“Guardians of Power”
Center for Research on Globalization, Canada
Reviewing David Cromwell and David Edwards’ book
by Stephen Lendman Global Research, January 9, 2008
David Cromwell is a Scottish writer, activist and oceanographer at the National Oceanography Centre in Britain. David Edwards is also a UK writer who focuses on human rights, the environment and the media. Together they edit an extraordinary “UK-based media-watch project” called Media Lens. It “offers authoritative criticism of mainstream media bias and censorship, as well as providing in-depth analysis, quotes, media contact details and other resources.”
Today, the media is in crisis, and a free and open society is at risk. Fiction substitutes for fact, news is carefully filtered, dissent is marginalized, and supporting the powerful substitutes for full and accurate reporting. As a result, wars of aggression are called liberating ones, civil liberties are suppressed for our own good, and patriotism means going along with governments that are lawless.
The authors challenge these views and those in the mainstream who reflect them - the managers, editors and journalists. Their aim in Media Lens and their writing is to “raise public awareness” to see “reality” as they do, free from the corrupting influence of media corporations and their single-minded pursuit of profit “in a society dominated by corporate power” and governments acting as their handmaiden. They note that Pravda was a state propaganda organ so “why should we expect the corporate press to tell the truth about corporate power” and unfettered capitalism when they support it? They don’t and never will.
The authors go further and say their “aim is to increase rational awareness, critical thought and compassion, and to decrease greed, hatred and ignorance (and do it by) highlight(ing) significant examples of systemic media distortion.” There are no shortage of examples.
That objective is highlighted in their 2006 book, “Guardians of Power: The Myth of the Liberal Media” and subject of this review. It’s a work distinguished author John Pilger calls “required reading” and “the most important book about journalism (he) can remember” since Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman’s classic - “Manufacturing Dissent.” [more]