The Big Picture

The Big Picture: Money and Power in Hollywood by Edward Jay Epstein Random House (10 January 2006) Amazon The Big Picture is a deep dive into just what goes into movie-making, and how studios make their money. If you're interested in Hollywood and the biz, you would be remiss not to read any of his … Continue reading The Big Picture →

The Image

The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America by Daniel J. Boorstin Vintage (1 September 1992) Amazon One of the best books I've read on media, ever. The Image examines how modern life became dominated by manufactured realities. Events, people, and experiences are created to be reported, promoted, and consumed. Author Daniel Boorstin argues that … Continue reading The Image →

Bloggers Boot Camp

Bloggers Boot Camp: Learning How to Build, Write, and Run a Successful Blog by Charlie White and John Biggs Routledge (28 April 2014) Amazon Bloggers Boot Camp is a handbook aimed at anyone who wants to start a blog, or improve an existing one, with the goal of building an engaged audience. It's not so … Continue reading Bloggers Boot Camp →

And Then There’s This

And Then There's This: How Stories Live and Die in Viral Culture by Bill Wasik Penguin (31 August 2010) Amazon If there was ever a book that could be deftly summarised in the subtitle, it would be And Then There's This. It is exactly about "how stories live and die in viral culture." In a … Continue reading And Then There’s This →

Regret the Error

Regret the Error: How Media Mistakes Pollute the Press and Imperil Free Speech by Craig Silverman Union Square Press (3 February 2009) Amazon An influential book, and a good blog too. Regret the Error is about media accountability, journalistic mistakes, and why they matter. Known as an expert in fake news, Craig Silverman started his … Continue reading Regret the Error →

Discovering the News

Discovering the News: A Social History of American Newspapers by Michael Schudson Basic Books (13 February 1981) Amazon One of Michael Schudson's most influential works, and a foundational text in media studies and the history of journalism, Discovering the News traces how American journalism developed. From the early partisan papers to the rise of "objective" … Continue reading Discovering the News →

Technopoly

Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology by Neil Postman Knopf (1 June 1993) Amazon First published in 1992, Technopoly is an essential text on media, describing a society in which technology is deified. That is, "the culture seeks its authorisation in technology, finds its satisfactions in technology, and takes its orders from technology." Prior … Continue reading Technopoly →

Amusing Ourselves to Death

Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neil Postman Penguin (27 December 2005) Amazon Amusing Ourselves to Death is Neil Postman's 1985 text on media ecology, and the ways different mediums of communication shape human thought. Echoing Marshall McLuhan's theory on "the medium is the message," it details Postman's … Continue reading Amusing Ourselves to Death →

The Filter Bubble

The Filter Bubble: What the Internet Is Hiding from You by Eli Pariser Penguin (16 April 2012) Amazon The Filter Bubble explores how personalisation algorithms shape what information we see online. All the major tech companies do this -- Google, Facebook, Amazon. Author Eli Pariser argues that while personalisation can make user experiences more convenient, … Continue reading The Filter Bubble →

The Net Delusion

The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom by Evgeny Morozov Public Affairs (13 January 2011) Amazon The Net Delusion is a critical and provocative book that challenges the widespread optimism about the internet's ability to promote freedom and democracy throughout the world. Written by Belarusian scholar and commentator Evgeny Morozov, the text argues … Continue reading The Net Delusion →