A couple of years ago, the punishing economics of independent publishing proved too much to bear for several prominent and praiseworthy small magazines, including Punk Planet, LiP, Broken Pencil and Clamor. In this small pamphlet, Clamor cofounder and coeditor Jen Angel generously dives into the wreck of that magazine's regrettable demise, describing Clamor's hopes, dreams, challenges, successes, mistakes and immovable obstacles. Angel is candid and self-critical about thorny organizational issues including financial planning; interpersonal dynamics between founders and new volunteers; privilege and representation; and the benefits and difficulties of working on a project with a romantic partner. Becoming the Media is also a great celebration of independent print media, and a reminder that Clamor's voice is strongly missed -jl

Roger Ailes' career as a political operative, communications consultant and conservative media uberboss is the subject of this fascinating book. Kerwin Swint hits the well-known and lesser-known chapters of Ailes' career, including his political work for Nixon, Reagan and Bush I, and his years with CNBC. Especially interesting are the parallels Swint identifies between Joseph Coors' ill-fated attempt to sustain a conservative TV network (with Ailes as a key staffer) and Rupert Murdoch's and Ailes' shared vision for the Fox News Network. Contextualizing sections provide richly detailed consideration of related topics such as the role of media in American politics and the politicization of radio airwaves following the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine. - jl

In this wise and often funny book, Jonathan Zittrain distinguishes between open, ‘generative” electronic tools such as programmable computers and Wikipedia, and ‘tethered appliances’ such as iPhones and Facebook. While the latter offer users convenience, predictability and security, he argues, these benefits come at a cost to creativity, innovation, privacy, and, ultimately, democracy. Zittrain makes the case for a communications environment characterized by collaborative design, open access, neutral networks and distributed responsibility for evolving standards. -jl

From well before American bombs began falling on Baghdad in 2002, Greg Mitchell’s columns in Editor and Publisher typed out a sober counter-rhythm to the establishment media’s militaristic drumbeat. The chronologically-arranged columns gathered into this book form a dismal retrospective. Providing running commentary on the national media's failures to challenge even the most dubious or unsourced Bush administration claims, Mitchell makes it clear that in many cases, critical journalists should have known then what we all know now about WMDs and justification for war; Pat Tillman; and Abu Ghraib. Mitchell also takes note of success stories among the failures, and comments on significant (if often overlooked) media contributions from outside the media mainstream. -jl

Investigative jounalist Murray Waas provides the definitive source about a legal case related to the Bush administration’s attempts to discredit Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who had publicly undermined the official rationale for war in Iraq. Libby was convicted (and his sentence commuted by Bush), but there remain many unanswered questions about the extent of the adminisntration’s willingness to lie to the public, and key media players’ eagerness to repeat administration claims in return for favored access. Waas’ commentary helps makes the long court transcripts accessible and draws out major issues. -jl

The last few years have seen millions voice their opposition to consolidated media power. Media activists have succeeded in slowing and even stopping maneuvers to extend corporate control of a deregulated media system. But the next step—creating new media rules that will actually encourage quality journalism and serve our democracy—will require a long-term commitment to re-articulating the importance of a free press. C. Edwin Baker's latest book provides highly useful blueprints for the struggle ahead. He presents strong arguments for media democratization backed by clear legal reasoning, historical study, and economic analysis. Baker methodically knocks down the most common arguments favoring media deregulation, including the canard that big media only gives consumers what they want, and the attractive but misleading notion that the Internet's vast array of choices makes legacy media consolidation irrelevant. -jl

Veteran media critic Norman Solomon has helped educate a generation of media activists with his creative and politically uncompromising essays on the faces of power elites hidden behind the most ingrained habits of corporate media. He has paid particular attention to the links between American media and militarism. Solomon's latest book, Made Love, Got War is an activist memoir – tracing the author's development of critical political perspectives as a journalist, anti-nuclear activist and media critic from the 1960s through the 1980s. Laden with enlightening anecdotes, including accounts of Solomon's controversial trips to Iraq with Congressmen and Sean Penn. -jl

Paula Kamen's previous book was a journal-like personal account of her own struggles with chronic migraines little understood by a succession of friends and caregivers. Here, Kamen's attempt to contextualize and understand the mental illness and suicide of her friend and fellow author Iris Chang is scarcely less personal. Chang was young, driven and brilliant – an investigative long-form journalist whose book-length studies in Chinese and Chinese-American history (including The Rape of Nanking, were widely celebrated for their depth and empathy with historical underdogs and the victims of forgotten injustice. Kamen examines how Chang's empathy and intense focus on her work were intertwined with issues of depression and bipolar disorder; she also draws upon Chang's life to make broader observations about the invisible forms of trauma often faced by dedicated investigative journalists. -jl