Kill the Messenger: The Media’s Role in the Fate of the World ( purchase here ).
Here are the early reviews:
“Maria Armoudian has written a gripping book that richly and passionately demonstrates the power and importance of media to the human condition. Rich in contemporary world history, Kill the Messenger is exactly the book the world needs to read in our perilous times.”
—Robert W. McChesney, coauthor of The Life and Death of American Journalism
“A beautifully written but deeply disturbing book about the power of the media. Maria Armoudian tells a story that has been long overlooked about how the media played a significant role in the atrocities that occurred in Nazi Germany, Rwanda, and Yugoslavia. She also describes the ways in which the media powerfully effected positive change in many other countries. It is truly a must read that will leave its audience with a far greater sense of the tremendous importance of the media, both positive and negative, in the world today.”
—Erwin Chemerinsky, dean and Distinguished Professor of Law, University of California, Irvine School of Law
“Rich and inspiring accounts of how the media can make a difference—for better and for worse—when democracy and human rights are in the balance.”
—Lance Bennett, professor of political science and communication, University of Washington–Seattle
“Kill the Messenger is remarkable in its breadth and its thoughtful approach to the role of the news media. This book deserves a large popular audience and should find a home in many university courses.”
—Philip Seib, professor of journalism and public diplomacy, University of Southern California
“Kill the Messenger clearly demonstrates how media help to shape beliefs, societies, and policies that impact the fate of the world. It’s a must read for everyone who cares about the welfare of humanity and the planet itself.”
—Ed Begley Jr., actor and environmental steward
“There’s plenty of bad news about how the media have fostered hate, from Nazi Germany to the genocide in Rwanda. But in this illuminating book, there is also lots of good news, cases where the media have advanced the cause of peace and promoted human rights and democracy. Maria Armoudian has written a crucial work for understanding the profound role played in the media in our world today.”
—Jon Wiener, contributing editor of The Nation
“This is an important piece of work, which has been exhaustively researched and written with humility and assurance. Maria Armoudian plunges in beyond the headlines and the mind-numbing television images and the celebrity pundits shouting at one another—what suffices for ‘mainstream journalism’ today. Instead, she takes us on an eye-opening journey into the struggles of people around the world. From Mexico, Nazi Germany, and Northern Ireland to Taiwan and Rwanda, Senegal and Yugoslavia, she provides the painful history, the deep background, and the authentic understanding most of us have been sorely missing for too long. Her book is both a moving documentary exploration of the darker side of our humanity and a hopeful prescription for our future. She has taken the media, the history, and the culture of these countries and woven it all into a cautionary tale that one won’t soon forget.”
—Michael Paradies Shoob, filmmaker of Driven and Bush’s Brain
“Maria Armoudian has written a fascinating book that combines the rigors of academic scholarship with the lucidity of journalistic writing at its finest. In today’s world the media plays an increasingly important role on all sides of a conflict. It can foment fear and resentment against another group or nation that leads to widespread carnage, terrorism, and genocide; it can also mobilize people against entrenched authorities and empower the oppressed. It is therefore of little surprise that the messengers are at once embraced as heroes and targeted for violent retribution. Armoudian’s penetrating insights into the role of the media are sure to enhance our knowledge in the academic community and make compelling reading for a much wider audience. I congratulate Maria Armoudian for her exemplary effort.”
—Dipak K. Gupta, Fred J. Hansen Professor of Peace Studies and Distinguished Professor in Political Science, San Diego State University
“Maria Armoudian wisely and insightfully inspires us to look at the character of the messenger who delivers today’s news. This book should be read by anyone concerned with the fate of the world, which should be everyone.”
–Thomas M. Kostigen, Dow Jones MarketWatch Ethics Monitor columnist and New York Times bestselling author