Overview

Hilaire Belloc, a great English essayist of the 20th century, takes an uncompromising look at the forces working against the freedom of the press. Targeting financial and political influences, along with the influence of advertising, Belloc exposes the powers and motives responsible for the suppression of news and the manufacturing of opinion. Neither pie-in-the-sky idealism nor an irrational conspiracy theory, The Free Press is a rationally argued essay explaining the origins of those influences and factors that make the press less than what it should be honest: fair, and independent. This is a topical work written almost a century ago. Times have changed, but the situation has gone from bad to worse, and thus this work is even more relevant today. This book will be of interest to anyone, particularly the student of journalism and its history, who is curious about the rise of the major papers and media networks, and about the forces both overt and semi-covert working to shape what is reported and which opinions are sanctioned.

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9780971489417

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Reviews

Belloc details the particular dangers of mingling the work of journalism with paid advertising. -- Stephanie Block, Los Pequenos' Pepper, July 1, 2003. [A]n annotated, illustrated - and altogether sparkling - new edition of Belloc's analysis. -- Dr. James Hanink, New Oxford Review, December 1, 2003.

“A classic work of enduring importance--perhaps even more relevant today than when he published it in 1918.” —Michael S. Rose, author, Goodbye, Good Men

Author Information

Hilaire Belloc began his academic career with a lecture tour of the United States in 1892. He became a member of the Fabian Society in the early 1900s and met George Bernard Shaw and H. G. Wells, who helped him obtain work with newspapers such as the Daily News and The Speaker. Eventually he became literary editor of the Morning Post. He was elected to the House of Commons in 1906. He also wrote several novels, such as Mr. Clutterbuck's Election and A Change in the Cabinet, along with historical works such as The French Revolution and the History of England. Belloc also published a series of historical biographies: Oliver Cromwell, James II, Richelieu, Wolsey, Napoleon, and Charles II.

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