The Assault on Reason
by Al Gore
Penguin Press, HK$208
Ever wondered why 50 per cent of the American population voted for George W. Bush in two successive presidential elections? According to The Assault on Reason, the latest book by Al Gore, it's because the US news media has become so facile that Americans no longer have access to the information they need to make informed political decisions. Worse, citizens have become so tied up with celebrity news and other distractions that they have stopped participating in their own democratic system.
Gore puts a strong argument in The Assault on Reason, which is roughly divided into two halves. The first explores the decline of the US news media, and comes down heavily against television. Most Americans get their news from TV, and it simply isn't doing a good job of getting them relevant information, the former US vice-president argues.
The second part details how the Bush administration has exploited and exacerbated citizens' democratic failings for its own benefit. Both parts are impressive, but the first is more interesting. That's because the political manipulations of the Bush White House have already been covered in books such as State of Denial and American Theocracy.
Gore's thesis runs thus: government 'for the people by the people' demands the participation of its citizens for it to work effectively. To participate, citizens must have access to good quality news information so they can make the right decisions at election times. Most Americans watch four hours of TV a night and get all their news from it. TV networks today are more concerned about scoring good ratings for news than treating it as a public service, as they used to. So most news broadcasts in the US consist of audience-pleasing human-interest stories and celebrity gossip. As a result, people are ignorant and, come election time, have nothing to base decisions on.