Mass-media news is serious, objective, and publicly important only to persons who are distant in interest and poor in personal communication channels. … Read the post objectifying news: the origin of newspapers
The New England Primer, the most popular school book in colonial New England, taught children to “abhor the arrant whore of Rome.” … Read the post hate in New England Primer: soil in which free speech grew
The above video documents the production of a ten-second news segment for a U.S. national news network. In this segment, a network correspondent declared that the (then) upcoming Indiana primary is a “must win” for Hillary Clinton. The production involved a satellite truck, a two-person video crew, and the news correspondent. The production location apparently … Continue reading economics of news production
Crime and punishment has featured prominently in the rise of mass media. The first book published in Boston was A Wicked Man’s Portion (1675), a sermon that Increase Mather preached at the execution of two men for murder. About this time in England, the Ordinary (minister) of Newgate Prison began publishing accounts of prisoners who … Continue reading bleeding leads mass media
“I don’t read fiction, Doug. Fiction’s just not true!” “I don’t have time to read the newspaper. I just form my own opinions.” “I’m fed up with all the media concentration. I’ve decided, from now on, I’m just going to listen to NPR.”