THE HABITS OF HIGHLY DECEPTIVE MEDIA

Populist excoriation of the US media that amuses but never quite enlightens. In this collection of short pieces culled from his synducated weekly column “Media Beat” and other sources, Solomon gathers together just about all the complaints and criticisms of the-media the left has to make. Concentration of ownership has skewed coverage so that interests of a corporate few are well represented, but stories of working people and the poor are hard to find. White males dominate a “punditocracy” while the voices of people of color and of women are only infrequently heard. Stories of scandal, Ö la Clinton and Lewinsky, keep us amused while the real scandals of corporate downsizing and layoffs and government collusion in such actions remain virtually invisible. These are all important topics, worthy of perusal and consideration, yet here they are mostly reduced to slogans and one-liners. The trouble may lie in the format; a collection of columns is perhaps bound to be superficial. Each piece is no longer than two or three pages, so Solomon can tell us what is wrong but not why. Repetition abounds; we are told the media are “Orwellian” at least seven times. Jokes are repeated, facts are repeated. It’s not that Solomon doesn’t provide us at times with useful information, and he certainly writes with flair and humor—his pundit bashing of such media figures as George Will is telling and hilarious. The political cartoons provided by Matt Wuerker and others are biting, as well. Still, there is a lack of analysis, of explanation, of in-depth investigation. True believers may nod in agreement., but others may simply become bored. Readers would be better served investigating the far superior three- volume study of the media Solomon co-authored with Jeff Cohen: Wizards of Media Oz; Through the Media Looking Glass; Adventures in Medialand (not reviewed). While skewering the media, Solomon commits the same sins of which he finds them guilty: sensationalism, superficiality, banality.