LA Press Club and KPFK Present a Reading of Armoudian’s Upcoming Book

“Rich in contemporary world history, Kill the Messenger is exactly the book the world needs to read in our perilous times.”
— Robert W. McChesney, coauthor of The Life and Death of American Journalism

LOS ANGELES—The Los Angeles Press Club and Los Angeles’ Pacifica radio station KPFK 90.7 FM present the official launch of public official, political scientist, radio host, and journalist Maria Armoudian’s upcoming book Kill the Messenger: The Media’s Role in the Fate of the World. The event occurs at 7:30pm August 11, 2011 at the Los Angeles Press Club, in the Steve Allen Theater at 4773 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles 90027, and features a discussion by the author followed by a Q&A.
With the book set for release on August 23, by noted independent publisher Prometheus Books, Kill the Messenger is a timely tome, particularly in light of recent revelations about the Rupert Murdoch News Corp empire.
In Kill the Messenger, Armoudian shows concretely what happens when ethical journalism is absent while bad media proliferate. There are material consequences, often matters of life and death. While in Rwanda, the Bosnian War, and the Holocaust, media fomented rage and mass carnage, but in other conflicts, journalists helped facilitate peace and understanding between war-torn communities—just by doing their jobs well. Their work also helped protect human rights and aid democratization in South Africa, Taiwan, Mexico, and Senegal, while media professionals aided both the destruction and rebuilding of democracy in Chile. In its final case study, Kill the Messenger explores the media’s role in the fate of the world, as journalists disentangle the issue of climate change for the public.
“It is time for ethical media professionals worldwide to assert themselves against the degradation of their profession by unethical and corrupt forces, and to retake their professions from the ill-motivated,” Armoudian notes. “The stakes are far too high. I hope that Kill the Messenger shows how vital it is to preserve and promote great journalism and begin to explore how. My book offers some places to start.”
Kill the Messenger’s forward was written by author and political leader, Senator Tom Hayden.
The book emerged from Armoudian’s studies into the causes of genocide, war, peacemaking, democratization, and the protection of human rights and the environment, while she was working on her Ph.D. at the University of Southern California, as well as during her work as a public official and journalist.
Armoudian continues to dig into these and other sociopolitical issues, both through her academic research and her current radio program, the Insighters and the Scholars’ Circle, which airs in 11 cities. The KPFK broadcast airs on Sundays from noon to 1 PM.
For more information visit the book’s Web site. To request a review copy or an interview with the author, Maria Armoudian, please contact Susan von Seggern on susan@susanvonseggern.com or 213-840-0077.