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Media Mythmakers: How Journalists, Activists, and Advertisers Mislead Us
As the lines between advertising, news, and entertainment blur, the ideal of an informed citizenry becomes harder and harder to achieve. We, the American public, aren't sure anymore what to believe, or where to put our money and trust. We know we're being manipulated, misled, and outright lied to by those who seek our support. Whether it comes from advertisers, activists, or the government, the manipulation is constant and pervasive.
Those who are supposed to help us understand the world and the problems we face frequently fail us. Journalists and the news media offer entertainment and sensationalism instead of significant information. Politicians and lawmakers who guide our country are little better; instead of real solutions, we are offered merely illusions of change.
This hard-hitting critique of our media culture examines not only the ways in which we are deceived, but the media's role in propagating those deceptions. But Media Mythmakers goes beyond criticism to give concrete examples of the damage that manipulation of the news causes. From missing children to the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, from the efforts to end slavery to AIDS education, myths and deception in the media threaten us all. While the public is being misled, real problems go unaddressed and resources are wasted on misguided ideas.
In an increasingly complex world, where accurate and unbiased information is more important than ever, this book provides a timely and much-needed analysis.
Those who are supposed to help us understand the world and the problems we face frequently fail us. Journalists and the news media offer entertainment and sensationalism instead of significant information. Politicians and lawmakers who guide our country are little better; instead of real solutions, we are offered merely illusions of change.
This hard-hitting critique of our media culture examines not only the ways in which we are deceived, but the media's role in propagating those deceptions. But Media Mythmakers goes beyond criticism to give concrete examples of the damage that manipulation of the news causes. From missing children to the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, from the efforts to end slavery to AIDS education, myths and deception in the media threaten us all. While the public is being misled, real problems go unaddressed and resources are wasted on misguided ideas.
In an increasingly complex world, where accurate and unbiased information is more important than ever, this book provides a timely and much-needed analysis.
- GenresNonfiction
332 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 2003
1 person is currently reading
100 people want to read
About the author
Benjamin Radford
20 books48 followersBenjamin Radford is deputy editor of Skeptical Inquirer science magazine and a Research Fellow with the non-profit educational organization the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He has written thousands of articles on a wide variety of topics, including urban legends, the paranormal, critical thinking, and media literacy. He is author of nine books: Hoaxes, Myths, and Manias: Why We Need Critical Thinking (with sociologist Robert E. Bartholomew); Media Mythmakers: How Journalists, Activists, and Advertisers Mislead Us, examining the ways in which deception is used in various media to influence decision making and public policy; Lake Monster Mysteries: Investigating the World’s Most Elusive Creatures (with Joe Nickell), a scientific examination of lake monsters around the world; Scientific Paranormal Investigation: How to Solve Unexplained Mysteries; and Chupacabra: The Vampire Beast in Fact, Fiction, and Folklore; The Martians Have Landed! A History of Media-Driven Panics and Hoaxes (with Bob Bartholomew); Mysterious New Mexico: Miracles, Magic, and Monsters in the Land of Enchantment (Winner of the 2015 Southwest Book Award); and Bad Clowns, as well as a novel titled The Merchant of Dust. His newest book is "Investigating Ghosts: The Scientific Search for Spirits." It is the first book to examine the history, culture, methods, and folklore of ghost investigation, from Victorian-era Spiritualists to modern-day TV ghost hunters.
Radford has an undergraduate degree in psychology and a graduate degree in education. He is a regular columnist for LiveScience.com, Discovery News, Skeptical Inquirer magazine, and the Skeptical Briefs newsletter. Radford regularly speaks at universities, colleges, and conferences across the country and has appeared on the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, the National Geographic Channel, the Learning Channel, CBC, BBC, CNN, and other networks with three letters. He also served as a consultant for the MTV series The Big Urban Myth Show and an episode of the CBS crime drama CSI.
Radford has an undergraduate degree in psychology and a graduate degree in education. He is a regular columnist for LiveScience.com, Discovery News, Skeptical Inquirer magazine, and the Skeptical Briefs newsletter. Radford regularly speaks at universities, colleges, and conferences across the country and has appeared on the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, the National Geographic Channel, the Learning Channel, CBC, BBC, CNN, and other networks with three letters. He also served as a consultant for the MTV series The Big Urban Myth Show and an episode of the CBS crime drama CSI.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 15, 2024
I like Radford's writing when I read it today in Skeptical Inquirer, but when he wrote this 20+ years ago, he comes across as somewhat strident. Also, when this book was written, AOL was the largest internet provider in the US and Lycos (remember Lycos?) was a popular search engine. I'd love to see a v.2 of this book written with today's technology in mind.
April 25, 2012
I purchased this book after reading a fascinating article in Skeptical Inquirer by the author, Ben Radford. So I was looking forward to reading it and expected to find the work as enlightening and insightful as his work in SI.
To be sure, there was some good information in the book and it does shed light on a demonstrably destructive trend in human credulity (or at least American credulity) when it comes to media hype. But, as early as the first chapter, I found myself tripping over spots where Mr. Radford indulged in the same sort of hyperbole and nitpicking he is reporting on in Media Mythmakers.
For example, he takes the Campbell soup company to task for putting the label 100% vegetable juice on V8 when, as he puts it, "the company has ingeniously managed to define such diverse ingredients as salt citric acid, vitamin C and flavoring as 'juice'." I don't know anyone who doesn't get that the claim is NOT that the product contains only JUICE, but that the juice it DOES contain is from vegetables (and fruits, if you count the tomatoes - is that false advertising?). This seemed like a petty distinction to me and I feel such disingenuous niggles undermine the salient points Mr. Radford makes about far more important issues.
I also found myself questioning his use of authorities. In trying to make a point (and a very good one) about the execution of murderers not bringing "closure" and the persistent human quest for that elusive substance, he quotes, not a psychologist or a therapist, but a clergyman - Cardinal John J. O'Connor. While I and many other of his readers may feel the Cardinal is qualified to speak on such an issue, I know from Mr. Radford's body of work that he does not. So I was perplexed by the fact that while he would not consider the Cardinal an authority in any other area (most especially his area of study and livelihood - theology), he finds him credible in the area of victim psychology.
Radford also put a great deal of effort into making the point that teenagers feel getting bossed around at school and homework were their biggest problems while their parents feared bullying, peer pressure, violence, etc. He seemed to be saying that the adults have it wrong - that these things are not really problems simply because teenagers don't think they are (at least in comparison to homework). Again, I found myself asking why he would trust the danger assessment skills of a group known for risk-taking. I agree with his point that parents have become unduly paranoid when it comes to our children's safety, but the point is undermined by appealing to the wisdom of teenagers.
Radford indulges in another thought habit that I find unhelpful: he encourages binary either/or thinking. For example, he argues against sending food to famine stricken areas on the basis that the problem isn't lack of food but lack of water to grow food. His answer is that we should be digging wells instead of sending planes full of food to famine areas. Here, he creates a binary choice where none exists. Clearly, if we don't send food until the source of the problem is determined and a remedy put in place (and people ARE digging wells and bringing water to famine areas), there will be no one left to make use of the water.
He also devotes a considerable page count to picking apart the media's use of the word "senseless" when describing acts of violence, accidental deaths and other shocking occurrences. The argument is not only weak and questionable rationally (depending as it does on one's definition and connotation of "senseless") but, again, it detracts from the very real problems Radford seeks to reveal. It bothers him greatly that when such acts as Columbine occur people ask "Why?" But he doesn't seem to understand that the question isn't the facile "Why did they do it?" but "Why did these kids find shooting a gun to take human life as easy as shooting a spit wad to annoy a classmate?" In other words, not the shallow "Why?" but a deeper "Why" about the lack of value accorded another's life and pain.
In the end, I was torn. Radford's book is, to me, a puzzling mixture of insightful expose of unhealthy trends in American media and curmudgeonly whingeing about things the author finds annoying. And it didn't need to be the latter. Shorn of the "get off my lawn" moments, it would have been a slimmer volume but, I think, far more effective.
To be sure, there was some good information in the book and it does shed light on a demonstrably destructive trend in human credulity (or at least American credulity) when it comes to media hype. But, as early as the first chapter, I found myself tripping over spots where Mr. Radford indulged in the same sort of hyperbole and nitpicking he is reporting on in Media Mythmakers.
For example, he takes the Campbell soup company to task for putting the label 100% vegetable juice on V8 when, as he puts it, "the company has ingeniously managed to define such diverse ingredients as salt citric acid, vitamin C and flavoring as 'juice'." I don't know anyone who doesn't get that the claim is NOT that the product contains only JUICE, but that the juice it DOES contain is from vegetables (and fruits, if you count the tomatoes - is that false advertising?). This seemed like a petty distinction to me and I feel such disingenuous niggles undermine the salient points Mr. Radford makes about far more important issues.
I also found myself questioning his use of authorities. In trying to make a point (and a very good one) about the execution of murderers not bringing "closure" and the persistent human quest for that elusive substance, he quotes, not a psychologist or a therapist, but a clergyman - Cardinal John J. O'Connor. While I and many other of his readers may feel the Cardinal is qualified to speak on such an issue, I know from Mr. Radford's body of work that he does not. So I was perplexed by the fact that while he would not consider the Cardinal an authority in any other area (most especially his area of study and livelihood - theology), he finds him credible in the area of victim psychology.
Radford also put a great deal of effort into making the point that teenagers feel getting bossed around at school and homework were their biggest problems while their parents feared bullying, peer pressure, violence, etc. He seemed to be saying that the adults have it wrong - that these things are not really problems simply because teenagers don't think they are (at least in comparison to homework). Again, I found myself asking why he would trust the danger assessment skills of a group known for risk-taking. I agree with his point that parents have become unduly paranoid when it comes to our children's safety, but the point is undermined by appealing to the wisdom of teenagers.
Radford indulges in another thought habit that I find unhelpful: he encourages binary either/or thinking. For example, he argues against sending food to famine stricken areas on the basis that the problem isn't lack of food but lack of water to grow food. His answer is that we should be digging wells instead of sending planes full of food to famine areas. Here, he creates a binary choice where none exists. Clearly, if we don't send food until the source of the problem is determined and a remedy put in place (and people ARE digging wells and bringing water to famine areas), there will be no one left to make use of the water.
He also devotes a considerable page count to picking apart the media's use of the word "senseless" when describing acts of violence, accidental deaths and other shocking occurrences. The argument is not only weak and questionable rationally (depending as it does on one's definition and connotation of "senseless") but, again, it detracts from the very real problems Radford seeks to reveal. It bothers him greatly that when such acts as Columbine occur people ask "Why?" But he doesn't seem to understand that the question isn't the facile "Why did they do it?" but "Why did these kids find shooting a gun to take human life as easy as shooting a spit wad to annoy a classmate?" In other words, not the shallow "Why?" but a deeper "Why" about the lack of value accorded another's life and pain.
In the end, I was torn. Radford's book is, to me, a puzzling mixture of insightful expose of unhealthy trends in American media and curmudgeonly whingeing about things the author finds annoying. And it didn't need to be the latter. Shorn of the "get off my lawn" moments, it would have been a slimmer volume but, I think, far more effective.
August 31, 2020
Oh my gosh; what an important all-encompassing view of the media and politics and how both do their best to influence our every decision! The book is, I don't know, 15 years old? and many of the examples and specifics are outdated, but overall, it's still totally relevant! It has prompted me to pay more attention to the sources and overall messages of common beliefs and to try to consider real and long-term effects of "remedies". Crime is still decreasing, and I need to look into the current statistics on school shootings and rape culture and drunk driving etc. It's all very well and fine to say "that's all horrible", but what exactly is it that's horrible? It would seem that the media's and politicians' goal is to simplify everything as much as possible and inform us as little as possible! There is generally more to the issue (whatever the issue is) than is being told!
August 28, 2019
I found this book to be too condescending, pointing out too many obvious situations. It just didn't set well with me. I find the subject interesting, but felt like it didn't dig into the actual issue of why this happens.
January 4, 2013
Damn good book. The first chapter almost made me put the book down. It's criticisms of advertising seem overblown & sound like needless bitching as I am not convinced that people take advertising literally or very seriously. Once you get past that the book gets much better. There is a wealth of information in this book about how information is manipulated for the sake of giving people a juicy story, how people be them activists groups, politicians, people involved in the media or just what otherwise would be ordinary every day people will appeal in various ways to people's emotions, fears, prejudices etc., just for a cause, a story or attention. It also speaks to the power of misinformation & provides many examples of why critical thinking is necessary for all situations. What often appears to be easy solutions to problems often aren't & can cause more harm than good if they create any good at all. While this book is specifically about the media, they are not the only ones to blame. Yes, it is impossible for people to be everywhere & know every thing, my gripe is the gross lack of personal responsibility to grasp what you can & try to find others who understand the things that you don't. It's too easy to simply point the finger at the media but the general public has had a significant part in creating the environment that prices juicy "stories" over genuine stories with real information without mislead misinformation or propaganda or appeals emotions, prejudice or the need to feel good about something. There's plenty of blame to go around. Seek out information. Fact check. Gather it from more than one source & don't just go along with something because it makes you feel good, especially in the face of contradictory evidence. I highly recommend this book.
October 6, 2016
Mr. Radford makes a compelling case about how our news media, advertisers, and politicians skew information for manipulation and monetary gain. It gave me a lot to think about, and a lot more to be cautious of. It's a great read for people who really want to get to the bottom of why our nation is so dependent on sound bites and the cult of personality.
June 4, 2009
Unfortunately I'm sure it won't convince Oprah or Larry King to stop misbehaving.
March 15, 2012
A critical look at lazy journalism and how it can pull our strings. Also, how advertisement can mask as truth and activists can misrepresent information.
Want to read
February 21, 2013"The Wisdom of Not Understanding" (Ben Radford on the illusion of meaning) http://www.csicop.org/sb/show/the_wis...
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews