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 →

Public Opinion

Public Opinion by Walter Lippmann Wilder Publications (4 September 2022) Amazon First published in 1922, Public Opinion is a foundational work in media studies, politics, and sociology. Walter Lippmann examines how public opinion is formed and manipulated in democratic societies, with a particular focus on mass media and modern institutions. It has been praised as … Continue reading Public Opinion →

You Are Not a Gadget

You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto by Jaron Lanier Vintage (8 February 2011) Amazon First published in 2010, You Are Not a Gadget is not only one of the best books on media in existence, but also one of my favourite books in general. Like, if I ever had a top one-hundred, this would … Continue reading You Are Not a Gadget →

The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging

The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging by the Huffington Post Simon & Schuster (2 December 2008) Amazon Published in 2008 and edited by co-founder Arianna Huffington, The Huffington Post Guide to Blogging was published before Twitter and Instagram took off, and blogging was still the main social publishing tool. If you remember the 2000s, … Continue reading The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging →