The Domesticated Primate

This book is great - you can read lots of media criticism that can tend towards the dry side, but you won't find that here. It's instructive AND funny. It's odd that he mentions that the Daily Show is the most trusted name in news or the like, as the Daily Show often accomplishes the same thing - instructive and funny.

I highly recommend this book. If you honestly think the media is liberal, or even if you don't, I invite you to read this book. Mr. Cohen has obviously been in the trenches and has stories to tell, and he makes this book a fun and light ride. Along the way, you may learn quite a bit and find some things that may surprise you.

I get spun up about so-called "news", but I find that remembering a few things while I watch the latest tabloid journalism on CNN helps put my anger at least on simmer:

1. It's not there to inform, it's there to make money, and that's job #1. Clearly. If it was, we wouldn't be mired in silly trivia like we are about cuckoo astronauts and blonde bimbos. I like watching bimbos flounce around on the screen as much as the next guy, but I'll never be fooled into thinking that qualifies as news.

2. Having people know what is really going on is the LAST thing that's desired. It's not like a secret cabal is pulling the strings; these are big corporations that own these networks. Having people know that people are dying to support their vampiric practices is not going to benefit them over the long haul.

3. Television news is really show business. It's big hair and makeup and quick witty retorts and no substance. When I see someone propped up as supposedly a far leftie that sides with the obviously far-right or they seem full of doubt about their convictions I know it's a put-on. It's best to think of this as the same as "professional" wrestling - it isn't real, and a real liberal isn't some namby-pamby spineless poofter like the ones they put on these shout shows. If they were, they'd be shutting off their mike.

4. The anchors and newsreaders are essentially actors. I find actually thinking of them as literally actors helps. So when I hear about O'Reilly, Coulter, or Hannity's latest outburst, I just take a breath and remember that they are just actors playing a part.