"THE MORE YOU WATCH, THE LESS YOU KNOW: News Wars/(Sub)Merged Hopes/Media Adventures"

This behind-the-scenes look at America's media monopoly might more aptly be titled ""The More You Write, the Less You Remember Your Point."" Although Schechter offers many interesting insights about the world of journalism and where it is going (downhill, fast), this book suffers from a lack of cohesion. If this were one of the documentaries or news programs Schechter (Emmy Award-winning producer for 20/20 and CNN) directed or produced, you'd have to assume he'd be yelling, ""Cut, cut!"" Hints that this was going to be more than a tad rambling come in the introduction, which is a whopping 54 pages long. There is also more than a little back-patting going on in this memoir/exposâ. Readers are constantly reminded that plenty of other journalists may have sold out, but Schechter did not. That said, he does America a service by warning of the problems inherent in a society in which journalism has become synonymous with entertainment, and media mergers mean news that is one-sided and sanitized. Not one to simply whine, Schechter closes the book with suggestions about what journalists and the American public can do to change the status quo.