the Rosetta Stone of media bias
You could be right, for all I know - but for my part, I confess that I need a translation.Have you discussed this elsewhere, in a post or blog you could refer me to?
"This thoroughly researched cultural history documents the symbiotic relationships that developed among the media, the advertising industry, the so-called counterculture, and left-wing politics during the 1960s. Frank contends that these relationships, and the attitudes they spawned, still dominate media culture and commercial pop culture to this day.
It is an intricate and fascinating story, but the conclusion is relatively simple: the "left" as we know it today is little more than an advertising gimmick run amok. This, according to Frank, is the real reason for the prevalence of left-wing ideology in popular culture and its associated media and advertising industries.
The scales fell from my eyes when I read Conquest of Cool. I think it is the most important book of the last 10 years."
FR 6-18-04, "Soros and the Coming Election Crisis"
"Soros has almost certainly read The Conquest of Cool Business Culture, Counterculture, and the Rise of Hip Consumerism by Thomas Frank. Excuse my presumption, but everyone here should read it, too. It is the most important book of the last 10 years. It explains how, and more importantly, why, the big media have a vested, corporate, profit-driven interest in supporting totalitarian ideology, and how this interest has corrupted American poltical life and social evolution for over 40 years. I am convinced that this relationship is what Soros has recognized. It is implicit in his every move."
The important thing is the relationship between the 60s counterculture, which Frank maintains is still dominant within the media industry itself, and the origin of that counterculture as a commercial advertising ploy; that is, the media's bread and butter.