Title: Guardians of Power
Author: Edwards, David & Cromwell, David
Published by: Pluto Press
Year: 2006
First published: Pluto Press, 2006
Date reviewed: 02.11
ISBN: 978-0-7453-2482-1

David Edwards and David Cromwell are the founders of campaigning journalism team Media Lens. Their mission is to respond to "the unwillingness, or inability, of the mainstream media to tell the truth about the real causes and extent of many of the problems facing us, such as human rights abuses, poverty, pollution and climate change".

They argue that mainstream news media in the West are owned and run by large corporations whose aims are solely to maximise profit for shareholders – indeed, their directors are legally obliged to do so. This means they cannot afford to antagonise their chief sources of income, specifically the large corporations who take advertising space, sponsor ‘advertorial’ articles, and so on. The journalists who work for these organisations inevitably share these corporate values – after all, any successful high-flyer works for the well-being of his/her organisation. They internalise the beliefs and values of their employers: anyone who doesn’t simply won’t succeed in the organisation. The result is that the news reported in the mainstream media is one-sided, with the view presented being the view of the politically and economically powerful: the ‘Establishment’ if you like. Stories that go against these interests (climate change, post-invasion Iraqi deaths, American involvement in Haiti or Nicaragua) just don’t get mentioned.

Edwards and Cromwell make it clear that they don’t believe in a journalists’ conspiracy. The failure to report alternative versions of events comes about, in their view, through the inevitability of the forces affecting the media and those who work in them. The embedded reporter in Afghanistan relies on the military machine to protect him and give him access to senior officers, which in turn gives the reporter status and authority. A reporter filing critical reports will soon find himself isolated and with no stories to tell.

The book is an uncomfortable read. The temptation is to dismiss their case as grossly exaggerated, but they plug away with evidence and analysis of the media coverage of a series of case studies which show how one-sided the mainstream reporting is. They recount the reactions of journalists and broadcasters to their (always polite) challenges: responses range from the lame (“Well, we did mention it once”) through straightforward disagreement to the abusive.

Media Lens would like things to change. They see hope in the rise of new media and social networking which perhaps have a genuine potential to put ‘news’ in the hands of everyone. Indeed since the book was written, and as I write this review, the removal of Egypt’s President Mubarak after popular protests has been dubbed the "Twitter Revolution". Anyone with a twitter or Facebook account can read first-hand reports and see real-time pictures from breaking news stories without the editorial intervention of the mainstream news media. Of course this means one has to work harder to filter out the valuable information from the noise, and these media are themselves open to malicious manipulation. In my more optimistic moments I’m tempted to think Edwards and Cromwell may be right, or at least that here we have the seeds of change. In my more normal state of weary cynicism I remember how many times hoped-for dawns of a new era have faltered and failed.

You can keep up with Media Lens’ work on the Media Lens website where you can also sign up to receive email alerts of their latest articles. And you can follow them on twitter and like them and be their friend on Facebook.