How is it that Americans—consumers of the most media in the world—remain so misinformed about so many fundamental issues? How much does this phenomenon relate to the content offered by the news media? How much of mass media’s content is related to the political structures such as ownership, the law, and the organizations’ own goals? News for All The People: The Epic Story of Race and the American Media examines this issue within two contexts – history and race.

Yesterday I was sitting on my brother-in-law’s deck in sunny Santa Barbara reading Maria Armoudian’s new book, Kill the Messenger: The Media’s Role in the Fate of the World. I was incredibly grateful for the sun because the first three chapters are grim. She covers the media’s role in the Rwandan genocide, the Holocaust and the Bosnian war. Thankfully I could look up and see hummingbirds after every chapter. Then she moved onto where the media worked constructively by aiding the peace process in Northern Ireland, rebuilding democracy in Chile, bridging ethnic divides in South Africa, improving the lives of women in Senegal –by changing the attitude toward female genital cutting (FGC), and boosting transparency and democratization in Mexico and Taiwan.