Shadows of Liberty (2012)

Shadows of Liberty is a documentary film about the mass media in the United States. Here is some basic information about this film which premiered in 2012:

** Director: Philippe Tremblay
** Writers: Philippe Tremblay and Dan Cantagallo
** Narrator: Kerry Shale
** Available on DVD and via Amazon Prime Video
** Run time: 88 minutes

Many persons are interviewed in the film. I will not mention all names, because the complete list is too long. Here are some of the names (in alphabetical order):

** Julian Assange - Wikileaks
** James Bamford – author, journalist
** Roberta Baskin – chief correspondent, CBS News 1992-1997
** Jeff Cohen – founder of FAIR

** Daniel Ellsberg (1931-2023) – whistleblower, the Pentagon Papers
** Amy Goodman – studio host, Democracy Now
** Brian Healy – producer, CBS News 1972-2010
** Chris Hedges – foreign correspondent, New York Times 1990-2005

** Janine Jackson – program director, FAIR
** Robert Kornbluh – National Security Archives
** John R. MacArthur – publisher of Harper’s Magazine
** Robert McChesney – professor of communication

** John Nichols – reporter, The Nation
** Dan Rather – news anchor, CBS News 1981-2005
** Norman Solomon – founder of the Institute for Public Accuracy
** Phillip Weiss – reporter, New York Observer 1996-2006

Archive footage is used between the interviews. This footage is used to show background information and to present clips from old interviews with public figures.

The title of the film is borrowed from a statement by Thomas Paine (1737-1809): 

 

“When men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon.”

An on-screen message at the end of the film states that it is dedicated to Ben Bagdikian whose book about the mass media inspired this film.

[Ben Bagdikian (1920-2016) was a reporter and an author, whose book The Media Monopoly is quite famous. The first edition was published in 1983. Several editions followed. The seventh edition (published in 2004) has the title The New Media Monopoly.]

During interviews, participants talk about several specific cases, which I will not mention here. They also talk about the historical development of the mass media in the US and the consequences of this development:

In the past – in the 1950s and the 1960s – there were many institutions of different sizes (small, medium, and large). Laws and regulations ensured a certain amount of diversity. One company was not allowed to own all television channels, all radio stations and all newspapers in one town or one state.

In the 1980s and the 1990s, these laws and regulations were gradually relaxed and then abolished. Today, the landscape of the mass media is completely different: a small number of huge corporations own or control almost all television channels, all radio stations, and all newspapers published in the US.

Reporting all the news and telling the truth is not the first priority for them. For them, the first priority is making a profit for their owners. For them, the first priority is not to serve the public. They tend to regard other corporations and the government as natural allies.

This can cause a conflict of interest: sometimes all the news cannot be reported. Sometimes the truth cannot be told. Sometimes a story will be censored and suppressed, because it is inconvenient or embarrassing for the corporation itself, for another corporation who is a sponsor, or for the government.

Several examples of this phenomenon are presented and discussed in the film.

What do reviewers say about it? Here are the results of two review aggregators:

** 79 per cent = IMDb
** 88 per cent = Rotten Tomatoes (the audience)

As you can see, the average ratings are quite high. I understand the numerous positive reviews. I agree with them. I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars.

PS. For more information, see the following documentary films:

** Orwell Rolls in His Grave (2003)

** Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing (2006)

** Unconstitutional: The War on Our Civil Liberties (2004)

** Shouting Fire: Stories from the Edge of Free Speech (2009)

** Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media (1992)

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The American reporter

 

Ben Bagdikian (1920-2016)

 

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