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Media Criticism: NPR's Howard Zinn
by Nick Cooper
Friday, Jan. 25, 2008 at 12:11 PM
On Tuesday, on All things Considered, NPR's Andrea Shea reported on Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's project to do a film based on Howard Zinn's Peoples' History of the United States. In covering the production of a film project like this, one could expect from NPR that a big part of the story would be those who criticize or disparage the project, and references to criticism of the book occur constantly through the segment.
audio: MP3 at 2.9 mebibytes
Shea's first mention of the book states that it "drew criticism for being anti-establishment and preachy." She also says the film will have to be edited in a way to avoid being seen as "overly simplistic or biased." Georgetown University History Professor Michael Kazin is included with the report with his criticism of the book as "bad history, an overly selected string of accusations against the powerful." Kazin explains how the book has only preached to the choir, "Zinn certainly has higher aspirations than that, he wants to change the country, if you want to change the country, you have to make a film which is going to speak to people who are not converted already, and I don't think that Zinn's book does that very well."
Neither Zinn, Kazin (who writes for The Nation), nor anyone else on the left knows exactly how to change the country for the better, but the two main schools of thought are those who advocate radical change, and those who seek to nudge things more gently. Both techniques have effects, and it has been many years since either has fundamentally changed the country. NPR itself tries to influence more people through using a less threatening presentation. It seems logical that it should criticize those who do not follow their model. However, Zinn has been a successful radical author, and it is hard to imagine that he would be much more effective as a liberal.
nickcooper.com
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