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The Decline and Fall of Public Broadcasting: Creating Alternative Media
An accessible argument for why we need alternative media--and how we can build them.
88 pages, Library Binding
First published September 1, 2001
57 people want to read
About the author
David Barsamian
57 books57 followersDavid Barsamian is an Armenian-American radio broadcaster, writer, and the founder and director of Alternative Radio, the Boulder, Colorado-based syndicated weekly talk program heard on some 125 radio stations in various countries.[1]
Barsamian started working in radio in 1978 at KGNU in Boulder, Colorado and then KRZA in Alamosa, Colorado.
His interviews and articles also appear regularly in The Progressive, The Nation, and Z Magazine. Barsamian also lectures on U.S. foreign policy, corporate control, the media, and propaganda. He is a member of the Campaign for Peace and Democracy.
As a writer, Barsamian is best known for his series of interviews with Noam Chomsky, which have been published in book form and translated into many languages, selling hundreds of thousands of copies worldwide.
Barsamian started working in radio in 1978 at KGNU in Boulder, Colorado and then KRZA in Alamosa, Colorado.
His interviews and articles also appear regularly in The Progressive, The Nation, and Z Magazine. Barsamian also lectures on U.S. foreign policy, corporate control, the media, and propaganda. He is a member of the Campaign for Peace and Democracy.
As a writer, Barsamian is best known for his series of interviews with Noam Chomsky, which have been published in book form and translated into many languages, selling hundreds of thousands of copies worldwide.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 15, 2017
One of South End's cute little publications, short and sweet, that anyone vested in democracy in any form should read. This volume focuses on the corporate/government ruination of the public broadcasting system in the US over the last few decades. Curious to know how corporate shills basically determine content on PBS or NPR? Look no further!
A little dated, since there is little on the Internet stuff, especially as a promising substitute (turned out it only kind of was).
A little dated, since there is little on the Internet stuff, especially as a promising substitute (turned out it only kind of was).
October 3, 2016
It is difficult to address the argument of this book because on the one hand it is so simplistic, "People who think like me have trouble getting on TV and radio, whaa, whaa, whaa," and because the comments are so scatter-shot that it is difficult to comment without also being scatter-shot and I am loathe to spend the time on a book I don't like very much.
The only really good chapter is the first, about half the book, on what is wrong with NPR and PBS. Barsamian presents a convincing, though not a compelling case that both have eaten the apple of middle of the road safe media, largely, though not entirely as the result of corporate sponsorship, and because the US Congress made the mistake of not giving the money supplier to both, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a reliable income stream. Along the way he explodes the myth that PBS and NPR have a liberal bias. This is somewhat done with cherry picking examples, the whole book is pretty cherry picked, but the examples presented (and some not presented) do lean in that direction, though not as decisively as Barsamian insists. The reason he is so angry is that the most liberal voices in American are not welcome on Public Broadcasting.
But, neither were the most conservative voices. There certainly were right wing extremists, the Bush 43 administration was riddled with their neocon asses frequently seen on TV, but did Public Broadcasting give voice to neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and their ilk? Of course, not. While it is true that Howard Zinn and Edward Said are not as dangerously crazy as the extreme right wing, both sides represent the extrema edge of the left and right and both are excluded from Public Broadcasting, at least most of the time. Barsamian's blindness to this duality is telling.
As for the complaint that one person Barsamian likes has only been invited to be on NPR one time, well, I was only asked on one time. I'm fine with that.
The last chapter is good news about the struggle to control Pacifica Radio, about which I have some interest since it was co-founded by a good man who once employed me. The afterward was clearly written before this was settled, for it decries the state of Pacifica Radio. That's just bad editing. There are other and different examples of bad edition throughout the book, perhaps the most telling being all the generalization made without giving detailed accounts to make the generalizations convincing. Somebody needs to go back to freshman comp to learn how to present an argument.
Still, I do reluctantly recommend the book for that first chapter which does a fair enough job of showing that Public Broadcasting has sold out. We should keep this in mind always, though I would like to find this in a better book.
The only really good chapter is the first, about half the book, on what is wrong with NPR and PBS. Barsamian presents a convincing, though not a compelling case that both have eaten the apple of middle of the road safe media, largely, though not entirely as the result of corporate sponsorship, and because the US Congress made the mistake of not giving the money supplier to both, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a reliable income stream. Along the way he explodes the myth that PBS and NPR have a liberal bias. This is somewhat done with cherry picking examples, the whole book is pretty cherry picked, but the examples presented (and some not presented) do lean in that direction, though not as decisively as Barsamian insists. The reason he is so angry is that the most liberal voices in American are not welcome on Public Broadcasting.
But, neither were the most conservative voices. There certainly were right wing extremists, the Bush 43 administration was riddled with their neocon asses frequently seen on TV, but did Public Broadcasting give voice to neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and their ilk? Of course, not. While it is true that Howard Zinn and Edward Said are not as dangerously crazy as the extreme right wing, both sides represent the extrema edge of the left and right and both are excluded from Public Broadcasting, at least most of the time. Barsamian's blindness to this duality is telling.
As for the complaint that one person Barsamian likes has only been invited to be on NPR one time, well, I was only asked on one time. I'm fine with that.
The last chapter is good news about the struggle to control Pacifica Radio, about which I have some interest since it was co-founded by a good man who once employed me. The afterward was clearly written before this was settled, for it decries the state of Pacifica Radio. That's just bad editing. There are other and different examples of bad edition throughout the book, perhaps the most telling being all the generalization made without giving detailed accounts to make the generalizations convincing. Somebody needs to go back to freshman comp to learn how to present an argument.
Still, I do reluctantly recommend the book for that first chapter which does a fair enough job of showing that Public Broadcasting has sold out. We should keep this in mind always, though I would like to find this in a better book.
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September 6, 2008Barsamian is one of the great radio producers working today, though his show Alternative Radio is most often simply an avenue for publicizing speeches by dissidents and left intellectuals. His interviews are high-caliber and this little paperback on South End Press is very critical of the editorial decision-making at PBS and NPR. I think we should continue to support public broadcasting, but like any donations people make, don't give silently. Tell your NPR affiliate you want Democracy Now! Tell your PBS affiliate you want challenging programs. Barsamian is a role model for aspiring media activists.
August 12, 2009
short, sweet, revelatory, damning
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews