Mark Crispin Miller is professor of media studies at New York University. He is known for his writing on American media and for his activism on behalf of media reform. His books include Boxed In: The Culture of TV, Seeing Through Movies, Mad Scientists, a study of war propaganda, and Fooled Again: How the Right Stole the 2004 Elections. He was a contributor to the documentary 'Orwell Rolls Over In His Grave.'
He graduated from Northwestern University with a BA in 1971, Johns Hopkins University with an MA in 1973, and a Ph.D. in 1977.
He talks overall about certain stories that are not considered to be appropriate for discussion in the mainstream media. He sees 'conspiracy theory' as a method of shutting down discussion, and traces its use as a rhetorical device to a memo in 1967.
He more specifically discusses the 2000 election of G. W. Bush, and what he considers related stories that are ruled off the table in a presentation to the 911 Architects and Engineers for Truth.
I don't agree with all of his specific issues perhaps, but found his discussion of 'process' in the mainstream media to be interesting. More often than not the 'discussions' of situations which we are given in the media are often highly uninformative, if not misleading either by omission or intent.
And I also feel that the First Amendment is being tested now as it has been in the past. It seems to be curtailed for individuals who are shuffled off to 'free speech zones' while wealthy corporations are being given privileges that the Constitution maintains for individuals and was not intended for powerful legal constructs that provide limited liability and anonymity.
