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Veils of Distortion: How the News Media Warps Our Minds
'Fake news' has become an obsessive catchphrase and a worldwide fear. Yet few of us realize that shades of falsehood have always run through the mainstream news media. As news organizations double-down in their efforts to shock and entertain, more and more people are tuning-out, disillusioned by a negative and manipulative news cycle.
In Veils of Distortion, John Zada draws on two decades of journalism experience to explain how and why the news has become broken.
By depicting our world through a small sample of dramas that are often far-removed from our experiences, the news warps our picture of reality. What we see is not the world that actually is, but rather a caricature of a simple two-toned realm in which dangers and conflicts lurk around every corner. The societal angst that results can make the news a self-fulfilling prophecy, and can turn our minds into prisons of blinkered thought.
Zada leads us through the newsroom to reveal these distorting 'veils.' He offers suggestions on how to mitigate the effects of this coarse infotainment, which, if left unchecked will continue to dumb down and polarize our society, helping it to further unravel.
In Veils of Distortion, John Zada draws on two decades of journalism experience to explain how and why the news has become broken.
By depicting our world through a small sample of dramas that are often far-removed from our experiences, the news warps our picture of reality. What we see is not the world that actually is, but rather a caricature of a simple two-toned realm in which dangers and conflicts lurk around every corner. The societal angst that results can make the news a self-fulfilling prophecy, and can turn our minds into prisons of blinkered thought.
Zada leads us through the newsroom to reveal these distorting 'veils.' He offers suggestions on how to mitigate the effects of this coarse infotainment, which, if left unchecked will continue to dumb down and polarize our society, helping it to further unravel.
212 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 22, 2021
About the author
John Zada
3 books57 followersJohn Zada is an author, journalist and photographer based in Toronto, Canada.
His first book, 'In the Valleys of the Noble Beyond: In Search of the Sasquatch', was chosen by Amazon as one of its '100 Best Books of the Year' for 2019 and was a finalist for The 2020 Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction. The Washington Post describes it as "a quirky and oddly captivating tale." Zada's third book, 'The Patchwork Cloak of Kamal Bey: An East-West Memoir' won a 2026 Independent Publisher Book Award for travel writing.
John's work has appeared in such publications as the Globe & Mail, Toronto Star, The Guardian, The Telegraph, Travel + Leisure, BBC, CBC, Al-Jazeera, Explore, Maisonneuve, the Literary Review of Canada, and the Los Angeles Review of Books.
His first book, 'In the Valleys of the Noble Beyond: In Search of the Sasquatch', was chosen by Amazon as one of its '100 Best Books of the Year' for 2019 and was a finalist for The 2020 Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction. The Washington Post describes it as "a quirky and oddly captivating tale." Zada's third book, 'The Patchwork Cloak of Kamal Bey: An East-West Memoir' won a 2026 Independent Publisher Book Award for travel writing.
John's work has appeared in such publications as the Globe & Mail, Toronto Star, The Guardian, The Telegraph, Travel + Leisure, BBC, CBC, Al-Jazeera, Explore, Maisonneuve, the Literary Review of Canada, and the Los Angeles Review of Books.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
March 2, 2021
This book combines the kind of spirit and visionary genius seen in McLuhan and Chomsky’s work on media with personal observations as a journalist working in newsrooms. He describes the news industry with x-ray eyes that reveal cross-currents of human motives and dynamics unknown to most outsiders. I learned a lot from this book and look at the news differently now.
March 20, 2021
I was gripped by this book and read it in one night. I always kind of imagined that the news distorted our view of the world. I didn't realize, however, just how warping the news could be until Zada took us into the newsrooms in which he's worked. I will never watch or listen to the news again in the same way after reading this liberating, powerful book. I hope more people read it!
September 10, 2023
Disappointing.
For an immigrant watching (30 years ago) the BBC daily smearing the leadership of his country of origin (rightfully so) and, by extension, explicitly the whole country and implicitly the whole nation, there is nothing new in this book but details.
The first part has these details. For example, the author notes that news can be distorted explicitly by journalist but also implicitly by just being there (and not somewhere else, covering something else).News are picked up from millions of events every day and put in front of our eyes thus obscuring our vision to other things and making the one in front of our eyes the important one. I really liked this example and there are plenty similar ones.
The second part is the most disappointing. You see, journalists distort news because they have deadlines, they can’t check facts, they are tired, the job is on the line, it’s like a boiler room……..Excuses, excuses. The journalist are willing participants, not victims. As Chomsky pointed out to a journalist, during an interview: “I believe that you believe. Otherwise someone else would be sitting here, doing the interview “. Hired guns, most of them.
The third part of the book is simply useless. The author tries to give advice how to improve the state of media. But these advices are naive and impractical , no journalist will take them.
Anyway, for an average person, naive and trusting their society in a Western “democracy” this book may be eye opening and should be read. But I have seen all this before and can’t give it more than two stars. That is not the main reason, though. The author attempts to excuse the journalists and there is no excuse for that (just following orders comes to mind). Also, it does not give any useful advice for improvement although it pretends so.
For an immigrant watching (30 years ago) the BBC daily smearing the leadership of his country of origin (rightfully so) and, by extension, explicitly the whole country and implicitly the whole nation, there is nothing new in this book but details.
The first part has these details. For example, the author notes that news can be distorted explicitly by journalist but also implicitly by just being there (and not somewhere else, covering something else).News are picked up from millions of events every day and put in front of our eyes thus obscuring our vision to other things and making the one in front of our eyes the important one. I really liked this example and there are plenty similar ones.
The second part is the most disappointing. You see, journalists distort news because they have deadlines, they can’t check facts, they are tired, the job is on the line, it’s like a boiler room……..Excuses, excuses. The journalist are willing participants, not victims. As Chomsky pointed out to a journalist, during an interview: “I believe that you believe. Otherwise someone else would be sitting here, doing the interview “. Hired guns, most of them.
The third part of the book is simply useless. The author tries to give advice how to improve the state of media. But these advices are naive and impractical , no journalist will take them.
Anyway, for an average person, naive and trusting their society in a Western “democracy” this book may be eye opening and should be read. But I have seen all this before and can’t give it more than two stars. That is not the main reason, though. The author attempts to excuse the journalists and there is no excuse for that (just following orders comes to mind). Also, it does not give any useful advice for improvement although it pretends so.
March 7, 2021
John Zada’s thought-provoking new book, Veils of Distortion, is sure to be an eye-opener for news junkies and a bracing jolt for journalists. With eloquence and precision, it provides a glimpse beneath the cloak of reverence that surrounds the news – whether broadcast or print – revealing it to be a far cry from the objective reflection of reality so many people take it to be. A seasoned TV journalist, Zada offers an insider’s perspective as he examines the many subjective factors that shape and influence the news, and offers practical suggestions for consumers as well as for news professionals. Veils of Distortion is no wild-eyed rant; rather, it is a clear-eyed, incisive and much-needed critique of one of our most important institutions.
April 12, 2021
Essential reading for anyone fed up with the news - doubly so for anyone who isn't. The author sheds light on the news industry’s race to the bottom in pursuit of engagement - and how this could be dragging society down with it.
April 12, 2021
This book is a fascinating journey into the psychology of news journalists and into the closed-off world they inhabit: the newsroom. This seminal work should be a universal user's guide for decoding and understanding the news.
May 11, 2025
This book tackles a timely and relevant topic, especially considering the growing mistrust in mainstream media. I appreciated the author’s perspective as an experienced journalist, his insider view brings a much-needed authenticity to the conversation. One of the most compelling points he raises is the unprecedented speed at which news is now produced. Journalists are burning out under chaotic, high-pressure deadlines, expected to deliver compelling stories at a pace that is simply unsustainable.
I also valued his take on media bias. Rather than framing news as outright false, he explores how the political leanings and affiliations of media ownership shape how stories are told. His commentary on the sensationalist nature of today’s media—where panic and division are used as tools to capture attention—felt particularly insightful.
However, the book fell short for me in a few areas. While he critiques media manipulation through headlines, I wish he had provided more concrete examples to illustrate this point. I was also hoping for a deeper exploration into how those in power influence the media, suppress information, or steer political narratives.
At times, the writing felt scattered. For example, when discussing the psychological impact of media consumption, topics like autism were briefly mentioned without enough development, complex issues like that deserve more than a few lines and could form a chapter on their own.
Overall, This book presents an important conversation with some strong insights, but I found it lacked the depth and coherence needed to keep me fully engaged and informed.
I also valued his take on media bias. Rather than framing news as outright false, he explores how the political leanings and affiliations of media ownership shape how stories are told. His commentary on the sensationalist nature of today’s media—where panic and division are used as tools to capture attention—felt particularly insightful.
However, the book fell short for me in a few areas. While he critiques media manipulation through headlines, I wish he had provided more concrete examples to illustrate this point. I was also hoping for a deeper exploration into how those in power influence the media, suppress information, or steer political narratives.
At times, the writing felt scattered. For example, when discussing the psychological impact of media consumption, topics like autism were briefly mentioned without enough development, complex issues like that deserve more than a few lines and could form a chapter on their own.
Overall, This book presents an important conversation with some strong insights, but I found it lacked the depth and coherence needed to keep me fully engaged and informed.
May 10, 2022
Convincing!
May 11, 2022
Very interesting and well-written book. It was really difficult to read, since it takes aim at my profession, or least a part of my profession that I worked at for many years as a news director then sports editor (although, granted, sports is really just a form of entertainment, not “hard news” in most instances.)
It’s hard to look at your own profession with an unbiased view. I kept thinking back to when I was a news director at a small market radio station in Alberta and asking myself if I was guilty of any of the ills he describes in this book.
In a small market, it’s not so much about “digging up dirt” as it is “localizing news.” And the deadlines were tight and often hourly. Slow news day? Call up one of the two MLA’s whose constituencies your station covers, ask about a provincial news item that came down the wire earlier. Then the next hour, call the other local MLA, see what he thinks, being sure to quote the first one. So yeah, I guess I’m guilty of “creating conflict.” Even in a small market. Mea culpa.
Zada certainly is right about media particularly television creating A versus B types of conflicts in order to generate stories people will gravitate towards. Problem is, if you don’t do that you might not get the readership to maintain your existence as a media outlet, because the average person wants to be entertained as much as informed. I’m not sure how we change that.
He makes several other good points, some of which I do take umbrage with, however. While reading the book, I first felt a bit of antagonism toward what he was writing. But as I continued to read, I felt myself starting to shift and agree with what he was saying.
It’s an important book to read, whether you’re a journalist, former journalist or a news consumer. Each of those groups brings a much different perspective than the others. I do believe most intelligent people understand the issues and shortcomings in media, even if they’ve never worked in any form of journalism. This book does help explain WHY media acts the way it does, although it does not justify it.
I’m really glad he wrote a section on “what to do.” It’s one thing to criticize, another to actually propose solutions.
However…
Call me a cynic, but I’m not sure we can turn the clock back, which is essentially one of the keys to regaining a balance. It’s really hard in the age of social media where every outlet is competing for clicks, clickbait is a huge part of the picture. And just as the Internet and social media have a lot to answer for, so does television, to a certain degree. The race to get the story out first, even in something as trivial as sports, puts print journalists at a disadvantage. With the Internet and television, do you really need to read a game account in the paper the next day? Not really - which is why newspapers have gravitated away from reporting results/events and include a great deal of analysis in game accounts
This highlights one of the biggest obstacles to better media: the fact that it takes big bucks to run any kind of media outlet, and people with money often have their own agendas, very often they are not including what’s best for the public consumers rather it’s what’s best for their pocketbook, and I don’t really know any other way around that. The best way is to have organizations like CBC or NPR that are publicly funded, but as the author points out even the fall prey to the need to drive readers to their sites.
There is a lot wrong with media, but it’s also incumbent upon people reading it/watching it/listening to it to have the intelligence to figure out some of this stuff – and therein lies the problem. Far too many people do NOT want to take the time to develop their intelligence enough to really figure out the difference between actual news and propaganda. Also, the people that really need to be aware of this and read a book like this and be self-aware enough to examine their choices and their thoughts...probably won’t.
On a personal level, there are certain things we can do. For example, if I see someone commenting on a link I’ve posted and it’s obvious they haven’t taken the time to actually read it, I STRONGLY encourage them do so. I hate it when someone asks me something about a link when the question is answered in the first two paragraphs of the story. But I’m digressing away from a mere book review, here.
If you read or watch news, and you feel news reporting is an important aspect of society, this is a book you might want to add to your reading list.
It’s hard to look at your own profession with an unbiased view. I kept thinking back to when I was a news director at a small market radio station in Alberta and asking myself if I was guilty of any of the ills he describes in this book.
In a small market, it’s not so much about “digging up dirt” as it is “localizing news.” And the deadlines were tight and often hourly. Slow news day? Call up one of the two MLA’s whose constituencies your station covers, ask about a provincial news item that came down the wire earlier. Then the next hour, call the other local MLA, see what he thinks, being sure to quote the first one. So yeah, I guess I’m guilty of “creating conflict.” Even in a small market. Mea culpa.
Zada certainly is right about media particularly television creating A versus B types of conflicts in order to generate stories people will gravitate towards. Problem is, if you don’t do that you might not get the readership to maintain your existence as a media outlet, because the average person wants to be entertained as much as informed. I’m not sure how we change that.
He makes several other good points, some of which I do take umbrage with, however. While reading the book, I first felt a bit of antagonism toward what he was writing. But as I continued to read, I felt myself starting to shift and agree with what he was saying.
It’s an important book to read, whether you’re a journalist, former journalist or a news consumer. Each of those groups brings a much different perspective than the others. I do believe most intelligent people understand the issues and shortcomings in media, even if they’ve never worked in any form of journalism. This book does help explain WHY media acts the way it does, although it does not justify it.
I’m really glad he wrote a section on “what to do.” It’s one thing to criticize, another to actually propose solutions.
However…
Call me a cynic, but I’m not sure we can turn the clock back, which is essentially one of the keys to regaining a balance. It’s really hard in the age of social media where every outlet is competing for clicks, clickbait is a huge part of the picture. And just as the Internet and social media have a lot to answer for, so does television, to a certain degree. The race to get the story out first, even in something as trivial as sports, puts print journalists at a disadvantage. With the Internet and television, do you really need to read a game account in the paper the next day? Not really - which is why newspapers have gravitated away from reporting results/events and include a great deal of analysis in game accounts
This highlights one of the biggest obstacles to better media: the fact that it takes big bucks to run any kind of media outlet, and people with money often have their own agendas, very often they are not including what’s best for the public consumers rather it’s what’s best for their pocketbook, and I don’t really know any other way around that. The best way is to have organizations like CBC or NPR that are publicly funded, but as the author points out even the fall prey to the need to drive readers to their sites.
There is a lot wrong with media, but it’s also incumbent upon people reading it/watching it/listening to it to have the intelligence to figure out some of this stuff – and therein lies the problem. Far too many people do NOT want to take the time to develop their intelligence enough to really figure out the difference between actual news and propaganda. Also, the people that really need to be aware of this and read a book like this and be self-aware enough to examine their choices and their thoughts...probably won’t.
On a personal level, there are certain things we can do. For example, if I see someone commenting on a link I’ve posted and it’s obvious they haven’t taken the time to actually read it, I STRONGLY encourage them do so. I hate it when someone asks me something about a link when the question is answered in the first two paragraphs of the story. But I’m digressing away from a mere book review, here.
If you read or watch news, and you feel news reporting is an important aspect of society, this is a book you might want to add to your reading list.
March 7, 2021
John's book is a sublime mix of practical and philosophical. His analysis of how and why the broadcast news industry is broken is informed by his (frustrating) experience working as a writer at some prominent news networks. And his practical, easy to implement solutions for improvement are real and doable. He emphasizes that if there is a will to change (and there should be) well here are self-help suggestions. The fixes could be implemented by the network boss. But, by people on the shop floor too.
October 30, 2021
What's wrong with 'the news' and what can we do about it?
Are you also fed up with the news? This brilliantly written little book explains why the news is the way it is, why this is a bad thing, and what can be done to make it better - so that it actually helps rather than harms the people who pay attention to it and the societies in which they live.
A real page turner.
Are you also fed up with the news? This brilliantly written little book explains why the news is the way it is, why this is a bad thing, and what can be done to make it better - so that it actually helps rather than harms the people who pay attention to it and the societies in which they live.
A real page turner.
December 3, 2022
Mr. Zada gives a standard account of how the news media juice up the news with sensational (yawn) fare. I was hoping for a subtler analysis of to what extent those media seek to condition public opinion and perceptions along corporate or political lines. Unfortunately the book failed to go there, so it was not of much use.
January 12, 2025
It's nothing new that I wasn't already aware of. I do recommend this book to anyone who is asking "why" when it comes to the news, its cycles, etc.
September 17, 2023
Rating - 9.7
Aligns to my existing thoughts on the devolvement of media over the last couple of decades however also appreciate Zana's writing style & approach (keeping the chapters & overall length to a minimum)
A lot of good nuggets to learn & discuss (heroes, victims & villains template, marginalia, etc.); Recommendations are utopic & don't reflect all of the supporting issues he raised in how we got to this place
Notes
News are now circus shows offered up by a once-respectable profession that has been co-opted into the entertainment industrial complex to a degree that it has become a surreal parody of itself
Mainstream media's depiction of Russian Fake News has magnified its reach enormously
When the news takes an aggressive stance against all politicians, making every gaffe & misstep into a political scandal, they generate cynicism & antagonism in our leaders
Human brain evolved to register dramatic & sudden events in our environment because they were more threatening & deadly during tribal times. Our survival depended on being able to quickly recognize & react to these dangers. It is why we have a morbid fascination & give a disproportionate amount of time to violent & threatening news (& why the news media plays them more)
We tune out continuous noise. If it no longer shocks us & prompts us to be vigilant, it is old news
The world is an abstraction - what we know & see of the world has been filtered through our brain
Pinker - violence has been reduced both in the short & long-term & that we are the richest, longest living, best-fed, most comfortable civilization ever (not what the news presents). We fail to appreciate what we have because the news is so negative
Smartphones have turned billions of world's population into crime reporters & war correspondents
As mainstream news gravitates to infotainment, with its pop culture & celebrity quotients, what used to be considered relevant news, no longer is
The ability to shock & fearmonger relies on the omission of additional information that can mitigate fears
Exaggeration in the news takes two forms: Implicit (by virtue of appearing in the news) & Explicit (by those who report/produce the news)
Child abduction & murder cases are the rarest of crimes yet years of fear-inducing sensationalism have caused us to excessively shelter our children, preventing them from free-play & mild risk-taking. This has forged a generation of youth that is less resilient as they enter adulthood
The rapid-fire, abbreviated format of of television precludes complexity & nuance. Television is about good & evil, black & white, hero & villain, making us confused about induced emotions & knowledge
News journalists encourage us to lose ourseves emotionally in the drama of characters, to cheer & boo like you are at a sporting event
News executives want Trump to win as it will be an extremely profitable 4-Year run for them (1st term was unprecedented & sensational headlines); he was the gift that kept on giving. NYT & WP saw significant spikes in subscriptions & revival of their brand in dedicating their domestic political coverage to debunking Trump. Harvey Weinstein was another gold mine
As a news service, if you were too busy focusing on Trump's petty feuds or shocking tweet, you not only reinforced his behavior & unnecessarily agitated the masses, you also excluded more important news. This corruption of journalism is a huge story in its own right yet is conveniently ignored by media
We, as an audience, would rather be told stories that are simple, basic & play to our pre-existing views of the world. Complexity requires too much emotional energy & makes it difficult to take a hard position on an issue (which our tribal minds want to do)
The news template is to assign heroes, victims & villains
Economic Crisis - people were labelled as victims however they were part of the issue by over-spending & racking up debt that they could not pay
Humans have a tendency to create their own explanations for events that they don't have full or direct knowledge. Due to our bias for simplicity, the explanations tend to be simple, compelling & concrete, downplaying factors that can challenge our explanation
Shaping the news to fit a simpler formula is a form of self-delusion that distorts reality - the world is a complex labyrinth
We live in a blame culture in which every error, failure, mistake & injustice needs to be pinned on someone else
HVV - all that matters are the protagonists w their right & wrong positions to spur emotion & move the story forward so that the audience will return for more
News organizations relish covering stories about conflict - disputes bw humans have a primal attraction that immediately draws an audience
The scandal-obsessed press is a direct legacy of the Vietnam/Watergate era - huge unmasking that the media is trying to replicate today, including celebrities
Twitter distorts reality by caricaturing our world through a distillation of voices. It's unreliability is underscored by the fact that these comments lack context, is elicited reactively in the heat of the moment (often by bots) & may not have been spoken if they were face-to-face
One of the greatest missed opportunities for conflict resolution is the possibility of using media forums to mediate between sides & help find solutions
The tendency to place everyone & everything into one camp or the other inevitably means that people who don't fit into either must be labelled as one or the other. The idea that one person must be A or B is a core mental tribalism frame whose conflict perceptions has caused persecution & suffering
Making news about two sides w contradictory claims feeds the argument culture, stokes binary thinking, promotes social media bickering & contributes to the general polarization of society
The attempt to find balance by telling both sides is not objectivity but rather neutrality - a safeguard to prevent news media from pushing their own agenda. Playing it safe means cancelling or negating certain positions by giving equal value to their opposites
It is exceedingly difficult to look at the world in a complex manner in journalism due to the need for brevity & the HVV format
Because there is not enough space in print or enough time on tv news, writing is compressed & cuts corners. The result is a stilted story that is bland & colorless & loses attachment
Scientific Studies:
- some are funded by special interest groups w a specified agenda
- news media favors studies from more prestigious journals over more compelling smaller-based publications
- don't publish studies that have a null observations
- publish one off reviews more than meta-reviews
- involve too many variables for their conclusions to be taken at face value
- prefer first-discovery reports
50% of studies that are reported in newspapers turn out to be inaccurate
Hard news is saturated w propagandistic information stemming from public relations efforts which are dressed up as news stories. Journalists either don't recognize or don't care
Product placement & photo ops are not news, skews our image & does not reflect how a leader performs
CIA officials told an academic researcher that they use to plant 70-80 stories a day in the late 1980s. It is regular intelligence procedure to try & influence a country's policies through the press
KBG planted a story that AIDs was not originated through African primates but rather was a US army fabrication - this ran on the CBS evening news
Falsehood in the news also stems from how journalists do their jobs
There is no time to think to do a thorough job - no more diligent copy-editing, thorough fact-checking. Reporters who use to specialize in one beat are now required to cover anything & everything & have to file their stories to multiple platforms
The main objective of every news factory is to capture our attention & hold for as long as possible. They do so to garners clicks, ratings & subscriptions which it sells back to advertisers. The structure of a TV news broadcast is the stacking & sequencing of many stories that pulls viewers back in time & time again
The 'what's coming up' is a seductive pull-in along w moving banners, provocative titles & gyrating lights. Teams of graphics professionals are drawn in daily to make TV news more addictive (trigger Dopamine). Uses the same color backgrounds as social media platforms
Lazy journalism - tendency by news organizations to rely on the work of other agencies & organizations, a copycat culture
Internet has brought in a competitive news channel where sites quickly learned to out-sensationalize more reputable news organizations by featuring gossipy stories w loads of celebrity pics
To compete w reality TV & Netflix/Amazon/Apple, news shows have had to up their game by lowering their game
Marginalia - inconsequential information which serves to distract us from what is important
Trivial & inconsequential news are routinely elevated to matters of importance & celebrated
These market-driven decisions to prioritize trivia over deep significance work to change societal norms of what is important. Audiences are conditioned & brainwashed by the content that not dumbs down our culture but also dangerously polarizes it
You cannot know a region wo being in that region
Making suggestions for real positive change might endanger your job & the ultimate golden calf - your retirement pension. Even though morale is low, not very many speak up
Obsessive tinkering w parts in the newsroom shifts our attention away from ther big questions that matter most
- what are we doing
- why does this matter
- what are the implications
Opposing ideological narratives clash but are also inter-twined & feed off each other. People are simply reporting the world as they see it & not purposely trying to misinform
Human groups tend to isolate themselves from outside influences & suppress alternative/dissenting viewpoints in order to minimize conflicts & achieve consensus
When we're walloped repeatedly by the new media's rendition of the world, where danger & tragedy lurk around every corner, we tend to feel powerless & helpless, we become cynical & pessimistic. The news never chimes in that these events are rare, isolated or limited in impact
Journalists are a society rife w burnout, legion w sick days as they have a profession that eats away at the soul
Suggestions for change (journalists & newsrooms)
- be service-oriented
- make journalism more solutions-based
- understand that events do not have one cause
- avoid elevating local new stories to a national platform because they are sensational
- only do breaking news for urgent events
- slow down
- do more longer form journalism
- create a diverse newsroom
- break the groupthink
- speak up
- ask the public what they think of your news coverage & listen to what they have to say
Suggestions for change (consumers)
- learn about how news is produced
- break your addiction to sensationalist news
- choose news sources that look at the bigger picture
- identify & avoid clickbait
- see a news story from multiple perspectives
- question the accuracy, relevance & importance of any news story
- hedge by adding your own personal observations
- advise news organizations when they have a low bar
- support good news sites & shows
- hold the media accountable
Aligns to my existing thoughts on the devolvement of media over the last couple of decades however also appreciate Zana's writing style & approach (keeping the chapters & overall length to a minimum)
A lot of good nuggets to learn & discuss (heroes, victims & villains template, marginalia, etc.); Recommendations are utopic & don't reflect all of the supporting issues he raised in how we got to this place
Notes
News are now circus shows offered up by a once-respectable profession that has been co-opted into the entertainment industrial complex to a degree that it has become a surreal parody of itself
Mainstream media's depiction of Russian Fake News has magnified its reach enormously
When the news takes an aggressive stance against all politicians, making every gaffe & misstep into a political scandal, they generate cynicism & antagonism in our leaders
Human brain evolved to register dramatic & sudden events in our environment because they were more threatening & deadly during tribal times. Our survival depended on being able to quickly recognize & react to these dangers. It is why we have a morbid fascination & give a disproportionate amount of time to violent & threatening news (& why the news media plays them more)
We tune out continuous noise. If it no longer shocks us & prompts us to be vigilant, it is old news
The world is an abstraction - what we know & see of the world has been filtered through our brain
Pinker - violence has been reduced both in the short & long-term & that we are the richest, longest living, best-fed, most comfortable civilization ever (not what the news presents). We fail to appreciate what we have because the news is so negative
Smartphones have turned billions of world's population into crime reporters & war correspondents
As mainstream news gravitates to infotainment, with its pop culture & celebrity quotients, what used to be considered relevant news, no longer is
The ability to shock & fearmonger relies on the omission of additional information that can mitigate fears
Exaggeration in the news takes two forms: Implicit (by virtue of appearing in the news) & Explicit (by those who report/produce the news)
Child abduction & murder cases are the rarest of crimes yet years of fear-inducing sensationalism have caused us to excessively shelter our children, preventing them from free-play & mild risk-taking. This has forged a generation of youth that is less resilient as they enter adulthood
The rapid-fire, abbreviated format of of television precludes complexity & nuance. Television is about good & evil, black & white, hero & villain, making us confused about induced emotions & knowledge
News journalists encourage us to lose ourseves emotionally in the drama of characters, to cheer & boo like you are at a sporting event
News executives want Trump to win as it will be an extremely profitable 4-Year run for them (1st term was unprecedented & sensational headlines); he was the gift that kept on giving. NYT & WP saw significant spikes in subscriptions & revival of their brand in dedicating their domestic political coverage to debunking Trump. Harvey Weinstein was another gold mine
As a news service, if you were too busy focusing on Trump's petty feuds or shocking tweet, you not only reinforced his behavior & unnecessarily agitated the masses, you also excluded more important news. This corruption of journalism is a huge story in its own right yet is conveniently ignored by media
We, as an audience, would rather be told stories that are simple, basic & play to our pre-existing views of the world. Complexity requires too much emotional energy & makes it difficult to take a hard position on an issue (which our tribal minds want to do)
The news template is to assign heroes, victims & villains
Economic Crisis - people were labelled as victims however they were part of the issue by over-spending & racking up debt that they could not pay
Humans have a tendency to create their own explanations for events that they don't have full or direct knowledge. Due to our bias for simplicity, the explanations tend to be simple, compelling & concrete, downplaying factors that can challenge our explanation
Shaping the news to fit a simpler formula is a form of self-delusion that distorts reality - the world is a complex labyrinth
We live in a blame culture in which every error, failure, mistake & injustice needs to be pinned on someone else
HVV - all that matters are the protagonists w their right & wrong positions to spur emotion & move the story forward so that the audience will return for more
News organizations relish covering stories about conflict - disputes bw humans have a primal attraction that immediately draws an audience
The scandal-obsessed press is a direct legacy of the Vietnam/Watergate era - huge unmasking that the media is trying to replicate today, including celebrities
Twitter distorts reality by caricaturing our world through a distillation of voices. It's unreliability is underscored by the fact that these comments lack context, is elicited reactively in the heat of the moment (often by bots) & may not have been spoken if they were face-to-face
One of the greatest missed opportunities for conflict resolution is the possibility of using media forums to mediate between sides & help find solutions
The tendency to place everyone & everything into one camp or the other inevitably means that people who don't fit into either must be labelled as one or the other. The idea that one person must be A or B is a core mental tribalism frame whose conflict perceptions has caused persecution & suffering
Making news about two sides w contradictory claims feeds the argument culture, stokes binary thinking, promotes social media bickering & contributes to the general polarization of society
The attempt to find balance by telling both sides is not objectivity but rather neutrality - a safeguard to prevent news media from pushing their own agenda. Playing it safe means cancelling or negating certain positions by giving equal value to their opposites
It is exceedingly difficult to look at the world in a complex manner in journalism due to the need for brevity & the HVV format
Because there is not enough space in print or enough time on tv news, writing is compressed & cuts corners. The result is a stilted story that is bland & colorless & loses attachment
Scientific Studies:
- some are funded by special interest groups w a specified agenda
- news media favors studies from more prestigious journals over more compelling smaller-based publications
- don't publish studies that have a null observations
- publish one off reviews more than meta-reviews
- involve too many variables for their conclusions to be taken at face value
- prefer first-discovery reports
50% of studies that are reported in newspapers turn out to be inaccurate
Hard news is saturated w propagandistic information stemming from public relations efforts which are dressed up as news stories. Journalists either don't recognize or don't care
Product placement & photo ops are not news, skews our image & does not reflect how a leader performs
CIA officials told an academic researcher that they use to plant 70-80 stories a day in the late 1980s. It is regular intelligence procedure to try & influence a country's policies through the press
KBG planted a story that AIDs was not originated through African primates but rather was a US army fabrication - this ran on the CBS evening news
Falsehood in the news also stems from how journalists do their jobs
There is no time to think to do a thorough job - no more diligent copy-editing, thorough fact-checking. Reporters who use to specialize in one beat are now required to cover anything & everything & have to file their stories to multiple platforms
The main objective of every news factory is to capture our attention & hold for as long as possible. They do so to garners clicks, ratings & subscriptions which it sells back to advertisers. The structure of a TV news broadcast is the stacking & sequencing of many stories that pulls viewers back in time & time again
The 'what's coming up' is a seductive pull-in along w moving banners, provocative titles & gyrating lights. Teams of graphics professionals are drawn in daily to make TV news more addictive (trigger Dopamine). Uses the same color backgrounds as social media platforms
Lazy journalism - tendency by news organizations to rely on the work of other agencies & organizations, a copycat culture
Internet has brought in a competitive news channel where sites quickly learned to out-sensationalize more reputable news organizations by featuring gossipy stories w loads of celebrity pics
To compete w reality TV & Netflix/Amazon/Apple, news shows have had to up their game by lowering their game
Marginalia - inconsequential information which serves to distract us from what is important
Trivial & inconsequential news are routinely elevated to matters of importance & celebrated
These market-driven decisions to prioritize trivia over deep significance work to change societal norms of what is important. Audiences are conditioned & brainwashed by the content that not dumbs down our culture but also dangerously polarizes it
You cannot know a region wo being in that region
Making suggestions for real positive change might endanger your job & the ultimate golden calf - your retirement pension. Even though morale is low, not very many speak up
Obsessive tinkering w parts in the newsroom shifts our attention away from ther big questions that matter most
- what are we doing
- why does this matter
- what are the implications
Opposing ideological narratives clash but are also inter-twined & feed off each other. People are simply reporting the world as they see it & not purposely trying to misinform
Human groups tend to isolate themselves from outside influences & suppress alternative/dissenting viewpoints in order to minimize conflicts & achieve consensus
When we're walloped repeatedly by the new media's rendition of the world, where danger & tragedy lurk around every corner, we tend to feel powerless & helpless, we become cynical & pessimistic. The news never chimes in that these events are rare, isolated or limited in impact
Journalists are a society rife w burnout, legion w sick days as they have a profession that eats away at the soul
Suggestions for change (journalists & newsrooms)
- be service-oriented
- make journalism more solutions-based
- understand that events do not have one cause
- avoid elevating local new stories to a national platform because they are sensational
- only do breaking news for urgent events
- slow down
- do more longer form journalism
- create a diverse newsroom
- break the groupthink
- speak up
- ask the public what they think of your news coverage & listen to what they have to say
Suggestions for change (consumers)
- learn about how news is produced
- break your addiction to sensationalist news
- choose news sources that look at the bigger picture
- identify & avoid clickbait
- see a news story from multiple perspectives
- question the accuracy, relevance & importance of any news story
- hedge by adding your own personal observations
- advise news organizations when they have a low bar
- support good news sites & shows
- hold the media accountable
Read
November 19, 2021Must read book, eye opener. Will never view the news the same way.
July 9, 2021
Veils of Distortion
First-rate analysis of contemporary media trend known as infotainment i.e. news that is sensational and/or entertaining but does not seek out reasons for events or contextual understanding. More thoughtful than Kautani's The Death of Truth because not tied to the Trump phenomenon. Author is an insider and details the strategies used to shape stories to make them palatable to media business's conception of what the public wants. He tells how the news is produced -- the tight deadlines, the lack of fact checking, the heavy workloads, the need to produce for multiple platforms, and points out how these working conditions encourage journalists to distort reality by emphasizing what is tragic frightening or outrageous over what will help people understand the world better and find solutions to our problems. Media business is "a rigid system woven into a larger and equally fixed disorder."
However, it does have to be this way, and Zada spends the last part of the book outlining what journalists could do to make it better, and what consumers could do to "mitigate" what the news does to us. The book is full of insights into how the media shapes the world we see and how we can get a handle on the problems this creates.
First-rate analysis of contemporary media trend known as infotainment i.e. news that is sensational and/or entertaining but does not seek out reasons for events or contextual understanding. More thoughtful than Kautani's The Death of Truth because not tied to the Trump phenomenon. Author is an insider and details the strategies used to shape stories to make them palatable to media business's conception of what the public wants. He tells how the news is produced -- the tight deadlines, the lack of fact checking, the heavy workloads, the need to produce for multiple platforms, and points out how these working conditions encourage journalists to distort reality by emphasizing what is tragic frightening or outrageous over what will help people understand the world better and find solutions to our problems. Media business is "a rigid system woven into a larger and equally fixed disorder."
However, it does have to be this way, and Zada spends the last part of the book outlining what journalists could do to make it better, and what consumers could do to "mitigate" what the news does to us. The book is full of insights into how the media shapes the world we see and how we can get a handle on the problems this creates.
May 16, 2021
This is a must read. I've viewed the 'news' as entertainment for years now and quit watching. But the online media information can be just as twisted. Mr. Zada does a great job of explaining exactly why our view of the world is so skewed. We really have no idea what is actually happening, all we see is what drives ratings and clicks. An objective, honest, ethical source of news is critical for informed decision making. Makes me wonder where we go from here.
August 13, 2021
John Zada’s book ‘Veils of Distortion’ is a most interesting and valuable (even, indispensable) guide to navigating the world of today’s news media.
Zada presents extensive information on the different manners in which the news media distorts our picture of the world. He also gives many suggestions of ways in which the news sector and ordinary citizen can change their approach to news, reducing these distortions.
Highly recommended.
Zada presents extensive information on the different manners in which the news media distorts our picture of the world. He also gives many suggestions of ways in which the news sector and ordinary citizen can change their approach to news, reducing these distortions.
Highly recommended.
April 16, 2021
I always thought the media was distorting some of the news. After reading this, I concluded the media was distorting
all
of the news. Great book. I recommend it.
May 4, 2021
An intriguing and informational book that sheds light on today's issues with the news media and its grasp on society.
February 4, 2024
A primer on why the media fails in its democratic purpose. One of the reasons is the exploitation of the journalist by capital:
"In cable television news, whether as a producer or writer, you arrive at your job before your particular show is about to go to air. You often have limited knowledge of and control over what stories will be featured that day. As a result, you will sometimes inevitably have no background information about the topics and events that are usually just coming to light and unfolding somewhere else, sometimes very far away. Stories can be dauntingly complex, confusing, highly nuanced or subject to labyrinths of legalese. But when you arrive, you immediately begin to work on not just one, but a handful of those stories, and are pressed, at the sound of a starting gun, to churn them out and prepare them in succession. New, breaking stories often suddenly appear that must also be quickly assembled" (p.87).
"In cable television news, whether as a producer or writer, you arrive at your job before your particular show is about to go to air. You often have limited knowledge of and control over what stories will be featured that day. As a result, you will sometimes inevitably have no background information about the topics and events that are usually just coming to light and unfolding somewhere else, sometimes very far away. Stories can be dauntingly complex, confusing, highly nuanced or subject to labyrinths of legalese. But when you arrive, you immediately begin to work on not just one, but a handful of those stories, and are pressed, at the sound of a starting gun, to churn them out and prepare them in succession. New, breaking stories often suddenly appear that must also be quickly assembled" (p.87).
February 26, 2022
This book is interesting, if not necessarily earth-shattering. I tend to pay little attention to the news in general, but it is interesting to see the specific ways in which events are warped during the process of being reported. I think it is worth reading, especially for those who are avid consumers of news media, but I do wish that he would have spent a little more time on what we as the public can do about the problem.
December 13, 2022
A well written and thoughtful exploration of an industry with significant influence in shaping society and culture. Zada’s use of example clearly illustrates the ways in which everyday well intentioned attempts by journalists to share events come to be distorted by the current aims and pragmatics of the industry. I particularly enjoyed the suggestions for change and the optimism that even small moves can improve the effects of the news industry on society.
November 30, 2023
An interesting little book that outlines how modern media practices distort reality and spread misinformation.
This is a nice introduction to media criticism, especially given the author's first-hand knowledge of newsroom working environments, but too short and light on theory to be truly revelatory.
This is a nice introduction to media criticism, especially given the author's first-hand knowledge of newsroom working environments, but too short and light on theory to be truly revelatory.
January 22, 2023
How we see the world is partly through the prism of reported news, yet the news is driven by sensationalism which favours events which garner ratings over things which are important.
January 11, 2024
Simple to read, nothing particularly new but good to have this content out there.
September 15, 2023
In recent years, many reasonable people have come to recognize the extreme distortions and outright lies of far-right conservative media. With this recent backdrop, Zada shares his decades of media experience and opens a window to the machinations behind the scenes at a variety of news organizations. He shares the corporate and political pressures that result in news spin, both egregious and subtle.
Reading this book brought many of the vague and nagging concerns I've had about "news for profit" organizations into more clear and detailed view; the lies and selective editing apparent in the most egregious organizations such as OAN, Sinclair, Fox, et al are also apparent in varying degrees in mainstream and leftist news. I highly recommend this book to anyone who consumes news in any form, and I will now have a more skeptical view and more curiosity as to the motivations of those who purport to tell me the truth behind daily events in the news.
Reading this book brought many of the vague and nagging concerns I've had about "news for profit" organizations into more clear and detailed view; the lies and selective editing apparent in the most egregious organizations such as OAN, Sinclair, Fox, et al are also apparent in varying degrees in mainstream and leftist news. I highly recommend this book to anyone who consumes news in any form, and I will now have a more skeptical view and more curiosity as to the motivations of those who purport to tell me the truth behind daily events in the news.
June 27, 2024
Does a good job analyzing the problems with media, albeit in a very simplified manner. His solutions are way too naive and dont address root causes.
3/5
3/5
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