Common
Courage PressAdventures In Medialand compiles 59 articles by
syndicated media critics Cohen and Soloman. Both authors ar e involved in
FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting), a national media-watch group.
Reader's of FAIR's bimonthly Extra! magazine will be familiar with most of
the ground covered here Ñ current media events such as the 1992
Presidential Race, ÒPCÓ-bashi ng, and AIDS coverage. For example, FAIR's
study on television coverage is a welcome inclusion. An October 1992 FAIR
poll of 600 likely voters found that the more TV news voters watched, the
less they actually knew about the issues. 89% of the respondents
could identify the Bush family dog, Millie, while only 19% could identify
the Reagan cabinet member indicted in the Iran-Contra scandal, Caspar
Weinberger. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending upon where you're
coming from), the after-the-fact app roach tends to oversimplify in the
interest of timeliness. Casual use of statistics and unannotated studies
raise unnecessary doubts to Cohen and Soloman's findings Ñ nothing that
couldn't be fixed with a good bibliography (there is none) or at least
directions for further reading.
As a collection of essays, Medialand
makes for an easily-digested, left-handed intro to media criticism. It may
not transform your world view, but it's a good place to start. (Carrie
McLaren)