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Media Mythmakers: How Journalists, Activists, and Advertisers Mislead Us - Book Review - Brief Review
Skeptical Inquirer, Jan-Feb, 2004 by Kendrick Frazier
Media Mythmakers: How Journalists, Activists, and Advertisers Mislead Us. Benjamin Radford. Prometheus Books, Amherst, NY, 2003. 324 pp., $25, hardcover. Radford (SKEPTICAL INQUIRER'S managing editor and co-author of Hoaxes, Myths, and Manias) discusses how the media help shape our concerns and priorities--and how easily those concerns and priorities can be manipulated for personal gains and political agendas.
Part 1 discusses advertising and the illusion of meaning. In Part 2 Radford examines the biases and manipulations of the news media. He points out that the news media usually try to make sure their reporting is not obviously politically biased, but other, less obvious biases that plague the business, ranging from choices on who to interview and what to report, often result in emphasizing bad news and minor fears and risks. Part 3 discusses how politicians and the media exploit emotions and tragedies. Part 4 discusses the damage caused by the media's myths (medical scares surrounding breast implants, birth control, and autism, for example, or false accusations of satanic ritual child abuse). In the last section he suggests some positive recent trends toward more responsible journalism, how the news media can do better, and how to overcome emotional manipulation.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group
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