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updated Jan 2008

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Television

Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television, by Jerry Mander, 1977 Quill
In the Absence of the Sacred, by Jerry Mander, 1991, Sierra Club Books.
Smoke and Mirrors: Viokence, Television, and Other American Cultures. by John Leonard.  The New Press.
Big World, Small Screen; The Role of Television in American Society, Huston et al., 1992, Univ of Nebraska Press.
One Nation Under Television, by J. Fred MacDonald, 1990, Pantheon Press.
Television and Human Behavior, by George Comstock et al., 1978 Columbia.
Watching Television, by Todd Gitlin, Pantheon.
The Age of Missing Information, by Bill McKibben, 1992, Random House.
Cracked Coverage; Television News, The Anti-Cocaine Crusade and the Reagan Legacy, Jimmie L. Reeves and Richard Campbell, 1994, Duke University Press. 
On Television, by Pierre Bourdieu (France), 1999, New Press (English Translation).
The More Your Watch the Less You Know, by Danny Schechter, 1997, 7 Stories Press.
Prime Time Society: An Anthropological Analysis of Television and Culture, by Conrad Phillip Kottak, 1990, Wadworth.
On Television and Journalism by Pierre Bourdieu 1998

Culture Jamming

Culture Jam, The Uncooling of America, by Kalle Lasn, 1999, Morrow.
Adbusters Magazine,  Subscribe 1-800-663-1243
Negativland (music on CD)
EBN / Emergency Broadcast Network (music on CD)
Jamming the Media - A Citizen's Guide - Reclaiming the Tools of Communication, by Gareth Bronmyn, 1997, Chronicle Books.

Media Ownership / Monopoly

Who Owns The Media? Global Trends and Local Resistance, Edited by Pradip N. Thomas and Zaharom Nain
The New Media Monopoly (7^th Edition), Ben Bagdikian, 2004, Beacon Press.
Networks of Power, by Dennis W. Mazzocco, 1994, South End Press.
Invisible Crises; What Conglomerate Control of the Media Means for America and the World, Edited by George Gerbner, Herbert Schiller and Hamid Mowlana, 1996, Westview
Manufacturing Consent; The Political Economy of the Mass Media, by Noam Chomsky and Edward S. Herman, 1988, Pantheon
Conglomerates and the Media Patricia Aufderheide et al. New Press

Globalization/Corporate Politics

The No-Nonsense Guide to Global Media by Peter Steven, 2004, Between the Lines.
Mass Communication and the American Empire (2^nd Edition), by Herbert Schiller, 1992, Westview.
Articulating the Global and The Local; Globalization and Cultural Studies, Edited by Ann Cvetkovich and Doug Kellner, 1997, Westview  
Understanding Global News; A Critical Introduction, by Japp van Ginneken, 1998, Sage
Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism, by Richard Robbins, 2002 (2nd ed) Allyn & Bacon.
The Global Media; The New Missionaries of Corporate Capitalism, by Edward S. Herman and Robert W. McChesney, 1997, Cassell.   
Capitalism and the Information Age; The Political Economy of the Global Communication Revolution, Robert McChesney, Ellen Meikins Wood and John Bellamy Foster, 1997, Monthly Review Press.
One World, Ready or Not by William Greider, 1997, Touchstone.   
When Corporations Rule the World, by David Korten, 1996, Kumarian Press.
The Case Against the Global Economy, Edited by Jerry Mander, 1996 Sierra Club.    
Corporations Are Gonna Get Your Mama: Globalization and the Downsizing of the American Dream, by Edited by Kevin Danaher 1997
Robbing Us Blind: The Return of the Bush Gang and the Mugging of America by Steve Brouwer, 2003

Consumerism / Branding

NO LOGO: Money, Marketing and the Growing Anti-Corporate Movement, by Naomi Klein, 1999, Picador USA.
Marketing Madness; A Survival Guide for a Consumer Society, by Michael F. Jacobson and Laurie Ann Mazur, 1995, Westview.
The Consumer Society Reader, edited by Juliet Schor & Douglas B. Holt, 2000, The New Press.
Consumer Culture and TV Programming, by Robin Anderson, 1995, Westview.
KinderCulture; The Corporate Construction of Childhood, Shirley R. Steinberg, Joe Kincheloe et al., 1997, Westview Press. 
The Overspent American, Upscaling, Downshifting & The New Consumer, by Juliet B. Schor, 1998, Basic Books. 
Do Americans Shop Too Much?, by Juliet B. Schor, 2000 Beacon.
Credit Card Nation by Robert Manning. 2000, Basic Books.  
Affluenza: The All Consuming Epidemic by John De Graff & David Wann (2001) Berrett-Koehler
An All Consuming Century: Why Commercialism Won in America by Gary Cross (2000). Columbia Univ. Press.

Advertising

Ads, Fads & Consumer Culture (2nd Edition), by Arthur Asa Berger 2004
Can't Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel by Jean Kilbourne, 2000, Touchstone. 
The Erotic History of Advertising by Thomas Reichert, 2003, Prometheus Books

Racism / Ethnicity / Xenophobia / Gender / Sexism

Cultural Diversity and the US Media, Edited by Yahya Kamalipour and Theresa Carilli, SUNY Press 1998
Black Film/White Money, by Jesse A. Rhines, 1996, Rutgers Univ. Press.
Facing Difference; Race, Gender and Mass Media, by Shirley Biagi and Marilyn Kern-Foxworth, 1997, Pine Forge Press.  
Covering Islam; How the Media and the Experts Determine How We See the Rest of the World, by Edward W, Said, 1981, Pantheon.  
Culture and the Ad; Exploring Otherness in the World of Advertising, By William M. O'Barr, 1994, Westview.    
Race, Myth and the News, by Christopher P. Campbell, 1995, Sage.   
Fantasies of the Master Race, Literature, Cinima & the Colonization of American Indians, by Ward Churchill, 1992, Common Courage Press   
Within the Veil; Black Journalists, White Media, by Pamela Newkirk, 2000, NYU Press.
Real Majority, Media Minority; the Costs of Sidelining Women in Reporting, by Laura Flanders, 1998, Common Courage Press.   
The Gender Communication Connection (textbook) by Teri K. Gamble, 2003
Where the Girls Are; Growing Up Female with the Mass Media, by Susan J. Douglas,1994, Times Books.   
Gender, Race and Class in Media 2nd Edition , Edited by Gail Dines and Jean Humez, 2003, Sage   
Pornography, Feminism and the Individual, by Alison Assiter, 1989
With Other Eyes: Looking at Race and Gender in Visual Culture edited by Lisa Bloom 
Shaded Lives: African-American Women and Television edited by Beretta E. Smith-Shomade
Sexing the Groove: Popular Music and Gender edited by Sheila Whiteley

Propaganda Studies / Public Relations

Media Wars: News in a Time of Terror by Danny Schechner, 2003, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Tragedy & Farce: How the American Media Sell Wars, Spin Elections and Destroy Democracy by John Nichols and Robert McChesney w/ illustrations by Tom Tomorrow.
Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush's War on Iraq, by Sheldon Rampton, John C. Stauber 2003,
Tell Me Lies: Propaganda and Media Distortion in the Attack on Iraq, edited by David Miller, 2004, Pluto
Information War: American Propaganda, Free Speech, and Opinion Control Since 9/11 by Nancy Snow, 2004, 7 Stories Press
Propaganda, by Edward Bernays, Ig.
Propaganda & Persuasion (3rd edition) by Garth Jowett, 1999 Sage
War, Media and Propaganda: A Global Perspective edited by Kamalipour and Snow, 2004, Rowman & Littlefield
Bring 'Em On: Media and Politics in the Iraq War edited by Lee Artz, 2005, Rowman & Littlefield
Munitions of the Mind: A History of Propaganda, by Philip Taylor, 2003,Manchester
Slanting the Story: The Forces that Shape the News.  by Trudy Lieberman.  The New Press.
Toxic Sludge is Good For You, Lies, Damn Lies and the Public Relations Industry, by John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton, 1995, Common Courage Press.   
Trust Us, We're Experts, by John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton, 2000, J.P. Tarcher. 
Age of Propaganda: The Everyday Use and Abuse of Persuasion, by Anthony Pratkanis and Elliot Aronson, 2000, W.H. Freeman Publishing
Propaganda and the Public Mind: Interviews With Noam Chomsky, by David Barsamian, 2001, South End Press
PR! A Social History of Spin, by Stuart Ewen, 1996 Basic Books.  
The Father of Spin: Edward Bernays and the Birth of Public Relations by Larry Tye, 1998, Owl
Media Mythmakers: How Journalists, Activists, and Advertisers Mislead Us by Benjamin Radford , 2003, Prometheus Books
Triumph of the Image; The Media's War in the Persian Gulf, Hamid Mowlana, George Gerbner and Herbert Schiller, 1992, Westview.   
Inventing Reality(2nd edition), by Michael Parenti, 1993, St. Martins Press.   
The Mind Managers, by Herbert Schiller, 1973, Beacon.   
Necessary Illusions; Thought Control in Democratic Socieities, by Noam Chomsky, 1989, South End Press.   
Wizards of Media Oz; Behind the Curtain of Manistream News, by Normon Solomon and Jeff Cohen, 1997, Common Courage Press.    Buy from FAIR
Beyond Hypocrisy; Decoding the News in an Age of Propaganda, by Edward S. Herman, South End Press. 
On Power and Ideology; The Managua Lectures, by Noam Chomsky, 1987, South End Press.   
Media Control: The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda 2nd Edition (Open Media Series), by Noam Chomsky, 2002, 7 Stories Press

Visual Communication

Ways of Seeing by John Berger, BBC/Penguin 1972  
Visual Culture Reader Edited by Nicholas Mirzoeff, Routledge 1998  
The Rise of the Image; The Fall of the World, by Mitchell Stephens, 1998, Oxford,
Visual Literacy: Image, Mind and Reality, by Paul Messaris, 1994, Westview
Visual and Other Pleasures, by Laura Mulvey, 1989, Indiana.
Society of the Spectacle, by Guy Debord, 1983, Black and Red Publishers.  No ISBN.  Good Luck Finding It.
Phototruth or Photofiction?  Ethics and Media Imagry in the Digital Age, by Thomas Wheeler, 2002, Erlbaum.

Media History

The Creation of the Media: Political Origins of Modern Communications by Paul Starr, 2005, Basic Books
The Problem of the Media: U.S. Communication Politics in the 21st Century by Robert McChesney, 2004, Monthly Review Press
Lost History:Contras, Cocaine, The Press and Project Truth by Robert Parry, 1999, Media Consortium
Stories that Changed America : Muckrakers of the 20th Century by Robert Jenson, 2002, 7 Stories

Media Deconstruction / Political Criticism 

Lapdogs : How the Press Rolled Over for Bush by Eric Boehlert, 2006, Free Press.
War Made Easy: How Presdients and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death by Normon Solomon, 2006 Wilely
The Future of Media: Resistance and Reform in the 21st Century edited by Robert McChesney et al. 2005, 7 Stories
The Problem of the Media: U.S. Communication Politics in the 21st Century by Robert McChesney, 2004, Monthly Review Press
Bad News From Israel by Greg Philo and Mike Berry, 2004
The Oh Really? Factor: Unspinning Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly, by Peter Hart, Robert W. McChesney, 7 Stories
What Liberal Media? The Truth About Bias and the News, by Eric Alterman, 2003, Basic Books.
Rich Media Poor Democracy by Robert W. McChesney, 1999, University of Illinois Press.  
Unreliable Sources, A Guide to Detecting Bias in News Media, by Martin a Lee and Normon Solomon, 1990, Lyle Stuart.    Out of date.
White House to Your House; Media and Politics in Virtual America, Edwin Diamond and Robert Silverman, 1997, MIT Press.   
The Habits of Highly Deceptive Media: Decoding Spin and Lies in Mainstream News, by Normon Solomon, Common Courage Press, 1999.   
Governing the News; The News Media as a Political Institution, by Timothy E. Cook, 1998, U Chicago Press.
Information Inequality; The Communications Industry & The Deepening Social Crisis, by Herbert Schiller, 1996, Routledge.

Air Wars: The Fight to Reclaim Public Broadcasting, by Jerold Starr, 2000 Beacon Press. 
Pacifica Radio: The Rise of an Alternative Network, by Matthew Lasar, 2000, Temple Univ. Press.  
Made Possible By...  The Death of Public Broadcasting in the United States, by James Ledbetter, 1997, Verso.

Journalism

Censored 2006: The Top 25Censored Stories, by Peter Phillips & Project Censored, 2005, Seven Stories.
Censored 2005: The Top 25Censored Stories, by Peter Phillips & Project Censored, 2004, Seven Stories.
Censored 2004: The Top 25Censored Stories, by Peter Phillips & Project Censored, 2003, Seven Stories.
Into the Buzzsaw: Leading Journalists Expose the Myth of a Free Press , Edited by Kristina Borjesson
Foreword by Gore Vidal, 2002, Prometheus Books
Embedded: Weapons of Mass Destruction - How the Media Failed to Cover the War on Iraq, by Danny Schechter, 2003, Prometheus Books
Stories That Changed America: Muckrakers of the 20th Century, Edited by Carl Jenson, Seven Stories. Buy from FAIR
Journalism After September 11, edited by Barbie Zelizer and Stuart Allan, 2002,  Routledge.
Double Vision; Reflections on My Heritage, Life and Profession, by Ben Bagdikian, 1995, Beacon  
The Reporter's Handbook: An Investigator's Guide to Documents and Techniques, by Steve Weinberg, Bedford St. Martin, 1996. 
The Business of Journalism: Ten Leading Reporters and Editors on the Perils and Pitfalls of the Press. Edited by William Serrin. The New Press.
Drive-By Journalism; The Assault on Your Need to Know, by Arthur E. Rowse, 2000, Common Courage.
Muckraking!: The Journalism that Changed America, edited by Judith Serrin.  The New Press.
Citizen Muckraking; How to Investigate and Right Wrongs in Your Community, by The Center for Public Integrity, 2000, Common Courage Press.
The Business of Journalism -- 10 Leading Reporters & Editors on the Perils and Pitfalls of the Press, Edited by William Serrin, 2000, New Press.

Photojournalism

Unembedded: Four Independent Photojournalists on the War in Iraq by Thorne Anderson et al.

Recommended Mass Media Textbooks

Propaganda and Persuasion (4th Edition) by Garth Jowett and Victoria O'Donnell, 2006, Sage.
We the Media; A Citizen's Guide to Fighting for Media Democracy, Edited by Don Hazen and Julie Winokur, The New Press 1997.  
Media and Society: A Critical Reader, by Arthur Asa Berger, 2003
Media/Society 2nd Edition, by David Croteau & William Hoynes, Pine Forge Press 2002 . 
Introduction to Mass Communication; Media Literacy & Culture, by Stanley J. Baran, Mayfield 2003   Good book but too pricy -- a real rip-off.
Readings in Mass Coomunication; Media Literacy & Culture, Edited by Kimberly B. Massey, Mayfield 1999   
Media & Culture; An Introduction to Mass Communication 4th Edition, by Richard Campbell, Bedford St. Martins 2004  Good book but too pricy -- a real rip-off.
The Media Studies Reader, Editd by Tim O'Sullivan & Yvonne Jewkes, Arnold (UK) 1997.  

Other Mediastudy.com Favorites

People of the Rainbow; A Nomadic Utopia, Michael I. Niman, 1997, University of Tennessee Press. My Book! Written by Me.  
"Here our Culture is Hard" Stories of Domestic Violence from a Mayan Community in Belize, by Laura J. McClusky, 2001, University of Texas Press. 
The Heart of Whiteness: Confronting Race, Racism, and White Prividedge by Robert Jenson, 2005, City Lights.
Utopian Legacies; A History of Conquest and Oppression in the Western World, by John C. Mohawk, 2000, Clear Light.. 
Homage to Chiapas; The New Indigenous Struggles in Mexico, by Bill Weinberg (Pogo), 2000, Verso. 
Fast Food Nation, by Eric Schlosser, 2001, Houghton Mifflin.
Rouge State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower, by William Blum, 2000, Common Courage.

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