The Republican Noise Machine, David Brock
The Republican Noise Machine, David Brock
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The Republican Noise Machine
Right-Wing Media and How It Corrupts Democracy

Author: David Brock

Narrator: Michael Kramer

Unabridged: 15 hr 11 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/11/2004


Synopsis

In The Republican Noise Machine, David Brock skillfully documents perhaps the most important but least understood political development of the last thirty years: how the Republican Right has won political power and hijacked public discourse in the United States.

Brock, a former right-wing insider and the author of the New York Times bestseller Blinded by the Right, uses his keen understanding of the strategies, tactics, financing, and personalities of the American right wing to demonstrate how the once-fringe phenomenon of right-wing media has all but subsumed the regular media conversation, shaped the national consciousness, and turned American politics sharply to the right.

Brock documents how in the last several decades the GOP built a powerful media machine--newspapers and magazines, think tanks, talk radio networks, op-ed columnists, the FOX News Channel, Christian Right broadcasting, book publishers, and high-traffic internet sites--to sell conservatism to the public and discredit its opponents. This unabashedly biased multibillion-dollar communications empire disregards journalistic ethics and universal standards of fairness and accuracy, manufacturing "news" that is often bought and paid for by a tight network of corporate-backed foundations and old family fortunes. By dissecting the appeal, techniques, and reach of the booming right-wing media market, Brock demonstrates that it is largely based on bigotry, ignorance, and emotional manipulation closely tied to America’s longstanding cultural divisions and the buying power of anti-intellectual traditionalists.

From the disputed 2000 presidential election to the war with Iraq to the political battles of 2004, Brock's penetrating analysis of right-wing media theories and methodology reveals that the Republican Right views the media as an extension of a broader struggle for political power. By tracing the political impact of right-wing media, Brock shows how disproportionate conservative influence in the media is integrally linked to the Republican Right’s current domination of all three branches of government, to the propping up of the Bush administration, and to the inability of Democrats to voice their opposition to this political sea change or to compete on an even playing field.

As only an ex-conservative intimately familiar with the imperatives of the American right wing could, David Brock suggests ways in which concerned Americans can begin to redress the conservative ascendancy and cut through the propagandistic fog. Writing with verve and deep insight, he reaches far beyond typical bromides about media bias to produce an invaluable account of the rise of right-wing media and its political consequences. Promising to be the political book of the year, The Republican Noise Machine will transform the raging yet heretofore unsatisfying debate over the politics of the media for years to come.

About The Author

David Brock, the founder and CEO of Media Matters for America, is the author of seven books, including The Republican Noise Machine, Killing the Messenger, and his bestselling memoir Blinded by the Right. He received a BA in History from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1985.Michael Kramer is an actor, director, and narrator. He has recorded more than 100 audiobooks, as well as titles for the Library of Congress Talking Books program. Among the recognition he has garnered for his narration are AudioFile magazine’s Earphones Award and the Torgi Award. Mr. Kramer lives in Washington, DC, where he is active in the area’s theater scene, and has appeared in productions at the Shakespeare Theatre, the Kennedy Center, and Theater J.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Will on February 05, 2025

Donald Trump’s attempt to denigrate and minimize the mainstream media did not come from nowhere. It is only the latest in an ongoing project to destroy reality as we know it. David Brock, in this 2004 book, offered a very detailed analysis of how the republican noise machine works. The primary thesi......more

Goodreads review by Ray on August 30, 2016

A few years ago, I had read Bernard Goldberg's books "Bias", and "Arrogance", both of which were critical of the liberal bias of mainstream media. And Goldberg's books and examples were absolutely convincing. Today, I just completed David Brock's "The Republican Noise Machine: Right-Wing Media and H......more

Goodreads review by Chris on April 25, 2019

It'll be a challenge to bite my tongue here while I'm reading this. I am VERY partisan and very much anti-Republican, especially the "new" conservative, winning is everything philosophy and strategy it espouses. In the old days there wasn't as much difference between the D's and the R's. The Eisenho......more

Goodreads review by Phil on February 13, 2017

This book, published in 2004, could just as well have been published yesterday for its relevance to the current political predicament in the USA. It lays out the goring of Gore in gory detail, along with all the rest of the utterly baseless fabrication and gratuitous slander that has been substitute......more

Goodreads review by Benjamin on August 11, 2022

Definitely an illuminating book - though I use the term "illuminating" in the most depressing of ways. At first, I thought I was going to hate this because of the SHEER ... FUCKING ... HYPOCRISY!! when you consider the liberal media in the age of Trump. If I was to keep my angry right-wing hat on, I......more


Quotes

“This is the most important book of the past ten years and mandatory reading for all who want to understand American politics and history.” —Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., author of Crimes Against Nature: How George W. Bush and His Corporate Pals Are Plundering the Country and Hijacking Our Democracy

“A spirited challenge to the contemporary mediascape.” —Publishers Weekly

“In clear prose, Brock shows convincingly how . . . the accusation of a liberal bias has been based on shabby research and nonexistent evidence.” —Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel