books:

	So Wrong for So Long: How the Press, the Pundits--and the President--Failed on Iraq Greg Mitchell Union Square Press, 2008 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 9 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Now, after five years of war, he traces the conflict -- from the "runup" to the "surge" -- and the media's coverage of it, in this important collection of commentaries with significant new additions: an original introduction and dozens of pages of fresh material that unify the essays.

If a free press is the watchdog of democracy, then Greg Mitchell must be the watchdog of the watchdogs, tracking the performance of the media at Editor & Publisher, the influential magazine of the newspaper industry. Over the past five years, in his widely read column, "Pressing Issues," he has repeatedly been ahead of the curve in intensely scrutinizing both the president and the press--and the controversies swirling around Donald Rumsfeld, Pat Tillman, "Scooter" Libby, Ann Coulter and numerous other figures.

His book is a unique history of the entire war--and as topical as today's headlines. Whether writing early warnings that anticipated a long and bloody war, analyzing Stephen Colbert's in-his-face mockery of George W. Bush, or imagining the president confessing his sins to Oprah Winfrey, Greg Mitchell explores how we got into the war in Iraq--and why we just can't seem to get out. With tens of thousands of American troops still in Iraq, debate over the war continues to rage on TV news and across editorial pages. Against this backdrop of controversy, Greg Mitchell is the rare journalist who has seen it all with clear eyes. In So Wrong for So Long, he can finally tell the whole story.

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Puts it all in perspective!

This book gives an excellent account of events leading up to Bush's War, and puts the nightly/daily news in perspective. I now look at 24/7 news channels differently, realizing that they need "stories" to fill their air time, even if those stories are only rumors, suggestions, and innuendo. Viewer beware!!


Bushs use of fear & the fear of Bush by the press

A must read to see how the fourth leg of our country let us DOWN


A must-read: This book provides a month-by-month history of current events (and yes, I'm aware of the inherent contradiction)

Greg Mitchell is a talented writer, but even if not he should be listened to closely. He is one of those (like Barack Obama) who has proven to have been right early, and right often, about some of the most serious events of our recent past.

But though, as I say, Mr. Mitchell has been proved right, the tone of this book is not one of "I told you so," such as you or I might write. Rather it is one of great sorrow over the human costs of this waste of a war:

The thousands of military deaths, not only in combat but those who have killed themselves. Something not enough people are talking about.

I'd bet on this being one of the books on Iraq which stands the test of time.

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More of Mitchell

I've enjoyed reading Mitchell in the past, and this book is fine as it goes, but, unfortunately, it offers nothing new. Mitchell has been opposing both the war and the Bush administration since day one in his op/eds in Editor & Publisher. This book just carries on the same tradition.

I write this because I expected a bit more from this book than just a rehash of what he has been saying all along. What really gets me is how so many in the media are now saying how they should have done more to oppose the war when their job is to provide us with information so we can decide for ourselves what to do. For instance, Michell's article on Bill Moyer's piece criticizing the news reporting on the war was one step shy of total endorsement. So I'm not at all surprised the Moyers returned the favor by praising Mitchell's book.

I just don't understand how journalists are now saying that their coverage lacked criticism of the Bush administration when there are solid research based studies out there that say the exact opposite; for instance, Bush's War: Media Bias and Justifications for War in a Terrorist Age (Communication, Media, and Politics). The author here states that after about 8 weeks following 9/11 that the mainstream media actually began to frame their stories to paint Bush as the enemy. The media and Mitchell ignore these works. I wanted a larger conversation than just with those who oppose the Iraq War.

I also wanted to see someone take on the academic studies, not ignore them because they don't support their point of view. I mean, the information is out there, so how does one explain it? Anyway, if you have not read much of Mitchell's work, then this book will summarize well his (and by extension the mainstream media's) view of media coverage of the war; if you have read Mitchell, then it will seem like a walk down memory lane.

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reviews: page 1, 2

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