Media Madness: The Corruption of Our Political Culture
James Bowman provides a scintillating and fast-paced anatomy of the mainstream media self-generated demise. The Mind of the Media looks behind the headlines to examine mainstream media's governing myths. Writing with acerbic wit, Bowman shows how the mainstream media's embrace of a spurious notion of objectivity, combined with its addiction to scandal, and an unshakable conviction of its own moral superiority have done irreparable damage to the media's public authority.
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James Bowman provides a scintillating and fast-paced anatomy of the mainstream media self-generated demise. The Mind of the Media looks behind the headlines to examine mainstream media's governing myths. Writing with acerbic wit, Bowman shows how the mainstream media's embrace of a spurious notion of objectivity, combined with its addiction to scandal, and an unshakable conviction of its own moral superiority have done irreparable damage to the media's public authority. Publishers Weekly Bowman (Honor: A History), media critic for the New Criterion, pursues the press with the passion of the Furies in this slim monograph on the media's failures. Carefully dissecting claims of objectivity, Bowman skewers the media for its liberal bias, the "foundation on which the mass media's house has been built." According to Bowman, the media are united in believing that those who disagree with them are "mendacious and corrupt" and use their perch to assault proclaimed enemies. The media's belief in "hidden realities" causes them to question any story offered in good faith and to seek secret motives for each and every action. The consequence is that "all politics [are reduced] to rival scandal-narratives." This corrupting influence spreads outward because "political culture must naturally adjust itself to media culture in an age of scandal." At times Bowman takes hyperbolic jokes and asides too seriously, but he generally makes for an effective, angry ombudsman. The harm done by the mass media is irreparable, Bowman believes, but blogs may offer a healthy-if imperfect-alternative. (Feb.)Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information
Introduction: Ideology, Honor, and the Media 1The Illusions of "Objectivity" and "Professionalism" 9Taking Us Behind the Scenes: Feelings, Failings, and Foibles 27The Language of Hyperbole and the Manufacture of Reality 45Intelligence and Status: The Great Scandal Hunt 64The Therapeutic Model: Root Causes, Vicious Circles, and Moral Equivalence 83Conclusion: Helping Celebrities to Bring Utopia 101Notes 119Index 129
\ Publishers WeeklyBowman (Honor: A History), media critic for the New Criterion, pursues the press with the passion of the Furies in this slim monograph on the media's failures. Carefully dissecting claims of objectivity, Bowman skewers the media for its liberal bias, the "foundation on which the mass media's house has been built." According to Bowman, the media are united in believing that those who disagree with them are "mendacious and corrupt" and use their perch to assault proclaimed enemies. The media's belief in "hidden realities" causes them to question any story offered in good faith and to seek secret motives for each and every action. The consequence is that "all politics [are reduced] to rival scandal-narratives." This corrupting influence spreads outward because "political culture must naturally adjust itself to media culture in an age of scandal." At times Bowman takes hyperbolic jokes and asides too seriously, but he generally makes for an effective, angry ombudsman. The harm done by the mass media is irreparable, Bowman believes, but blogs may offer a healthy-if imperfect-alternative. (Feb.)\ Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information\ \
