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

by C. John Sommerville

Overview

C. John Sommerville argues that even at its best the news is beyond repair, and lost in the tidal wave of information is our ability to discern news of true significance.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780830822034
Publisher:	InterVarsity Press
Publication date:	02/17/1999
Edition description:	Updated Anniversary Edition
Pages:	155
Product dimensions:	(w) x (h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

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.

Table of Contents

Preface
1. Why the News Can't Be Fixed
2. News Product as Creative Expression
3. Being Informed Versus Being Wise
4. How News Schedules Drive Our Government
5. Politics as a Perpetual Campaign
6. Why News Product Looks Nothing Like History
7. How News Turns Science into Superstition
8. Polls, Statistics Fantasy
9. Values, Blame Nagging
10. Deep Theory: News as Culture Substitute
11. Virtual Society or Real Community?

Notes

What People are Saying About This

Richard John Neuhaus

"One of the most winsomely wise pieces we have."

Chuck Colson

"Sommerville's book . . . helps us to put the news in perspective. And if we aren't caught up in all of the media babble, we might discover the beginning of wisdom."

Editorial Reviews

"Sommerville's book . . . helps us to put the news in perspective. And if we aren't caught up in all of the media babble, we might discover the beginning of wisdom."

Chuck Colson

"One of the most winsomely wise pieces we have."

Richard John Neuhaus

It is likely this book will not receive a warm reception, since Sommerville is an outsider critiquing an inherently suspicious industry.
— ForeWord Magazine

Cari Noga