From Publishers Weekly
In this uneven yet illuminating anthology, editor Borjesson succinctly explains the journalist's predicament: "The buzzsaw is what can rip through you when you try to investigate or expose anything this country's large institutions be they corporate or government want kept under wraps." Indeed, if members of the general public read this book, or even portions of it, they will be appalled. To the uninitiated reader, the accounts of what goes on behind the scenes at major news organizations are shocking. Executives regularly squelch legitimate stories that will lower their ratings, upset their advertisers or miff their investors. Unfortunately, this dirt is unlikely to reach unknowing news audiences, as this volume's likely readership is already familiar with the current state of journalism. Here, Murrow Award-winning reporter Borjesson edits essays by journalists from the Associated Press to CBS News to the New York Times. Each tells of their difficulties with news higher-ups as they tried to publish or air controversial stories relating to everything from toxic dump sites and civilian casualties to police brutality and dangerous hospitals. Some, like BBC reporter Greg Palast's, are merely rants against "corporate" journalism, but others, like New York Observer columnist Philip Weiss's, will serve as meaningful lessons to nascent and veteran writers alike. Most of the sentiments here are especially relevant given the current reports of the war in Afghanistan and questions of their validity, making this timely and essential reading for students and scholars of journalism. (Mar.)Forecast: With Bernard Goldberg's Bias riding high on bestseller lists, Borjesson's offering on news media manipulation is bound to attract serious attention and sales.Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
Adult/High School - For this edition, three of the original essays were removed and four new ones added. Many others have been updated, making the book even more pertinent and timely, notably with Michael Levine's contribution on the nation's drug war and Jane Akre's account of her legal battle with Rupert Murdoch over the broadcast of her story on Monsanto's bovine hormone. Each of the new chapters documents how journalists have experienced increased censorship in the aftermath of September 11th: Dan Rather speaks frankly of the pressure to report "friendly" news or risk being labeled unpatriotic; Charles Reina, formerly of Fox News, reveals the existence of "The Memo," a daily Bush-era e-mail "addressing what stories [would] be covered" and how; and MSNBC reporter Ashleigh Banfield relates how her candid, extemporaneous personal observations on media coverage of the Middle East (given in a lecture at Kansas State University) drew the ire of corporate executives. Most disturbing is Charlotte Dennett's analysis of how the media "missed the context" between the Bush administration's war on terror and "the Great Game for oil." In her new introduction, Borjesson notes that the current state of American journalism makes it even more important that the work of investigative journalists and media critics be unreservedly and widely disseminated. As before, Buzzsawprovides a vital perspective on the First Amendment right to a free press and its endangered status today. - Dori DeSpain, Fairfax County Public Library, VA Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


From Library Journal
Significant stories by investigative reporters do not always reach the air or find their way into print; some of them get caught in "the buzzsaw" that rips through both their reporting and their reputations. Borjesson, an Emmy Award-winning reporter, pulls together 18 essays written by journalists who have either personally experienced this buzzsaw or who have closely observed the media industry. Her own reporting on TWA Flight 800 for CBS made her a target of the FBI, who interfered with her investigative work. She was harassed, her computer and reporter's notebook were stolen, and in the end CBS fired her. The experience changed her perception of the media establishment. Her colleagues here detail accounts of their own buzzsaw encounters covering such stories as Florida's voting in the recent presidential election, Tailwind, a massacre during the Korean War, and CIA involvement with the drug trade. A biographical sketch precedes each piece. This book would have benefited from a more substantial introduction to provide adequate context, but Robert McChesney's closing essay on the history of professional journalism does underscore the fragile state of reporting. Recommended for all academic journalism collections and public libraries where media books circulate well. Judy Solberg, George Washington Univ. Lib., Washington, DCCopyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Award-winning journalists reveal the disturbing fact that the press in the U.S. isn't as free as the public would like to believe. Nearly two dozen reporters, at some risk to their careers, disclose run-ins with corporate or government powers-that-be which have prompted them to reevaluate the significance of journalism in a free and open society. Greg Palast, an American working for the Guardian in Britain, recounts his paper's investigation of voting irregularities in the 2000 U.S. presidential election, long before the lethargic U.S. press took up the story. Borjesson, an independent producer and the editor of this collection, recalls efforts to disclose the cause of the explosion of TWA Flight 800 in New York in 1996. Jake Akre, a television reporter, recounts actions taken by milk producers to thwart a report on the questionable quality of milk from cows fed with growth hormones. These reporters see a troubling trend toward self-censorship as more of their colleagues fear reprisals for the content of their reporting. This is a disturbing but fascinating collection that will appeal to readers interested in the media. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Today Midlothian, July 15, 2004
"...will open the eyes of readers to how restricted American news has become."


Port Folio Weekly, October 5, 2004
"...an important, eye-opening book..."


School Library Journal, January 2005
"...more pertinent and timely...provides a vital perspective on the First Amendment right...and its endagered status today."


South Florida Sun Sentinel, December 26, 2004
"This book should be read by everyone who cares about the truth."


About.com
"This book will likely make you very angry, but perhaps that is the only way things will change."


Daily News
"accounts of how the America's free press isn't all that free...trenchant look at the current state of the media."


Entertainment Today
"...a warning signal about the evisceration of mainstream news media in this country."


New York Review of Books
"All these pieces are interesting, and a couple are fascinating...some of this material is alarming..."


Nexus New Times, September/October 2003
". . . a disturbing read . . . so riveting it's hard to put down."


The American Reporter, October 12, 2003
"Read this book to understand twisted news and the black hole into which the truth flows."

SYNOPSIS

The first edition featured articles by award-winning journalists who described their work and the powerful interests who told them what to say in print and on camera. Their topics included fighting their own employers in court to get the news to the public, dealing with the censorship bundled with the war on terror, and the threat recent suppression and distortion of the news imposes on a free society. This new edition includes a new forward by Gore Vidal and new essays from practitioners such as Dan Rather on self-censorship, Ashleigh Banfield on creating an environment of ignorance, Charles Reina on the daily executive memos that shape the politics of Fox's reportage, and Charlotte Dennett's assessment of the press in Iraq. Written in journalistic style, the essays do not include citations or references but the editor does provide an index. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

In this uneven yet illuminating anthology, editor Borjesson succinctly explains the journalist's predicament: "The buzzsaw is what can rip through you when you try to investigate or expose anything this country's large institutions be they corporate or government want kept under wraps." Indeed, if members of the general public read this book, or even portions of it, they will be appalled. To the uninitiated reader, the accounts of what goes on behind the scenes at major news organizations are shocking. Executives regularly squelch legitimate stories that will lower their ratings, upset their advertisers or miff their investors. Unfortunately, this dirt is unlikely to reach unknowing news audiences, as this volume's likely readership is already familiar with the current state of journalism. Here, Murrow Award-winning reporter Borjesson edits essays by journalists from the Associated Press to CBS News to the New York Times. Each tells of their difficulties with news higher-ups as they tried to publish or air controversial stories relating to everything from toxic dump sites and civilian casualties to police brutality and dangerous hospitals. Some, like BBC reporter Greg Palast's, are merely rants against "corporate" journalism, but others, like New York Observer columnist Philip Weiss's, will serve as meaningful lessons to nascent and veteran writers alike. Most of the sentiments here are especially relevant given the current reports of the war in Afghanistan and questions of their validity, making this timely and essential reading for students and scholars of journalism. (Mar.) Forecast: With Bernard Goldberg's Bias riding high on bestseller lists, Borjesson's offering on news media manipulation is bound to attract serious attention and sales. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

The first edition of this book (LJ 3/1/02) appeared during the early months of the Bush administration's war on terror. Since then, the climate for investigative journalism has only become more repressive. This updated edition, which adds about 80 pages of new material, begins with a BBC interview in which Dan Rather admits that, to avoid appearing unpatriotic, he has refrained from questioning government policy. In the other new chapters, Charles Reina exposes the political pedigree of Fox News Channel, Ashleigh Banfield describes the obstacles to covering the Iraq war, and Charlotte Dennett reveals the "Great Game for Oil" underlying the war on terror. Borjesson, an award-winning investigative reporter, began collecting stories of government and corporate censorship after her own horrific experience while investigating the crash of TWA Flight 800. She hopes that journalists, policymakers, and the public will be sufficiently alarmed by these candid accounts to begin building "the nation's first independent mass media network." Highly recommended for all journalism collections but an optional purchase for public libraries that have the first edition.-Susan M. Colowick, Timberland Regional Lib., Tumwater, WA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Adult/High School-The buzzsaw, explains Borjesson, is what journalists encounter when they attempt to reveal information that the nation's "large institutions-be they corporate or government-" prefer to keep secret. She presents 18 firsthand accounts by authors and print and television producers and reporters who challenged the media structure, often with devastating results to their careers. While Borjesson's and David Hendrix's narratives on the 1996 TWA Flight 800 disaster alone are worth the price of the book, other contributors chronicle their experiences with everything from books suppressed by the publishing industry to drug-war "shills" (those hoping to convince an audience that the "game is honest") to Bobby Garwood, who spent 14 years as a POW in Vietnam. Self-censorship is rife, they say, forcing limits on what constitutes news and whose voice is being heard. This desperate state of modern journalism relates directly to the fact that while good investigative reporting demands time, money, and risk, news executives are more concerned with profitability. Suggested reforms include providing "news that matters" and a return to the First Amendment's promise of a "free press." Many of the essays are blunt; all are provocative, substantiated by examples and evidence. The issues each one raises should spark lively debates in journalism and government classes and stimulate the critical thinking of news consumers. A brief biography and photograph of the contributor prefaces each chapter.-Dori DeSpain, Fairfax County Public Library, VA Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Booknews