Friday, November 30, 2012

What Media Do You Deserve?


By: Laila Wani   


         "We get the media we deserve."At least this is what Brooke Gladstone argues in her book “The Influencing Machine: Brooke Gladstone on the Media”. Media consumers are content with hearing news from journalists whose views mirror their own. A conflict in opinion makes the consumers uncomfortable and angry, but can’t seem to make them think. And with social media, many journalists can voice their opinions, no mater how radical they may be.

            Many people complain about modern media, saying they miss the honest days. But the old days are ones of Yellow Journalism and other giant missteps. This is not to say that the media of today is something to admire. We are now cluttered with professional bloggers, or people who are free to give extremely biased versions of the news, often not worrying about the truth. But modern media also allow those without voices to tell their side of a story. So news now is what it has always been, a mix of the good with the bad.



           Gladstone’s expertise on the subject is rooted in her start as a print journalist. Writing on everything from strip-mining to music reviews, the now managing editor of NPR’s On The Media, has dabbled in a little bit of everything.

           Gladstone gives her view on the state of the media in a fascinating fashion. The graphic novel style of the book, with illustrations from Josh Neufeld, makes some of the history lessons easier to digest. Some sentences may need to be read more than once if your language isn’t as elevated as Gladstone’s, but that shouldn’t make anyone shy away from the book. It is a good read for all, as we are all consumers of media.








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