- Paperback: 432 pages
- Publisher: Three Rivers Press (CA); Reprint edition (12 April 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0307236897
- ISBN-13: 978-0307236890
- Product Dimensions: 20.3 x 13.2 x 2.8 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,018,083 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Republican Noise Machine
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Bestselling author David Brock documents the most important political development of the last thirty years: How the Republican Right has won political power and hijacked public discourse in the United States.
Over the last several decades, the GOP has built a powerful media machine—newspapers and magazines, think tanks, talk radio networks, op-ed columnists, the FOX News Channel, Christian Right broadcasting, book publishers, and high-traffic Internet sites—to sell conservatism to the public and discredit its opponents. David Brock’s penetrating analysis of news stories, from the disputed 2000 presidential election to the war in Iraq to the political battles of 2004, reveals that this booming right-wing media market is largely based on bigotry, ignorance, and emotional manipulation closely tied to America’s long-standing cultural divisions and the buying power of anti-intellectual traditionalists. Writing with verve and deep insight, Brock reaches far beyond typical bromides about media bias to produce an invaluable account of the rise of right-wing media and its political consequences.
Over the last several decades, the GOP has built a powerful media machine—newspapers and magazines, think tanks, talk radio networks, op-ed columnists, the FOX News Channel, Christian Right broadcasting, book publishers, and high-traffic Internet sites—to sell conservatism to the public and discredit its opponents. David Brock’s penetrating analysis of news stories, from the disputed 2000 presidential election to the war in Iraq to the political battles of 2004, reveals that this booming right-wing media market is largely based on bigotry, ignorance, and emotional manipulation closely tied to America’s long-standing cultural divisions and the buying power of anti-intellectual traditionalists. Writing with verve and deep insight, Brock reaches far beyond typical bromides about media bias to produce an invaluable account of the rise of right-wing media and its political consequences.
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Customer Reviews
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89 reviews
41 of 43 people found the following review helpful
Solid, but sometimes dull
9 July 2004
Format:Hardcover
Brock explores the history and structure of the right wing propaganda machine, and its impressive success in influencing mainstream media.
The book has two principal virtues: it goes into history, tracing the right from the Goldwater era, thereby including much valuable material not found in some similar volumes which focus more exclusively on events of the Clinton/Bush years. This gives the book a distinct and more thoughtful perspective. And it shows the endless interconnections of the various people and organizations discussed in substantial, occasionally numbing detail. By the time you finish this book, you will realize that Hillary's famous 'vast right wing conspiracy' is very real.
The main fault is that it is often overly partisan and indulges in some gratuitous attacks. For instance, Kevin Phillips is spoken of as being influenced by two obscure Italian writers I've never heard of, who Brock says were also major influences in Fascism. Offered without further elaboration, this amounts to nothing more than a cheap exercise in guilt by association.
Compared to the similar books by Franken and Conason, this one has, as I noted, more detail and more historical perspective. It isn't written as well, and certainly lacks the humor of Franken. It also focusses more on media and propaganda and has little exploration of issues and policies, except those, such as the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine, that relate specifically to the media. (Perhaps the most comparable to this book would be the recent book by Alterman, which I haven't read.) Conason is far more interested in broad policy questions, while Franken's book, the most entertaining but a disorganized grab-bag, bounces unpredictably between media criticism, satire, and serious policy argument.
210 of 250 people found the following review helpful
Brilliant. Comprehensive. The Definitive Record.
18 May 2004
Format:Hardcover
I got an advance copy of this book, having been an observer of Mr Brock's trajectory over the years. He has done an amazing service in this orderly, calm and utterly devastating history of the rise of the radical right's propaganda machine and its subversion of our nation's media. Brock begins at the beginning, with a treatise by a woman named Efron arguing that the GOP and business interests need their own distinct media. Efron gets Nixon's attention, Nixon tries to put Efron's plan into action, Nixon runs into the Watergate buzzsaw. But the seed is planted, back in the 1970's, and then cultivated by GOP activists like William Simon, financed heavily by Richard Mellon Scaife, Olin, Coors dynstasties etc. (who Brock calls the four sisters). Until the whole thing flowers: all of a sudden a huge battery of propaganda houses like Heritage and American Enterprise, funded by oil companies and GOP financiers, are churning out a counter history of the American experience. ANything counter to GOP orthodoxy is branded 'liberal'; Murdoch and Sun Myung Moon's media empires swiftly join the cause, whose committed purpose is to subdue America's independent media and convert it into service of corporate interests generally and GOP political figures specifically.
Throughout this book, which will be the standard text in colleges and for historians, Brock's tone is calm and steady and he lets the facts speak for themselves (very unlikehis earlier books, which are overly polemical -- duh). The research here is encyclopedic. (In a book about media, virtually every quote is on the record).
It is amazing to this reviewer how our media could have been so thoroughly corrupted. How our politicians could have so haplessly junked the Fairness Doctrine which would have smothered the entire Fox News Propaganda Machine in its cradle. It is amazing to me that a small and toxic band of right wing ideologues, (nevertheless armed with billions of dollars of their patrons' money) could so effectively intimidate and cow the so-called guardians of our democracy. Is the triumph of the radical right wing the fault of the Neo-cons, or is it our fault, for our complacency and our timidity?
78 of 92 people found the following review helpful
A Fearless Look At Conservative-Biased Media
24 May 2004
Format:Hardcover
No reasonable argument can really be presented against the now commonly held view that our country's media outlets were almost completely bought out a decade or so ago by the Right Wing. Millions upon millions of dollars have been spent by a small but powerful group of conservative-financed conglomerates in order to ensure that many of the nation's radio programs, periodicals, web sites and TV news programs continually spew unrelentingly shrill pro-Republican rhetoric all over us. Clear Channel alone owns over 1,200 radio stations across the country, each and every one of them gleefully twisting and manipulating news and opinion 24 hours a day for millions of listeners.
David Brock was once an extremely well paid shill for the Republican Party, and he knows first hand exactly what kind of dirty tricks are involved in the furtherance of their takeover of the media. Unlike most of his ilk, he became consumed by remorse for spreading the party line (via misinformation and downright lies). Having developed a true sense of morality and decency, Brock ultimately rejected the dark side forever. His superb book, BLINDED BY THE RIGHT, detailed his years as a propagandist and fully disclosed exactly what he saw and heard while within the conservative ranks that led to his conversion.
In THE REPUBLICAN NOISE MACHINE, Brock provides us with an insider's history of the extremely well financed movement that has deliberately and insidiously taken over our media. He compares the conservative media's use of relentless propaganda to Communist subversion activities. Ever wonder why every nonsensical anti-liberal rumor and innuendo makes it to the front page of your local newspaper? Brock shows how the Republicans have deliberately destroyed the fine line between fact and opinion in order to allow conservative-fueled smear campaigns full rein. Ten years ago, it would have been impossible for the hideous Ann Coulter to appear on a cable news program and proclaim to millions of viewers that Bill Clinton is "a rapist"; now, thanks to the Republican Noise Machine, these kinds of odious and slanderous comments -- always aimed at liberals -- are simply par for the course.
Joe Conason's excellent BIG LIES tackled many of these same issues, but Brock takes it all a step further and lets us all see exactly how and why the Republican Party has been able to corrupt and, perhaps, forever destroy every last bit of journalistic credibility our once great and fair media had. Brock's penetrating critique and his undeniable credibility make THE REPUBLICAN NOISE MACHINE one of the most powerful exposes of our media ever published.
David Brock was once an extremely well paid shill for the Republican Party, and he knows first hand exactly what kind of dirty tricks are involved in the furtherance of their takeover of the media. Unlike most of his ilk, he became consumed by remorse for spreading the party line (via misinformation and downright lies). Having developed a true sense of morality and decency, Brock ultimately rejected the dark side forever. His superb book, BLINDED BY THE RIGHT, detailed his years as a propagandist and fully disclosed exactly what he saw and heard while within the conservative ranks that led to his conversion.
In THE REPUBLICAN NOISE MACHINE, Brock provides us with an insider's history of the extremely well financed movement that has deliberately and insidiously taken over our media. He compares the conservative media's use of relentless propaganda to Communist subversion activities. Ever wonder why every nonsensical anti-liberal rumor and innuendo makes it to the front page of your local newspaper? Brock shows how the Republicans have deliberately destroyed the fine line between fact and opinion in order to allow conservative-fueled smear campaigns full rein. Ten years ago, it would have been impossible for the hideous Ann Coulter to appear on a cable news program and proclaim to millions of viewers that Bill Clinton is "a rapist"; now, thanks to the Republican Noise Machine, these kinds of odious and slanderous comments -- always aimed at liberals -- are simply par for the course.
Joe Conason's excellent BIG LIES tackled many of these same issues, but Brock takes it all a step further and lets us all see exactly how and why the Republican Party has been able to corrupt and, perhaps, forever destroy every last bit of journalistic credibility our once great and fair media had. Brock's penetrating critique and his undeniable credibility make THE REPUBLICAN NOISE MACHINE one of the most powerful exposes of our media ever published.
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