"Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television," by Jerry Mander.Just got the book, and scanned it. Interesting, tho I confess to less enthusiasm about its environmental extremism than less conservative people (like my daughter) would have. In fact I've submitted it to her attention, as it seems to reinforce my thesis from a quite different perspective.
[laughs] Yes, the author is a lefty. However, to my eyes, he approaches all the technical/social issues of media strictly from a cause & effect perspective. His personal politics emerge in the book mostly in examples of how he himself got started thinking about media & society (well, thinking other than as a professional ad man), and when he cites examples of people/groups attempting to use media for one agenda or another.
I didn't find him to be offensively lefty, and I didn't detect anything overtly political about his presentation of the technologies of meda. But he was definitely to the left as a person.
(For what it's worth, Amazon has a book credited to "Jerry Mander" -- I have no idea if it's the same Jerry Mander -- called The Wizard of "IS": The Short, Ugly Story of the Impeachment of Billy Jeff Clinton and His Trailer Park Presidency This is reviewed as being a _very_ right wing take on Clinton. I wouldn't be surprised if it's the same Mander, however -- although he seemed like a lefty, he seemed like an honest lefty and I don't think an honest lefty could have liked Clinton any more than an honest conservative...)
Mark W.