Buy new:
-7% $13.89
FREE delivery May 27 - 29 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Ships from: Amazon.com
Sold by: Amazon.com
$13.89 with 7 percent savings
List Price: $14.95

The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. Except for books, Amazon will display a List Price if the product was purchased by customers on Amazon or offered by other retailers at or above the List Price in at least the past 90 days. List prices may not necessarily reflect the product's prevailing market price.
Learn more
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
FREE delivery May 27 - 29 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Or fastest delivery May 22 - 24
Usually ships within 3 to 5 days
$$13.89 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$13.89
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
Amazon.com
Ships from
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Returns
30-day easy returns
30-day easy returns
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Returns
30-day easy returns
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Payment
Secure transaction
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
$6.88
May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less See less
FREE delivery May 20 - 24. Details
Or fastest delivery May 14 - 16. Details
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
$$13.89 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$13.89
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Ships from and sold by ThriftBooks-Phoenix.
Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

John Nichols
+ Follow
More books from this author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Tragedy and Farce: How the American Media Sell Wars, Spin Elections, And Destroy Democracy Paperback – Illustrated, November 1, 2006

by John Nichols (Author), Robert W. McChesney (Author), Tom Tomorrow (Illustrator)
3.7 3.7 out of 5 stars 13 ratings
See all formats and editions
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$13.89","priceAmount":13.89,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"13","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"89","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"3eiYDLLK2cj9FZZA74V%2Bb7dyifCr3NmryN0lxhuuJPzVQqGgQ35gnssmLAmbqiuFYHoqY8dgYjax7fy70Ne3xr0x%2FNn3bRNN3SWMC%2FMQC%2Bf5Rz8GdvzSuPhDULkAHqD%2BH6eK%2FI0Ol6Q%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$6.88","priceAmount":6.88,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"6","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"88","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"3eiYDLLK2cj9FZZA74V%2Bb7dyifCr3Nmr86EZP%2BhtKpXYZzesdjkMLj7URSsQMlLZx2KxzxY3uQYoCaCt4hoE%2BdNZs%2BAHO9EruRhVQ6AQF8WZySD5aSr56jPE%2Fte7wWevpWzj84TR474mOIwrVkrNCXn2jDSzrwAoMLamOGdz5EVxRMAngxlL%2Bp%2F0PsI8yEaW","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

Thomas Frank called Tragedy and Farce "an appeal to reason in a dark time." Including the sharpest analysis of 2004 election coverage yet and the first detailed look at the burgeoning media reform movement, this book is both an exposé and a call to action. In it John Nichols and Robert McChesney―two of the country's leading media analysts―argue that during the 2004 election and throughout the Iraq war and occupation, Americans have been starved of democracy's oxygen: accurate information. More than anything John Kerry, George Bush, or even Karl Rove did, the media's miscoverage of the campaign and war decided the election. Most disturbingly, the flawed coverage reflects new, structural problems within U.S. journalism.

Tragedy and Farce dissects the media failures of recent years and shows how they expose the decline in resources and standards for political journalism―as well as the methodical campaign by the political right to control the news cycle. In our highly concentrated media system it has become commercially and politically irrational to do the kind of journalism a self-governing society requires.
Read more Read less
Previous page
  1. Print length
    211 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    The New Press
  4. Publication date
    November 1, 2006
  5. Dimensions
    5.6 x 0.57 x 8.14 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1595581294
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1595581297
  8. See all details
Next page
The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"We need McChesney and Nichols desperately. Their book is a lifeboat for surviving the burst dam of bullshit called 'American media.'" ―Greg Palast, author of The Best Democracy Money Can Buy

"If we want a media that matters again, we have to build it from the ground up. Nichols and McChesney point the way. Let's act." ―Jim Hightower

"Good fuel for progressive responses to the Fox cabal." ―Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

John Nichols is The Nation's Washington correspondent, an editor at the Capital Times, and is co-founder of the national media reform organization Free Press. He is the author of The Rise and Rise of Richard B. Cheney and Jews for Buchanan. He lives in Madison, Wisconsin, and Washington, D.C.

Robert W. McChesney is the Gutgsell Endowed Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is the author of some two dozen books on media and political economy, including Digital Disconnect, Communication Revolution, and the award-winning Rich Media, Poor Democracy; a co-author, with John Nichols, of Tragedy and Farce; and a co-editor, with Ben Scott, of Our Unfree Press, and, with Victor Pickard, of Will the Last Reporter Please Turn Out the Lights (all published by The New Press). McChesney and Nichols are also the co-authors of the award-winning Dollarocracy: How the Money and Media Election Complex Is Destroying America. McChesney's work has been translated into thirty-one languages. He lives in Champaign, Illinois, and Madison, Wisconsin.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ The New Press (November 1, 2006)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 211 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1595581294
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1595581297
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.6 x 0.57 x 8.14 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.7 3.7 out of 5 stars 13 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
John Nichols

John Nichols

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

3.7 out of 5 stars
3.7 out of 5
13 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Mary Jean Mayer
5.0 out of 5 stars A good book to read right now before the primaries are over.
Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2016
Verified Purchase
Everybody should read this book….it tells how the MSM manages to clip the wings of any political rebel before every election. It makes the two parties look as though they are playing good cop/bad cop in favor of the status quo. Not exactly a happy thing to know, but it’s way past time that we ought to have started paying attention. the account of the Democratic primary season is really depressing.
Helpful
 Report
Paul Tognetti
4.0 out of 5 stars Scathing indictment of American media coverage of the Iraqui War and the 2004 Presidential election.
Reviewed in the United States on December 12, 2005
The trend is unmistakable. Officials in Washington refer to what is happening to American media as "deregulation". Nothing could be further from the truth. What is really going on in this country is media consolidation. As a result one company, Clear Channel, now owns more than 1200 radio stations across America. A handful of other media conglomerates including Citadel, Entercom and Infinity control most of the rest. The same holds true for television stations and major newspapers. John Nichols and Robert W. McChesney find this to be an alarming situation. In "Tragedy and Farce" Nichols and McChesney present a compelling case for making the ongoing media consolidation the overriding public issue of our day.

For most of the history of the American republic there has existed a vibrant and diversified press. Most major cities had multiple daily newspapers reflecting a wide variety of opinion. Likewise most radio and television stations were locally owned and operated. In this environment the vast majority of these outlets were committed to covering local news and issues. Sadly in just the past quarter century all of this has changed dramatically. And as the authors passionately argue, no matter what your political persuasion, this is at the very least an unfortunate and at worst a potentially dangerous situation. At the beginning of Chapter 1 Nichols and McChesney quote Founding Father and former President James Madison who opined that "A popular Government without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy or perhaps both." It is the contention of the authors that this unprecedented consolidation of American media has resulted in a situation where the American people are not being given adequate information to make intelligent decisions at the polls. Some may argue that this is just sour grapes from Nichols and McChesney who make no attempt to hide their "liberal" point of view. But for my money the authors present an extremely well thought out and coherent case for their position. Their analysis of the pathetic media coverage of the events leading up to the Iraqui War is right on target. They go on to make the case that American media coverage of the 2004 Presidential election was really not much better. Perhaps the most persuasive argument they make involves the so-called "Downing Street memo". This memo, which many considered to be the "smoking gun" against the Bush administration, suggested that President Bush decided to overthrow Saddam Hussein in the summer of 2002 and intentionally manipulated American intelligence to support his case. At the very least, release of this information should have set off a vigorous debate about our involvement in Iraq and about the veracity of our Commander-In-Chief. It should have become a major campaign issue in 2004. But as Nichols and McChesney are quick to point out the American media decided that other events that were going on at the time were much more important. And so it was that the American people were treated to wall-to-wall coverage of the goings on surrounding the likes of Michael Jackson, Martha Stewart and Scott Peterson. The dumbing down of America continues.

Whatever your political persuasion, "Tragedy and Farce" is a book which should be read and carefully considered. Unfortunately due to the ill-advised policies of the last several administrations the genie is already out of the bottle. What we have now is a media that is for the most part in the hip pocket of both political parties and extremely reluctant to make waves. Our Founding Fathers would be appalled!
27 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Charles Bradley
3.0 out of 5 stars Important topic, biased presentation
Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2006
Most of the previous reviews give a fairly accurate description of this book.

There is less hard news and more soft news now. There is increased concentration

of media power, fewer firms with many more outlets. There are far fewer foreign

bureaus and reporters. There are more opinions presented as news. This is bad

and I agree.

The bulk of the book is examples of how the media misbehave, and that is the

weakness. Almost all the examples show a strong liberal bias. Media concentration

has been going on for decades, with much of it during Clinton's terms, but it is

all blamed on Bush(43). Most of the references to Republicans, GOP, conservatives,

media corporations, and other corporations include a negative adjective, often

"lying" or "corrupt". The media should check the claims of the right, for they

always lie. There were no calls to doubt the claims of the left. At least there

was no claim that the left never lies. But it was close. Everything the Swift

Boat Veterans said was wrong. Everything Rather said was true; the only mistake

CBS made was picking the wrong evidence to present. There is no liberal bias

in main stream media. The main stream media has a very strong conservative bias,

except for FOX which is even worse.

Even liberals that want to believe all the accusations, can not use the book as a

reference in their battles with conservatives. There is no index to find the

accusation you want to use. There is a six page bibliography, but no notes in the

text to find the source, nor notes in the bibliography to refer back to where

the information was used.

The last chapter tells how to try to correct this bad situation. It shares the

bias weakness. There are references to organizations that are working to correct

some of the media problems, such as moveon.org and FAIR. Apparently, no conservative

thinks there is any problem with the media.

The star rating is an average. The book is worth five stars for the importance of

the topic, but only one star for the presentation. There are better books about

problems with the media. There are better books about the evils of big business.

There are even better "I hate Republicans" books.
11 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Nicole
4.0 out of 5 stars An eye-opening read!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 24, 2015
Verified Purchase
Really excellent book that bears the dirty secrets of journalism, the absolute manipulation by government and corporations during the Iraq war and how the field got so corrupted.
It also offers a promising way to turn things around and get back to what journalism should be--a service for educating and informing the people.
Report