Guardians Of Power

Guardians Of Power - described by John Pilger as "the most important book about journalism I can remember" - has not been mentioned, let alone reviewed, once, in any national newspaper since its publication in January (it has been reviewed in the New Statesman and Spectator). This is not through lack of effort on the part of potential reviewers. Mark Curtis, one of Britain's leading historians and political analysts, offered to write a review for the Independent. His offer received this response from the Independent's literary editor, Boyd Tonkin:

"Not this time, thanks." (Forwarded to Media Lens, February 24, 2006)

Another offer of a review was sent to the Independent by Paul Taylor, Senior Lecturer in Communications Theory at the University of Leeds. Taylor received the same message from Tonkin:

"Not this time, thanks." (Forwarded to Media Lens, February 23, 2006)

[...]

The reality is also that all corporate media consistently, over decades, suppress critiques of their own practices, and there is next to nothing the public can do about it. So claims of consumer power - if we don't like something, we can choose something else we do like - are a nonsense. Literary editors pretend not to notice this obvious truth when they choose to ignore the tiny handful of books that dare to criticise their own profession.

Media Alert: Silence, Secrecy and Book Reviews, MediaLens, 6 mars 2006