Unfreedom of the Press (Book Review)

Unfreedom of the Press
By Mark R. Levin
Published by Threshold Editions, 2019
Price: $28

We all know the press hates Donald Trump and Republicans and they LOVE the Democrats and the SJW's. That's just a fact. Do you really need to read a book to understand that? Maybe?

Mark Levin believes that the press is biased and is a ghostly shadow of what it once was. Namely, a vital part of the American nation. It was instrumental in founding our country. It was "a bulwark of liberty, civil society, and republicanism". The purpose of free speech and a free press was to "nurture minds, challenge ideologies, share notions, inspire creativity, and to advocate and reinforce America's founding principles". Now its about how big Kim Kardashian's cultural appropriation.  Or about a baker refusing to make a cake portraying two men sodomizing each other.

In seven chapters, Levin lays out his case....KINDA. His main points? The media and the press are dominated by liberal progressives. The press of the founding father's time would not recognize the press of today. The press serves the Democratic Party and is anti-Trump. Donald Trump is wrongly held up as a threat to free speech and a free press. If the press doesn't have a story to report on, they make one up. The New York Times, the guardian of liberalism and morality, censored stories about the Holocaust and the Ukraine famine and continues to be anti-Semitic. Trump did not collude with the Russian Government. Some past Democrats actually HAVE colluded with foreign governments.

I have to say that I was a lifetime Democrat and voted for Obama in his first term. Sometime during his first term I began to become disillusioned the with Dems and last year for the first time I voted in a Republican primary. I pretty much believe that I will be voting for the Republican party the rest of my life at this point, but I still consider myself an independent.

I agree with all of Levin's main points. It's his execution that is lacking. I would say 90% of this book is actually quotes from other writers. And by QUOTES I mean not just sentences, entire PARAGRAPHS, in some cases, entire PAGES! Has the man never heard of paraphrasing? I mean he might have one or two sentences and then he will go on for 1-2 pages of quotes, barely framing or commenting on the original sources. And it is like that for the ENTIRE book. He should have listed himself as the EDITOR of the book instead of the author! Because in the end this is really a book of quotations with topic chapters lazily organizing the quotes. What's really bad is that at the closing epilogue of the book, Levin actually quotes HIMSELF from the introduction! I mean the guy is so lazy he can't even paraphrase himself. Even a dumb college millennial knows that if you turn in a research report with more quotes than original writing, you're going to make an F!

I don't think he went FAR ENOUGH in calling out the press and the media. Another issue I had is that he never really puts the fault on the American people. I mean, if you are dumb enough to be manipulated by the media, I think you DESERVE it. Who goes to these mainstream media sites and BELEIVES everything they read or see? In the end it is up to each free individual to decide what is true or not. EVERYONE has an angle, not matter who it is. EVERY media site right or left is trying to manipulate you. I guess Levin states that newspapers OPENLY took sides back in the old days and that the two sides were pretty evenly divided. Don't know if that's actually provable.

The media and the press to me aren't the REAL enemy. It's the internet and those that control it through advertising dollars. Mainly Google and Facebook. They're the ones that have reduced journalism to what it now is: Listing a story about Cardi B throwing her wig into a concert crowd ABOVE Iran breaking its uranium enrichment limits. Something he also doesn't bring up is that newspapers used to be locally owned and now they are owned by corporations or politically active billionaires along with tv and radio stations, and movie studios thrown in for good measure.

One section that I enjoyed and was NEW knowledge was the part about "pseudo events" which was an idea originated by Daniel Boorstin. I've read some books by that author but had never heard of his book Pseudo Events. Basically, when the press doesn't have anything to write about, they MAKE up an event, which in turn multiplies into other pseudo events. For instance, a sports writer has nothing to write about, so he makes up a story that Kevin Durant MIGHT pick a new team to sign with today.....a non event since it is not know who he is going to so sign with. So then he might write another story speculating on which team he would be a good fit for, then another story etc.

Levin to me has compiled a book about something anyone with common sense can figure out. I guess a slavering right winger might digest this book ravenously. A left winger isn't going to read it. So maybe this book is written for dumb independents? Like someone that can't find the mental stamina to connect the dots of how corrupt the media and press is? I mean, isn't it APPARENT?

Does stringing pages and pages of long quotes from other people's works somehow count as persuasion? This is perhaps the laziest written book I've ever read.

Grade: F