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News for All the People: The Epic Story of Race and the American Media
Here is a new, sweeping narrative history of American news media that puts race at the center of the story. From the earliest colonial newspapers to the Internet age, America s racial divisions have played a central role in the creation of the country s media system, just as the media has contributed to and every so often, combated racial oppression. News for All the People reveals how racial segregation distorted the information Americans received from the mainstream media. It unearths numerous examples of how publishers and broadcasters actually fomented racial violence and discrimination through their coverage. And it chronicles the influence federal media policies exerted in such conflicts. It depicts the struggle of Black, Latino, Asian, and Native American journalists who fought to create a vibrant yet little-known alternative, democratic press, and then, beginning in the 1970s, forced open the doors of the major media companies.The writing is fast-paced, story-driven, and replete with memorable portraits of individual journalists and media executives, both famous and obscure, heroes and villains. It weaves back and forth between the corporate and government leaders who built our segregated media system such as Herbert Hoover, whose Federal Radio Commission eagerly awarded a license to a notorious Ku Klux Klan organization in the nation s capital and those who rebelled against that system, like Pittsburgh Courier publisher Robert L. Vann, who led a remarkable national campaign to get the black-face comedy Amos n Andy off the air.Based on years of original archival research and up-to-the-minute reporting and written by two veteran journalists and leading advocates for a more inclusive and democratic media system, News for All the People should become the standard history of American media.
453 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2011
97 people are currently reading
1380 people want to read
About the author
Juan González
145 books56 followersJuan Gonzalez, a New York Daily News columnist, has lived in the United States for fifty of his fifty-one years. His numerous honors include the 1998 George Polk Award for excellence in journalism and the Hispanic Academy of Media Arts and Sciences Lifetime Achievement Award. Born in Puerto Rico, he grew up in a barrio housing project and was a cofounder of the 1960s Young Lords. He lives in New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
January 16, 2022
This book should have been a hands down 5 star book for me. It touches on many of my areas of interest---News Paper History, Freedom of Speech history, minority history, American history---and it does so in a manner and with stories that for the most part I had not heard about.
The writing isn't bad, it is actually decent.
But I struggled with this book. It was not a book that I picked up and eagerly looked forward to the next chapter.
So what was the problem? I think it was the introduction. While I commend the authors for telling us where they stand, it turned the book away from being a history to a polemetic. Yes, the case the authors want to make is a valid one. The voices and history of minority news sources should be---and must be told.
It is important to know that there were other points of view and news sources out there during America's history. The stories are not just about black news or women's news. The authors cover many other media sources (Hispanic, Asian, non-mainstream white, etc).
Thus, this should be a slam dunk five stars for me. But it wasn't. I labored to finish it.
But it wasn't. T
The writing isn't bad, it is actually decent.
But I struggled with this book. It was not a book that I picked up and eagerly looked forward to the next chapter.
So what was the problem? I think it was the introduction. While I commend the authors for telling us where they stand, it turned the book away from being a history to a polemetic. Yes, the case the authors want to make is a valid one. The voices and history of minority news sources should be---and must be told.
It is important to know that there were other points of view and news sources out there during America's history. The stories are not just about black news or women's news. The authors cover many other media sources (Hispanic, Asian, non-mainstream white, etc).
Thus, this should be a slam dunk five stars for me. But it wasn't. I labored to finish it.
But it wasn't. T
August 16, 2015
News for All the People is exhaustive yet I never felt bogged down. It read like a narrative not a textbook which Gonzalez intended. For some the easy readability and pacing may be rudimentary but given the the breadth of the topic, I'd rather casual reading over something highly academic. I'm in advertising but I have experience in media theory, broadcasting, and radio. As a media and communications professional, some things I already knew and other things I was humbled to learn about. Seeing everything in a broad context put the media ecosystem into perspective for me. Just as they say it's wise to learn from the past less you opt to repeat it in the future, I can see where my generation and future generations have a huge responsibility in truly creating news for all the people. The medium may be different but the fundamentals, the message, the enterprise hasn't changed. This book should be required reading in high schools and on college campuses. The only thing that annoyed me was the parenthetical references.
February 7, 2013
This is a truly exceptional read for news nerds and while no one book can cover the full range of history of people of color and journalism, this one comes very close. Gonzalez and Torres note the way newspapers and government were connected by the US Postal System at the inception of newspapers in the 1800s, and how community activists/watchdogs & people of color ultimately had to create their own channels via radio, public access programming, newspapers and magazines to have fair, accurate and consistent representation.
Even as a seasoned journalist, I had no clue that the Associated Press and Western Union were once a kind of "media cartel" as the authors put it, nor did I understand the resistance of older sources in communities where I once worked to talking to me -- they'd grown up, presumably, witnessing or knowing the stories of how newspapers had incited race riots in Texas, California and other places, unchecked for decades.
It is heartening that the Internet is mentioned as having the same potential for democratizing racial and ethnic diversity in journalism as the advent of radio and television, but only in a limited way. Press experts and veterans alike seem to view online journalism as an extension of its old legacy counterparts. So, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Even as a seasoned journalist, I had no clue that the Associated Press and Western Union were once a kind of "media cartel" as the authors put it, nor did I understand the resistance of older sources in communities where I once worked to talking to me -- they'd grown up, presumably, witnessing or knowing the stories of how newspapers had incited race riots in Texas, California and other places, unchecked for decades.
It is heartening that the Internet is mentioned as having the same potential for democratizing racial and ethnic diversity in journalism as the advent of radio and television, but only in a limited way. Press experts and veterans alike seem to view online journalism as an extension of its old legacy counterparts. So, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
March 26, 2017
Wow, this is actually more like a textbook - there are over 50 pages of footnotes! Should be required reading for any journalism and/or U.S. history class, if there are any such classes anymore. Fascinating, albeit painful at times documentation of the American press since before the American Revolutionary War. I'm only about 1/3 of the way through, will have to renew.
Finally finished this book - library fine will be well worth it,as I could not renew it a 2nd time. For me, very timely also, given the current regime's efforts to stymie freedom of the press, net neutrality, funding for public broadcasting, etc. I will have to buy this one, as there is much to re-read, study, etc.
Finally finished this book - library fine will be well worth it,as I could not renew it a 2nd time. For me, very timely also, given the current regime's efforts to stymie freedom of the press, net neutrality, funding for public broadcasting, etc. I will have to buy this one, as there is much to re-read, study, etc.
January 31, 2021
Not having read anything to do with media. The book was well written except the issue of not mentioning at the beginning of the chapter about James Meredith, that he was not assassinated, as mentioned in the quote, was somewhat perplexing.
August 31, 2012
Very knowledgeable about the subject. The reason I rated this three stars was because I don't really agree that minorities are gaining better representation in the media- I think it's just different representation that historically portrayed. Gonzalez ends the book with a mantra that people of color can all look forward to the beautiful day that information is perfect, useful, and truly for all people, but I'm skeptical of whether or not that is possible, given the history so deeply inspected in this book.
December 18, 2022
In my last semester teaching, I discovered this book. I incorporated it into the capstone class that graduating seniors take. It is the book I was looking for: A telling of journalistic history from the standpoint of the oppressed.
I was appalled by how the media perpetuated oppression of indigenous and people of color. It started from the first virst issue of Publick Occurrences -- several articles about the "depraved" Indians. And it turns out that Publick Occurrences wasn't the first publication in the Americas as I always had been taught. In fact, there was a news account of an earthquake in Guatemala 150 years earlier. The first printing press in the Americas? Mexico City.
The Spanish-language media developed independently of the English media. Spanish media had a long tradition of challenging the status quo -- and therefore a long history of government suppression.
These are only the most outrageous gaps in the history of journalism that I have learned and taught. This should be read by all of us in the industry. It will awaken us to the ongoing contributions of non-mainstream media.
I was appalled by how the media perpetuated oppression of indigenous and people of color. It started from the first virst issue of Publick Occurrences -- several articles about the "depraved" Indians. And it turns out that Publick Occurrences wasn't the first publication in the Americas as I always had been taught. In fact, there was a news account of an earthquake in Guatemala 150 years earlier. The first printing press in the Americas? Mexico City.
The Spanish-language media developed independently of the English media. Spanish media had a long tradition of challenging the status quo -- and therefore a long history of government suppression.
These are only the most outrageous gaps in the history of journalism that I have learned and taught. This should be read by all of us in the industry. It will awaken us to the ongoing contributions of non-mainstream media.
April 29, 2018
News for All the People is the kind of comprehensive book that deserves attention. The story of race when it comes to news coverage and media is one that has often been overlooked despite the significant impact it has had on society throughout the years.
Definitely worth reading if you're looking for something different.
Definitely worth reading if you're looking for something different.
December 1, 2017
The subtitle says it all: EPIC. It's exhaustive history of media in the US humbled me; it astonished me with how many stories I've missed. With Net Neutrality, the Sinclair monopoly, and Trump's repeated bullying of the press, this book's timing is perfect.
October 2, 2023
Fascinating information distilled asking with explanation of its impact. While I found the material dense at times and enjoyed it more as the timeline got closer to the present, I highly recommend it.
October 11, 2020
very dense nonfiction. I didn't read but even a quarter of it, but it changed my view of the early says of newspapers in America. Would love to pick up again.
September 1, 2021
Learned A LOT reading this. A bit too academic for me at times but definitely inspired me to explore American media history more deeply.
April 7, 2016
The "ethnic" press started up in America because white media was inciting so much hatred towards black, Latino, Asian and native peoples that those groups had to struggle to get their voices heard, even amongst their own people. The fomented hatred resulted in ruthless beatings, lynching, killing.
"News" covers from the first simple news sheets through radio, television and cable media, all the while illustrating how difficult it is for minorities to be heard from their own points of view. The problem has consistently been financing. Mainstream media controls everyone's minds because they have the money to do it.
It would be interesting to hear the authors' talk about social media as the book finishes before the boom in social media.
A good look at American history from a different perspective.
The reason for four stars is because the section on Asian-American media is so short compared to information on black, Latino and native media.
"News" covers from the first simple news sheets through radio, television and cable media, all the while illustrating how difficult it is for minorities to be heard from their own points of view. The problem has consistently been financing. Mainstream media controls everyone's minds because they have the money to do it.
It would be interesting to hear the authors' talk about social media as the book finishes before the boom in social media.
A good look at American history from a different perspective.
The reason for four stars is because the section on Asian-American media is so short compared to information on black, Latino and native media.
April 25, 2016
Jumped off the shelf at the Ramsey County Library where I dropped by for their sale. This was put together by Juan Gonzalez of Democracy Now! and Joseph Torres a senior advisor for Free Press. Read 3/4 of it last night, I had been quite distracted by Purple events of late. This is a comprehensive set of tales of the many stories of the terrible job that American media has done in fairness to people that are not of white races. Many of those accounts that I thought that I was familiar with have now broadened the base information that has kept it out of the telling of the full story. It certainly is a great guide in seeing how it has played a great role in dividing the country along many lines in addition to simply race.
February 11, 2013
A very thorough and ambitious (albeit uneven) synthesis drawing together an impressive breadth of secondary literature. It contains many excellent anecdotes and cases, but the feverish pace of the book leaves them floating behind rather unmemorably. Also, the tone can be needlessly hectoring at times, addressing the audience (which presumably is interested in the subject) as a hostile and indifferent body whose resistance to the book's arguments must be broken down.
January 4, 2012
Highly readable book covering a topic often left out of the narrative of 'mainstream' history. I don't recall much mention made in school of the history of the media in the US, aside from a quick mention of the Zenger case and a blurb about yellow journalism in the run-up to the Spanish-American War. I learned quite a few new things.
April 10, 2012
I've read Juan Gonzalez's columns for years and heard him speak about the book the other night. It tells the story of how newspapers started out as a racist tool and how the mass media continues to downplay or ignore the issues and needs of minority communities, the poor and anyone else not part of the cultural establishment.
September 22, 2012
Excellent history of media in the U.S. and it's ability to affect public opinion.
October 27, 2014
This book was very informative and intriguing I will have to read agian for pmeasure so that I not so rushed. Even though I read it for class it was very enjoyable.
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March 21, 2016An incredible book about the troubling history of racism both conscious and unconscious in the American media.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews