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How the News Makes Us Dumb The Death of Wisdom in an Information Society

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ISBN-10: 0830822038

ISBN-13: 9780830822034

Edition: 1999

Authors: C. John Sommerville

List price: $24.00
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We who live at the end of the twentieth century are better informed--and more quickly informed--than any people in history. So why do we also seem more confused, divided and foolish than ever before?Some pundits criticize the news media for political bias. Other analysts worry that up-to-the-minute news reports on radio and television oversimplify complex realities. Still more critics point out that today's reporters can't possibly be experts on the wide variety of subjects they cover. Historian C. John Sommerville thinks the problem with news is more basic. Focusing his critique on the news at its best, he concludes that even at its best it is beyond repair.Sommerville argues that news…    
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Book details

List price: $24.00
Copyright year: 1999
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Publication date: 2/17/1999
Binding: Paperback
Pages: 155
Size: 5.50" wide x 8.25" long x 0.50" tall
Weight: 0.396
Language: English

Sommerville is professor of English history, Emeritus, at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. His other books include The News Revolution in England and The Secularization of Early Modern England.

Preface
Why the News Can't Be Fixed
News Product as Creative Expression
Being Informed Versus Being Wise
How News Schedules Drive Our Government
Politics as a Perpetual Campaign
Why News Product Looks Nothing Like History
How News Turns Science into Superstition
Polls, Statistics & Fantasy
Values, Blame & Nagging
Deep Theory: News as Culture Substitute
Virtual Society or Real Community?
Notes