We who live at the end of the twentieth century are better
informed--and more quickly informed--than any people in history. So
why do we also seem more confused, divided and foolish than ever
before? Some pundits criticize the news media for political bias.
Other analysts worry that up-to-the-minute news reports on radio
and television oversimplify complex realities. Still more critics
point out that today's reporters can't possibly be experts on the
wide variety of subjects they cover. Historian C. John Sommerville
thinks the problem with news is more basic. Focusing his critique
on the news at its best, he concludes that even at its best it is
beyond repair. Sommerville argues that news began to make us dumber
when we insisted on having it daily. Now millions of column inches
and airtime hours must be filled with information--every day, every
hour, every minute. The news, Sommerville says, becomes the driving
force for much of our public culture. News schedules turn politics
into a perpetual campaign. News packaging influences the timing,
content and perception of government initiatives. News frenzies
make a superstition out of scientific and medical research. News
polls and statistics create opinion as much as they gauge it. Lost
in the tidal wave of information is our ability to discern truly
significant news--and our ability to recognize and participate in
true community. This eye-opening book is for everyone dissatisfied
with the state of the news media, but especially for those who
think the news really informs them about and connects them with the
real world. Read it and you may never again know the tyranny of the
daily newspaper or the nightly news broadcast.
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