The Habits of Highly Deceptive Media: Decoding Spin and Lies in Mainstream News

Solomon, Norman

ISBN 10: 1567511546 / ISBN 13: 9781567511543

Published by Common Courage Press, 2002

About this Item

Item in very good condition! Textbooks may not include supplemental items i.e. CDs, access codes etc.

Seller Inventory # 00088011954

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Habits of Highly Deceptive Media: Decoding Spin and Lies in Mainstream News
• Publisher: Common Courage Press
• Publication Date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1567511546
• ISBN 13: 9781567511543
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

Discusses forms of media distortion and deception from the use of subtle shadings of words, the use of favorable modifiers, and the instruments of denigration

From the Author

This book challenges the conventional media wisdom.
It doesn't surprise me that defenders of the media status quo have begun to denounce my new book. "The Habits of Highly Deceptive Media" makes no effort to adhere to the niceties of what usually passes for media criticism. While writing this book, I didn't tip-toe around the revered icons of American journalism and the massive firms that cast such a huge shadow over the media terrain. In short, I didn't pull any punches. So, the book doesn't adhere to the traditional styles of media criticism that remain in fashion -- styles which Jonathan Kozol aptly derides in the book's introduction as "familiarly incestuous arrangements" in which tepid media critics subdue their dissent "just enough to hold onto the favor of the powerful." This book has plenty of humor -- including some very deft cartoons by such wonderful artists as Matt Wuerker and Tom Tomorrow -- but at the same time there's a tight focus on very serious concerns. The concentration of media ownership in fewer and fewer corporate hands has enormous effects on what we see, hear and read -- and what we DON'T see, hear and read -- every day in mass media. The media scenery is so familiar that we tend to accept it as the way things need to be. Yet the media terrain is shaped by big money and maintained by precedents based on undemocratic power that persists every day. Constant commercial intrusions and corporate sensibilities are apt to seem normal and acceptable because they're so routine in a wide array of media outlets. No wonder a lot of news reports are more like product promotion than journalism. It's an uphill battle to challenge the dominant assumptions of mass media. "The Habits of Highly Deceptive Media" pursues the battle because it's worth struggling for independent journalism and genuine free expression in our society. One of the themes of my book is that cyberspace and other advances in media technology do not necessarily bring us more democratic discourse. Media commentators love to speculate about technical progress and fierce battles for market share. But key questions get short shrift. Here are some of the issues that I address in "The Habits of Highly Deceptive Media": * In the future, will media coverage be diverse? * Who will have access to the glut of media programming? * Who will control the huge institutions running the mass-media show? * Who will decide what news is important and what information should be widely disseminated? * In the media nation on the horizon, what's democracy got to do with it? These are some of the key questions I explore in "The Habits of Highly Deceptive Media." Candid answers are disturbing -- but necessary. We can create a better media future -- but only if we're willing to fight for it.