Breaking the News

Completely infuriating if frustratingly true. I kept having to put this down and my copy is all torn up from where I threw it across the room, shouting and claiming that everybody loves using the media as a punching bag. Important; but hypertension-inducing.

Almost accidentally, I started reading James Fallow's blog at the Atlantic a few months ago and found it to be one of the most refreshingly insightful blogs I've read. It's rare to read someone who, even if he may not always be correct, has obviously given a lot of thought to what he writes.

So I decided to read this book by him. It was written in the 90's and thus is kind of dated, but that doesn't diminish the points it makes. I thought I wouldn't learn many new things about the press that I wouldn't have already known by watching the movie Network, but I was wrong. This book goes in depth and really clearly outlines what is wrong with the media today, where it went wrong, how it could be better, and what's stopping us from making it show more better. At times, the situation seems so absurd that it felt like something Kafka made up, and it is similarly amusing and funny in that way, and would be funnier if it weren't so depressing and so true at the same time. I won't sum up what the book says, as it isn't a long book and you should really read it for yourself. I do think a lot of the issues are still relevant today, and I wonder what Fallows would say about the media now, in the year 2009, with the advent of Fox News, the internet, the blogosphere, and a bunch of other developments.

The only complaint I have is that the book gets a little repetitive at times. If it could have been cut by about 30 to 50 pages by a very good editor, it would be even more powerful. show less

Essentiallly this book was a long essay that did a deep dive into the ethics of journalism and the responsibilities of the work. I can understand it not being for everyone, but since this is part of what I studied at school, I enjoyed it. I appreciated the detail that the author went into with the different points he was trying to make. Despite it being an older publication and focusing mainly on the problems of the Clinton campaign and presidency, it made so many points that were still relevant to this day. I am glad I decided to pick it up in the present political climate. Fallows makes many compelling points about the responsibilities of journalists and how the changing media climate has twisted their ability to do their job which is show more essential to the well-being of democracy, whether local or global. show less

his book is a devastating critique of American media. Fallows describe how and why the media fails to effectively c...onvey useful information to the public it is supposed to serve. Although the book is ten years old, it contains an extensive discussion on the media's role in Clinton's failed health reform effort in the 90s that is extremely relevant right now, including the role of Betsy McCaughey.

recommended by AP government teachers