3 Review(s)

Examining the battle over how cultural meaning is negotiated in American popular culture, this revised edition discusses the O.J. Simpson trial and its immediate aftermath as well as dealing with other racially charged media events. It provides an examination of the way "weaker" voices in our society make themselves heard against the repressive discourse of the Right exemplified by Rush Limbaugh, Pat Buchanan and other mainstream voices. Exploring the media's treatment of the Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas hearings, the Los Angeles uprisings, the "family values" debate between Dan Quayle and "Murphy Brown", as well as the O.J. Simpson trial, the author shows how the minority groups influenced the way the nation made sense of these key events. Here we see how women, African-Americans, Korean-Americans, and Latinos use low-tech media of telephones, home video, fax machines, rebel radio, and private conversations to counter the voices that dominate the mainstream.