Kellner (Television and the Crisis of Democracy) originally planned a chapter on the 2000 election in another book but expanded it in light of the postelection drama. The result is somewhat formless and unfocused, with an improvisational air as Kellner's shifting lens encompasses everything from direct reportage on the television spectacle to brief reflections on corporate media agendas, intriguing but neglected stories covered only in print or cyberspace, and various theoretical considerations and speculations. Kellner, a professor of the philosophy of education at UCLA, develops a good number of interesting ideas, arguments and stories only enough to whet readers' appetites. These range from the squalid (understudied scandals of the Bush clan dating back to Prescott's involvement financing Hitler) to the crucial (how Gore was tarred as a liar for substantially truthful claims, while Bush's distortions were repeated as gospel) to the abstract (how do conservative denunciations of relativism and postmodern views of "truth" square with the Republicans' relentless attack on the classic search for truth embodied in counting votes?). His sporadic, underdeveloped discussion of Republicans projecting their own sins onto Democrats is particularly frustrating. But Kellner is no great fan of Gore's. He is instead a fan of Deweyist participatory democracy and clearly shares the outrage of disenfranchised minorities, whose cause and complaints, he shows, were neglected by TV. He's hopeful that continuation of the over-the-top antics he chronicles will bring about a reaction, but far sharper critiques of the media have been offered by other observers, such as Mark Crispin Miller. (Nov.)
