Author: Anthony DiMaggo
Publisher: Monthly Review Press
ISBN: 978-1-58367-199-3 Publication Date: 2010
Trade paperback
376 pages

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• Chapter 7: Public Rationality, Political Elitism, and Opposition to War

About this book:

“Nothing short of a masterpiece. It is the definitive and most up-to-date treatment of the subject, and should be required reading for anyone who wishes to understand the crucial and often destructive role media play on the most important international issues of our times.” — Robert W. McChesney

In this fresh and provocative book, Anthony DiMaggio uses the war in Iraq and the United States confrontations with Iran as his touchstones to probe the sometimes fine line between news and propaganda. Using Antonio Gramsci’s concept of hegemony and drawing upon the seminal works of Noam Chomsky, Edward Herman, and Robert McChesney, DiMaggio combines a rigorous empirical analysis and clear, lucid prose to enlighten readers about issues essential to the struggle for a critical media and a functioning democracy.

If, as DiMaggio shows, our newspapers and television news programs play a decisive role in determining what we think, and if, as he demonstrates convincingly, what the media give us is largely propaganda that supports an oppressive and undemocratic status quo, then it is incumbent upon us to make sure that they are responsive to the majority and not just the powerful and privileged few.

Anthony DiMaggio teaches American Government and International Relations at Illinois State University in the department of politics and government. He publishes regularly in Z Magazine and CounterPunch, and is the author of Mass Media, Mass Propaganda: Examining American News in the “War on Terror.”

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