the author's favorite
country--he was there when it happened, filming for tv and movies, as well as
narratives ever since that always shed new light on the event and surrounding
history.
The
blogs of this co-founder of Globalvision, which aims to provide coverage of the
entire news free of infotainment--the latest shade of blonde adorning Lady
Gaga's head, for instance, or the one package of events that adorns all network
newscasts give or take a few words--do indeed span the plight of the world. In
the preceding two years alone (the book is dated 11/11/11), the author has been
to England, Iran, Qatar, South Africa, and Turkey, by invitation, to attend
conferences and speak, or both. To ask him to recite all of the places far and
near that he has visited would amaze even Ferdinand Magellan.
Edward
R. Murrow is a hard act to follow. This review will explore Schechter's many
contributions and insights donated to journalism and allied fields and conclude
with a yardstick, as we, including Murrow, "bow, unabated, to the form flying
forward." [1]
The
Prologue is dirty laundry, a blog itself; all books are fraught with conflict.
If they could only talk, what tales would emerge above and beyond the content
that would pale in comparison.
Blogothon
is
dedicated to us bloggers the world over, among whom Schechter is one of the
first, pioneering in this as well as so many other areas.
Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
