Media Spectacle and the Crisis of Democracy: Terrorism, War, and Election Battles (Cultural Politics & the Promise of Democracy)

Media Spectacle and the Crisis of Democracy investigates the rapidly changing role of the media after the momentous political events since 9/11. Kellner shows how corporate media ownership, linked with a rightward shift of establishment media, have disadvantaged the Democrats and benefited the Republicans.

Kellner argues that 'media spectacles' have come to dominate news covereage and distract the public from the substance of real public issues. Exploring the role of media spectacle in the 9/11 attacks and subsequent Terror Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Kellner documents the centrality of media politics in advancing foreign policy agendas and militarism. He reveals how conflicting political forces ranging from Al Qaeda to the Bush administration construct media spectacles to advance their politics. Two chapters delineate the role of the media in the highly significant 2004 election campaign that many believe to be one of the key political struggles of the contemporary era. Criticizing unilateralism abroad, Kellner argues for a multilateral and cosmopolitan globalization and the need for democratic media to take a more decisive role to overcome the current crisis of democracy.

Read Doug Kellner's Media Spectacle and the 2008 Presidential Election: Some Pre-Election Reflections at: Article