John Nichols & Robert McChesney “DOLLAROCRACY: How the MONEY and MEDIA ELECTION COMPLEX is DESTROYING AMERICA

 “… no two people are more
dedicated to the transformative, democratizing

 power of journalism not as it is, but as it
should be.”—Naomi Klein

In their new book, Dollarocracy: How the Money and Media
Election Complex is Destroying America, Nichols and McChesney - two leading
media experts – examine the forces that have sapped elections of their meaning
and stolen America’s democratic potential. The 2012 election was a quantum
leap: it was America’s first $10 billion election campaign. While U.S.
elections have never been perfect, the country is now hurtling toward a point
where the electoral process itself ceases to function as a means for citizens
to effectively control leaders and to guide government policies. 

Nichols
and McChesney make a powerful case for amending the constitution to address the
wildly undue influence corporate money is having on our elections.

They
describe pay-to-play billionaires and the crass politicians who do their
bidding, corporations that have been free to buy elections and activist judges
who merely advance their agenda, and the media conglomerates that blow off
journalism while raking in billions airing intellectually repugnant, morally
reprehensible political advertising. 
This poses a terrifying challenge to the DNA of
American democracy itself.

John
Nichols is the Nation magazine’s Washington, D.C. correspondent. A pioneering
political blogger, he has written the magazine’s “Online Beat” column since
1999. A contributing writer for The
Progressive and In These Times he
is also the associate editor of The
Capital Times, the daily newspaper in Madison, Wisconsin. He is a frequent
commentator on radio and television shows. Gore Vidal said, “Of all the giant slayers now afoot in the
great American desert, John Nichols’ sword is the sharpest.”

Robert McChesney is the Gutgsell Endowed
Professor in the Dept of Communication at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champagne, and the author or editor of 23 books. His work has been translated
into 30 languages. He is the co-founder of Free Press, a national media reform
organization.  Utne Reader listed him as
among their “50 visionaries who are changing the world.”

 $12 advance tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/461977
:: 800-838-3006  or Pegasus Books

 (3 locations), Marcus
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Times  ($15 door)

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