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Fayke Newes: The Media vs the Mighty, From Henry VIII to Donald Trump
‘Fake news’. ‘Dishonest press’. ‘Racist’. ‘Mentally unstable’. The insults President Donald Trump and the American news media hurl at each other are nothing new. In Tudor England, printed papers branded the monarch a ‘horrible monster’, and were in turn accused of publishing ‘false fables’. Ever since the invention of the printing press, those in power have seen mass communication as a dangerous threat, usurping their ability to tell people what to think, and capable of stirring up discontent and even rebellion. In Fayke Newes, historian and international journalist Derek J. Taylor tracks this long and bloody fight between the press and those in power through the lives of the men and women who got caught up in the battle. On a journey through the centuries, we crisscross the Atlantic between Britain and America, during wars and in peacetime, and discover that neither governments nor journalists have always told the truth. And, in our own time, when social media has put mass communication in the hands of anyone with a smart-phone – from a certain US President, to any crook, liar or foreign enemy – Taylor asks: What hope for the rest of us who just want to know what’s really going on?
- GenresNonfictionHistory
353 pages, Paperback
First published July 2, 2018
About the author
Derek J. Taylor
8 books3 followersDerek Taylor studied law and history at Oxford, before joining Independent Television News of London. As an on-screen correspondent, he reported from Northern Ireland, Rome, South Africa, the USA and the Middle East, covering five wars. He spent seven months in Iran during the Islamic revolution, working for ABC News of America after US passport-holders were expelled - a time and place portrayed in the film Argo. In his later career, he became CEO of the world’s biggest TV news agency owned by The Associated Press of America. He now works as a historian, journalist and public speaker.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 20, 2019
Reviewed for The Bibliophibian.
Fayke Newes looks like a gimmicky book, and it’s true that it lacks a references section entirely, so it’s difficult to evaluate the depth of the research. What I read tallies with what I already know, but it’s impossible to trust a serious non-fiction book without references or at least some “further reading”, and it raises my eyebrow a little that the book suggests teaching children to distinguish real news from puffed up misinformation… and that book does not itself have the basics I would consider important for evaluating whether a piece of writing is accurate. (Though admittedly I’ve fallen into this trap myself, and need to start adding sources on my science blog posts.)
Taking it with a pinch of salt, though, it’s an interesting survey of the press vs power — the media vs the mighty, in the other alliteration it uses a lot — from Henry VIII to Trump. It discusses how the press have clashed with governments in the past, discussing how the media has made and broken politicians… and how they’ve been complicit in hiding things from the people during situations such as wartime. This is pretty much the main theme of the book: is the press speaking truth about power to inform the people, or aligning with it in order to deceive them (regardless of the intent behind the compliance)?
It’s odd, given that the book ends with a paean to a long history of marvellous unbiased reporting, that mostly the incidents it mentions sound very much to me like the press is mostly biased and prone to falling in with the wishes of the rich and powerful. Taylor suggests that unbiased, well-trained reporters are going to save us in this age of misinformation — in the concluding chapter of a book with example after example of the press being owned by the rich and dictated by their demands, or cheerfully complying with government bans to send home encouraging untruths during wartime, etc, etc.
I think we do need some well trained and unbiased reporters we can trust to tell us the facts. I’m not convinced by his arguments into believing that those reporters exist, or rather that when people with that ambition do exist, they have a platform and are able to tell us a damn thing people with power don’t want us to know.
Interesting book, but has several blind spots about the implications of its own content.
Fayke Newes looks like a gimmicky book, and it’s true that it lacks a references section entirely, so it’s difficult to evaluate the depth of the research. What I read tallies with what I already know, but it’s impossible to trust a serious non-fiction book without references or at least some “further reading”, and it raises my eyebrow a little that the book suggests teaching children to distinguish real news from puffed up misinformation… and that book does not itself have the basics I would consider important for evaluating whether a piece of writing is accurate. (Though admittedly I’ve fallen into this trap myself, and need to start adding sources on my science blog posts.)
Taking it with a pinch of salt, though, it’s an interesting survey of the press vs power — the media vs the mighty, in the other alliteration it uses a lot — from Henry VIII to Trump. It discusses how the press have clashed with governments in the past, discussing how the media has made and broken politicians… and how they’ve been complicit in hiding things from the people during situations such as wartime. This is pretty much the main theme of the book: is the press speaking truth about power to inform the people, or aligning with it in order to deceive them (regardless of the intent behind the compliance)?
It’s odd, given that the book ends with a paean to a long history of marvellous unbiased reporting, that mostly the incidents it mentions sound very much to me like the press is mostly biased and prone to falling in with the wishes of the rich and powerful. Taylor suggests that unbiased, well-trained reporters are going to save us in this age of misinformation — in the concluding chapter of a book with example after example of the press being owned by the rich and dictated by their demands, or cheerfully complying with government bans to send home encouraging untruths during wartime, etc, etc.
I think we do need some well trained and unbiased reporters we can trust to tell us the facts. I’m not convinced by his arguments into believing that those reporters exist, or rather that when people with that ambition do exist, they have a platform and are able to tell us a damn thing people with power don’t want us to know.
Interesting book, but has several blind spots about the implications of its own content.
July 19, 2018
*Disclaimer: I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Fayke Newes examines the role of the media throughout history, from the Tudors to today, and looks at how it has been, at times, controlled and influenced by those in power.
Written in a conversational style, this book looks at issues such as censorship and propaganda, with a view to enlighten the reader about how little, or how much, has changed with regards to the press over the centuries. It discusses the invention of the printing press, the advent of television and radio, and the introduction of social media. How does the public and the politicians view of the press change in war time?
In this "post-truth" era of "fake news" and the "lying media", this book is an enlightening and valuable read that I would recommend everyone pick up. It is not often that a non-fiction book can hook you in so much that you don't want to put it down, but this was that book for me. It was jam-packed with interesting facts and images throughout supporting the author's argument. One of the most valuable things that I found whilst reading this was that Derek J. Taylor didn't overtly take a side in his arguments which left me feel, upon closing the book, that I truly had a full and clear picture of the issue at hand.
Fayke Newes examines the role of the media throughout history, from the Tudors to today, and looks at how it has been, at times, controlled and influenced by those in power.
Written in a conversational style, this book looks at issues such as censorship and propaganda, with a view to enlighten the reader about how little, or how much, has changed with regards to the press over the centuries. It discusses the invention of the printing press, the advent of television and radio, and the introduction of social media. How does the public and the politicians view of the press change in war time?
In this "post-truth" era of "fake news" and the "lying media", this book is an enlightening and valuable read that I would recommend everyone pick up. It is not often that a non-fiction book can hook you in so much that you don't want to put it down, but this was that book for me. It was jam-packed with interesting facts and images throughout supporting the author's argument. One of the most valuable things that I found whilst reading this was that Derek J. Taylor didn't overtly take a side in his arguments which left me feel, upon closing the book, that I truly had a full and clear picture of the issue at hand.
August 30, 2019
Given the subject matter, the lack of references to source material is a negative point and it is surprising that it was published without this. The book is generally engagingly written, but there are some interesting limitations in the content, including:
- too much focus on print media during times of transition. There is essentially nothing about radio news and propaganda, even though these were hugely important during the 1930s - 1950s.
- a belief that the first time that most people could see the news was with the adoption of television, completely glossing over the famous newsreels shown in cinemas (which as a highly controlled medium were perfect for propaganda purposes)
- a chapter on Trump and 'Fake News', but absolutely nothing on the way the same techniques were used during the Brexit campaign. Surprising for a British-focused book.
- nothing on the way that the media covered wars of the 1990s. The first Gulf War in particular was reported through the kinds of embedded reporters and live satellite links that would be standard for the wars of the 21st century.
There are others, but these seemed to be striking omissions to me. Overall it is a decent book, but could also be accused of taking as biased a view as some of the points discussed in the book.
- too much focus on print media during times of transition. There is essentially nothing about radio news and propaganda, even though these were hugely important during the 1930s - 1950s.
- a belief that the first time that most people could see the news was with the adoption of television, completely glossing over the famous newsreels shown in cinemas (which as a highly controlled medium were perfect for propaganda purposes)
- a chapter on Trump and 'Fake News', but absolutely nothing on the way the same techniques were used during the Brexit campaign. Surprising for a British-focused book.
- nothing on the way that the media covered wars of the 1990s. The first Gulf War in particular was reported through the kinds of embedded reporters and live satellite links that would be standard for the wars of the 21st century.
There are others, but these seemed to be striking omissions to me. Overall it is a decent book, but could also be accused of taking as biased a view as some of the points discussed in the book.
January 5, 2019
What to ask yourself before and after reading this book: How can it happen that a book about fake news in history has no bibliography? Some of the author's sentences can therefore not be taken seriously, including the conclusion where he proposes a course for students on the subject of reliable news in which criteria for credible online news should be taught. This is just as true for analog media as this book and one thing that speaks for a credible publication is the confirmability of quotations and facts - something that doesn't happen in this book.
The book gets two stars, because some of his personal observations are good.
The book gets two stars, because some of his personal observations are good.
February 4, 2019
A great book documenting the origins of the printing press and the numerous incidents and periods throughout history where the ruling classes, governments and those in power have either fallen foul or clashed with those who chose to journalism as their course in life. Sometimes to the detriment of those who either challenge or be challenged, right up to the present day and everyone's favourite, Donald Trump. The author has created a very well structured account. A very readable insight to those learning history too.
September 29, 2018
A largely unconvincing piece of political polemic with a few diamonds in the rough, particularly on the more modern chapters. Properly-researched, referenced, and factually-correct history it is not.
March 23, 2021
Interesting history
Good to be reminded not to believe everything you read, that there may be agendas and always worth looking at things from many different ways before making up your mind.
Good to be reminded not to believe everything you read, that there may be agendas and always worth looking at things from many different ways before making up your mind.
January 7, 2020
A very readable introduction to the history of information manipulation by the powerful throughout the ages. Highly recommended as a starting point for this most essential modern topic.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews