The U.S. Media and Yugoslavia, 1991-1995

(Hardback)

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This book is a unique contribution to both media studies and contemporary politics. It analyzes the American media's structure and its role in shaping perceptions of the crisis in the former Yugoslavia, and looks at the key issues involved, from self-determination to genocide. Sadkovich sees the failure of the U.S. media and the West as having prolonged and even aggravated the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. This work will prove useful to both the general reader and students of media and current affairs.

Reviews

"Sadkovich has written an important book which makes a major contribution toward correcting some of the disinformation and confusion in much of the American media and among many American scholars where the recent Yugoslav War is concerned....This book should be read not only by scholars, but also by journalists and politicians."-Sabrina P. Ramet Professor of International Studies University of Washington
"Sadkovich's book makes him one of that small group of committed commentators who believe that what happened in the Balkans [in the 1990s] actually matters. He provides a committed, almost forensic, investigation into how the West so easily managed to come to terms with the reappearance of genocide in Europe. This book punctures many of the conceits which allowed the West to believe that it was doing all it could do to stop the killing. Sadkovich shows that actually the West did as little as possible...[and] how the West could get away with doing as little as possible. This is an important book. It should be read by everyone who cares about what happened in the Balkans. But, much more importantly, it ought to be read by all of those media workers, intellectuals, and bureaucrats who allowed genocide to occur without a whimper of protest."-Keith Tester Professor of Social Theory University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom
"Sadkovich has compiled a truly masterly assessment of the US media's biased and generally inept, if perhaps well-intentioned, efforts to make sense of [the unraveling of Yugoslavia]. What emerges is a searing indictment of the manner in which American media -- press, radio, and television -- go about reporting information, layered with bias, stereotypes, agenda-setting, and judgmental ethnic evaluations of morality. A useful bibliography and chapter notes provide a valuable mine of information. Recommended for undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty."-Choice
James Sadkovich has produced a book that makes an important contribution to the field of Balkan studies.-Journal of Croatian Studies
Sadkovich has compiled a truly masterly assessment of the US media's biased and generally inept, if perhaps well-intentioned, efforts to make sense of [the unraveling of Yugoslavia]. What emerges is a searing indictment of the manner in which American media -- press, radio, and television -- go about reporting information, layered with bias, stereotypes, agenda-setting, and judgmental ethnic evaluations of morality. A useful bibliography and chapter notes provide a valuable mine of information. Recommended for undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty.-Choice
This is an important book. It should be read by everyone who cares about what happened in the Balkans. But, much more importantly, it ought to be read by all those media workers, intellectuals, and bureaucrats who allowed genocide to occur without a whimper of protest.-Bulletin of the Association for Croatian Studies
"James Sadkovich has produced a book that makes an important contribution to the field of Balkan studies."-Journal of Croatian Studies
"This is an important book. It should be read by everyone who cares about what happened in the Balkans. But, much more importantly, it ought to be read by all those media workers, intellectuals, and bureaucrats who allowed genocide to occur without a whimper of protest."-Bulletin of the Association for Croatian Studies

Author Bio

JAMES J. SADKOVICH is an independent scholar. He is the author of The Italian Navy during World War II (Greenwood, 1994).