Between Fact and Fiction

Between Fact and Fiction: The Problem of Journalism by Edward J. Epstein Vintage (12 October 1975) Amazon Edward J. Epstein always did an excellent job at explaining the business structure behind the news, and Between Fact and Fiction definitely lives up to this. The text focuses on the negative relationship between journalism and truth. Between … Continue reading Between Fact and Fiction →

News from Nowhere

News from Nowhere: Television and the News by Edward J. Epstein Fodor's Travel Publications (12 March 1974) Amazon I am a big fan of Edward J. Epstein's work, News from Nowhere being chief among them. No media-literacy reading list could be complete without at least a couple of his books. Those who have read Trust … Continue reading News from Nowhere →

It’s Not News, It’s Fark

It's Not News, It's Fark: Now Mainstream Media Tries to Pass Off Crap as News by Drew Curtis Avery (29 May 2008) Amazon I used to love Fark.com back in the day, and I'm glad it's still around. One of the biggest news aggregators out there, it gave founder Drew Curtis enough material to write … Continue reading It’s Not News, It’s Fark →

Bennett’s New York Herald and the Rise of the Popular Press

Bennett's New York Herald and the Rise of the Popular Press by James L. Crouthamel Syracuse University Press (30 September 2018) Amazon James Gorden Bennett's New York Herald was NY's first cheap, popular, mass-circulation paper, and in this text, James L. Crouthamel examines the ways in which it covered the news. It's not a comprehensive … Continue reading Bennett’s New York Herald and the Rise of the Popular Press →

Manufacturing Consent

Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky Pantheon Books Inc. (1 January 2002) Amazon First published in 1988, Manufacturing Consent is about the propaganda model of communication, a model advanced by economist Edward S. Herman and the "father of modern linguistics" Noam Chomsky. Media organisations function … Continue reading Manufacturing Consent →

Getting It Wrong

Getting It Wrong: Ten of the Greatest Misreported Stories in American Journalism by W. Joseph Campbell University of California Press (15 July 2010) Amazon Getting It Wrong is a deep dive into some of the most exaggerated and outright fake stories in the history of American journalism. In my last piece, I mentioned William Randolph … Continue reading Getting It Wrong →

Yellow Journalism

Yellow Journalism: Puncturing the Myths, Defining the Legacies by W. Joseph Campbell Bloomsbury (1 March 2003) Amazon Yellow Journalism is a concise introduction to what this model of journalism is, and of some of the most common myths and misconceptions surrounding it. The term "yellow journalism" was originally an American colloquialism, used to describe the … Continue reading Yellow Journalism →

Sound and Fury

Sound and Fury: The Making of the Punditocracy by Eric Alterman Cornell University Press (1 January 2000) Amazon In Sound and Fury, Eric Alterman discusses the decline of political discourse in the United States. Everything he says can be applied to Australia, or the U.K., or any place where news has become entertainment. He attributes … Continue reading Sound and Fury →

The Brass Check

The Brass Check: A Study of American Journalism by Upton Sinclair Lulu.com (1 January 2019) Amazon The Brass Check is Upton Sinclair's account of journalism as an industry, published in 1919. The term "brass check" refers to money given secretly to journalists for their service, as a sort of pay-for-play racket of the media ecosystem … Continue reading The Brass Check →

The Uncrowned King

The Uncrowned King: The Sensational Rise of William Randolph Hearst by Kenneth Whyte Counterpoint (8 December 2009) Amazon What's it about?: Kenneth Whyte's biography of William Randolph Hearst, focusing on the years of his takeover of New York magazine. It attempts to challenge the popular image of Hearst as a ruthless mogul and media tycoon, … Continue reading The Uncrowned King →