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The New Blue Media: How Michael Moore, MoveOn.org, Jon Stewart and Company Are Transforming Progressive Politics | 
 enlarge | Author: Theodore Hamm
Publisher: New Press
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $9.49
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Avg. Customer Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 264933
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 208
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.7 x 1
ISBN: 1595580409
Dewey Decimal Number: 302.230973
EAN: 9781595580405
ASIN: 1595580409
Publication Date: May 13, 2008
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Condition: This Book is Brand New
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Product Description
The penetrating—and entertaining—story of the rise of a new generation of liberal media figures, from Jon Stewart and Michael Moore to MoveOn and the blue blogosphere.
The last decade brought a sea change in the American media landscape: while mainstream news outlets generally endorsed the Bush/Cheney worldview and later the administration's line on the Iraq War and the war on terror, an astonishing number of Americans—millions and millions, in fact—began getting their news from The Daily Show and The Colbert Report instead.
With a combination of technological savvy, irreverent humor, and acerbic critique, a handful of media personalities, blogs, outlets, and politically based organizations—from The Onion to Jon Stewart to the Daily Kos—are transforming American politics and culture, and the stories of where these outlets came from and how they got so powerful are just as entertaining as watching them in action. In this crisp, engaging account, journalist and historian Theodore Hamm chronicles the humble and often surprising origins of the people, the publications, and the netroots pioneers that are now household names. He also brilliantly illuminates how this "New Blue Media" both drew upon the traditional strategies of the left and also developed new ones in order to create a wholly innovative media movement.
From Michael Moore's fight with Disney to bring Fahrenheit 9/11 to movie theaters across America to the controversy surrounding MoveOn.org's hardhitting critique of Iraq War commander General David Petraeus, the stories of the battles, triumphs, setbacks, and strategies are all here. Up-to-the-minute, whip-smart, and highly entertaining, The New Blue Media is an indispensable guide to the contemporary progressive media in America.
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| Customer Reviews:
TEN star Excellent thought provoking book July 27, 2008
This is a must read book for anyone who is the least bit interested in how the Internet and shows like Jon Stewart's and Stephen Colbert are changing the political landscape.
The book also reminded me of a PBS special with the men and women from the old Your Show Of Shows (Mel Brooks included) from the early 50's where Mr. Brooks make the astute observation that when TV was new the only people who could afford the sets, were by and larger better educated and thus better paid. And because of this the viewer wanted shows that were mature thinking, and whose humor was the type that left something to the viewers imagination. Yet, as more and more people could afford a television set, things changed, and humor had to be more direct and less cerebral.
This is why shows like those Jon Stewart (The Daily Report) and The Colbert Report, remind me of early television and a more discerning viewer. I also read The Onion, and I did listen on occasion to Air America, but as the author notes, it became a tad tiring and less thought provoking because its seemed to want to mimic someone like Rush Limbaugh. I do agree with the author who touches upon the concern that progressive media be it television, radio or print, needs to also appeal to the blue colour listener.
It saddens me that so many progressives still see blue colour as being less educated and lower paid. But that's just my view. I consider myself blue color since I live in a rural area, live in less than someone in suburbia, and dropped out of college. Yet, being blue color doesn't mean I don't like political humor that is thought provoking, or isn't issue oriented.
I also like the book because it makes the reader see that television shows like Stewart's and Colberts, also allow humor that some people avoid, which does indeed make a person think! And the author is also VERY fair when it comes to critical observations of people like Michael Moore.
Incisive Look at the Pervasive Impact of the New Progressive Media May 2, 2008
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
Mass media has always played a pivotal role in the transformation of the American political scene, whether it was in the form of FDR's fireside radio chats or JFK's natural charisma trouncing Nixon with his five-o'clock shadow in their televised debates. Theodore Hamm, founding editor of the NY-based arts and political monthly, the Brooklyn Rail, takes a sharp and concise look at the latest trends in media where satirical cable programs, vituperative documentaries and the all-encompassing blogosphere have become the prevalent media forms seizing the attention of Americans away from the more traditional news sources. In a scant 208 pages, the author paints a fresh picture of the new millennium as we witness a revitalized progressive movement unapologetically responding to the mainstream network conglomerates intent on endorsing the Bush administration's worldview.
As Hamm appropriately describes the alternative media as blue, there is no doubt there is a liberal bias to much of the coverage. One can read about it in the tweaking satire of the Onion or watch on TV the serpent's tooth wit of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report. Even more instantaneous news coverage can be found on highly trafficked sites like MoveOn and the Daily Kos. On the big screen, Michael Moore has been enjoying commercial success with Fahrenheit 9/11 and Sicko, both polarizing documentaries exposing the moral ambiguity of the Washington politicos. What Hamm does so well in his book is coalesce these various outlets into a cohesive chronicle of the new progressive media starting with the individuals who managed to combine irreverent humor with shrewdly pointed observations - Moore, Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Bill Maher, Markos Moulitsas, Joan Blades and Wes Boyd of MoveOn. Most have become household names thanks to their innovative approaches, and Hamm makes their stories smart, entertaining reading.
Tough minded, lucid April 25, 2008
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
Theodore Hamm has a keen, concise take on contemporary media. With wit and absolute clarity he brings alive the intricacies of bringing politics alive. A must for media analysis: professional or academic.
New Blue Media Review from a Red State April 24, 2008
8 out of 10 found this review helpful
This is definitely an entertaining and informative book about the rise of the new liberal media. The author's sympathies lie with Michael Moore, MoveOn and the liberal blogs, but he doesn't hesitate to disagree with these groups--especially when they seem to be too close to the Democratic leadership. At the same time, he shows how the New Blue Media have shaken up the party. His accounts of the Dean campaign, first for president and then for the chair of Democratic National Committee, as well as the Ned Lamont campaign and the George Allen "Macaca" incident, are all very lively.
The author is less critical of The Onion, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, but he nevertheless shows how valuable their voices are. They are asking the critical questions about the war in Iraq and many other issues that the mainstream media ignore. The writing is sharp and the author often shows biting wit, as when he writes that "the Bush Administration's response to Hurricane Katrina was--naturally--disastrous" (p. 19). The author has little sympathy for anybody who supported the Iraq War, which means that fans of Bush and the Clintons won't like the book. Those coming of age in the era of Obama and Stephen Colbert will.
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