The New Blue Media : How Michael Moore, MoveOn.org, Jon Stewart and Company Are Transforming Progressive Politics

A look at the journalists and satirists who’ve helped transform the political landscape in the twenty-first century. The New Blue Media traces the rise during the Bush years of new media stars: the news-saturated satire of The Onion , The Daily Show , and The Colbert Report ; the polemical assaults of Michael Moore and Air America; and the instant-messaging politics of MoveOn, Daily Kos, and the netroots. With the exception of Air America, all of these new media outlets have found commercial success—marking, says Hamm, a new era in liberal politics. Does this new media matter? In 2004, both Michael Moore and MoveOn became major players; more recently, the influence of the netroots has sparked upheaval and debate within the Democratic Party. The New Blue Media examines this phenomenon in depth, and the reshaping of both the style and the substance of progressivism. "With a combination of technological savvy, irreverent humor, and acerbic critique, a handful of media personalities, blogs, outlets, and politically based organizations - from The Dnion to Jon Stewart to the Daily Kos - are transforming American politics and culture, and the stories of where these outlets came from and how they got so powerful are just as entertaining as watching them in action. In this crisp, engaging account, journalist and historian Theodore Hamm chronicles the humble and often surprising origins of the people, the publications, and the netroots pioneers that are now household names. He also brilliantly illuminates how this "New Blue Media" both drew upon the traditional strategies of the left and also developed new ones in order to create a wholly innovative media movement."--Jacket Is a new progressive era in American life in the offing? Only time will tell, but journalist Theodore Hamm's sharp, acerbic book suggests that a new progressive media has already arrived. Satirical, hard-charging, and unapologetically progressive, this new media movement is both reinvigorating old forms like late-night TV and documentaries and inventing new forms like the blogosphere. In a breezy, accessible style, The New Blue Media traces the rise during the Bush years of new media stars: the news-saturated satire of The Onion, The Daily Show, and The Colbert Report ; the polemical assault **A look at the journalists and satirists who’ve helped transform the political landscape in the twenty-first century.**__The New Blue Media____The Onion____The Daily Show____The Colbert Report__ Does this new media matter? In 2004, both Michael Moore and MoveOn became major players; more recently, the influence of the netroots has sparked upheaval and debate within the Democratic Party. examines this phenomenon in depth, and the reshaping of both the style and the substance of progressivism.