Americans are bombarded daily with mixed messages, half-truths, misleading statements, and out-and-out fabrications masquerading as facts. The news media-once the vaunted watchdogs of our republic-are often too timid or distracted to identify these deceptions.
"unSpun" is the secret decoder ring for the twenty-first-century world of disinformation. Written by Brooks Jackson and Kathleen Hall Jamieson, the founders of the acclaimed website FactCheck.org, unSpun reveals the secrets of separating facts from disinformation, such as:
- the warning signs of spin, hype, and bogus news
- common tricks used to deceive us
- how to find trustworthy and objective sources of information
Telling fact from fiction shouldn't be a difficult task. With this book and a healthy dose of skepticism, anyone can cut through the haze of biased media reportage to be a savvier consumer and a better-informed citizen.
"Read this book and you will not go unarmed into the political wars ahead of us. Jackson and Jamieson equip us to be our own truth squad, and that just might be the salvation of democracy."
-Bill Moyers
"THE DEFINITIVE B.S. DETECTOR-AN ABSOLUTELY INVALUABLE GUIDEBOOK."
-Mark Shields, syndicated columnist and political analyst, NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
""unSpun" is an essential guide to cutting through the political fog. Just in time for the 2008 campaign, Brooks Jackson and Kathleen Hall Jamieson have written a citizen's guide to avoiding the malarkey of partisan politics."
-Mara Liasson, NPR national political correspondent
"The Internet may be a wildly effective means of communication and an invaluable source of knowledge, but it has also become a new virtual haven for scammers-financial, political, even personal. Better than anything written before, unSpun shows us how to recognize these scams and protect ourselves from them."
-Craig Newmark, founder and customer service representative, Craigslist.org

"Amy awoke to a sharp pain in her cheek. As she groggily reached up to rub her face, rough hands grabbed her by the wrists and yanked her arms together. Amy's eyes flew open. In the inky blackness of her bedroom she could only see the outline of her assailant, leaning over her as he tied her wrists together..." They've come to mark her, claiming she is one of their own, destined for a great purpose. They need Amy to accept her calling and rescue her people. But Amy Masters does not believe the strangers. The only fighting she will do is for herself, to maintain the normal life she knows and loves. Daryn is the reluctant Warrior who must deliver this news. He, too, challenges his fate, striving to overcome the darkness in his past. Marked by Glory is a thrilling inspirational novel about the supernatural forces that influence our lives... and our hearts.