W. Joseph Campbell

, , , , , , ,

‘Exquisitely researched and lively’

In Cronkite Moment, Debunking, Hurricane Katrina, Media myths, Reviews on September 16, 2010 at 9:40 am

That’s the Denver Post‘s take on Getting It Wrong, my new book on media-driven myths which the newspaper recently reviewed.

The Post offers a discerning summary of the book, noting that it “takes a critical look at 10 stories that were either total fabrications or blown way out of proportion and yet became part of our popular culture.”

It also says Getting It Wrong offers “an exquisitely researched and lively look at an industry that too often shines the light on itself more than it does on events and public figures.”

And it notes, quite correctly:

“Much of the ‘wrong’ coverage through the years comes from the media’s self-congratulatory preening.”

The review points out that the sternest criticism in Getting It Wrong is reserved “for coverage, mainly by television, of the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005.

“Hyperactive reporters told tales of snipers roaming the streets, ‘hundreds’ of bodies stacked up in the Super Dome and babies being raped and murdered, none of which could be verified.

The upshot of the exaggerated coverage of the storm’s aftermath, the review notes, “was that rescue operations were hindered by fear, and prejudices of a watching public against poor people and minorities were confirmed.”

The review was written by Dick Kreck, a former reporter and columnist for the Post who has written three books. Kreck is an engaging storyteller and the go-to source for details about the lusty history of Denver journalism. (Full disclosure: Kreck spoke at a program at the Denver Post during last month’s convention of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Convention. I helped organize the program.)

Kreck opens the review of Getting It Wrong by declaring:

“Memo to media: Get over yourself. You’re not that important.”

He later cites a passage in Getting It Wrong quoting Robert Samuelson, a columnist who writes on economic issues for the Washington Post:

“Because the media are everywhere—and inspire much resentment—their influence is routinely exaggerated. The mistake is confusing visibility with power and the media are often complicit in the confusion. We [in the news media] embrace the mythology, because it flatters our self-importance.”

Getting It Wrong indeed offers a brief for modest media effects.

To bust media myths, I write in the book, “is to confront the reality that the news media are not the powerful agents they, and many others, assume them to be.

“It is exceedingly rare for any news report to trigger a powerful, immediate and decisive reaction akin to President Lyndon Johnson’s purported response to [Walter] Cronkite’s televised assessment about Vietnam: ‘If I’ve lost Cronkite ….’

“Researchers long ago dismissed the notion the news media can create such profound and immediate effects, as if absorbing media messages were akin to receiving potent drugs via a hypodermic needle,” I note, adding:

“Media power tends to be modest, nuanced, diffused, and situational.” And typically trumped by other, more powerful forces and factors.

WJC

Related:

  2. […] as I write in Getting It Wrong, “Listeners who followed closely would have easily recognized that events moved far too […]

    Mythical ‘War of the Worlds’ radio show adapted to stage « Media Myth Alert 8 October 2010 at 9am

  4. […] ‘Exquisitely researched and lively’ […]

    Hearst pushed country into war? But how? « Media Myth Alert 18 October 2010 at 7am

  5. […] burning,” I write in Getting It Wrong, “has long been an off-hand way of ridiculing feminists and mocking their sometimes-militant […]

    Palin’s new book invokes ‘bra-burning’ stereotype « Media Myth Alert 24 November 2010 at 8am

  6. […] ‘Exquisitely researched and lively’ […]

    24/7 news cycle no new phenomenon « Media Myth Alert 25 January 2011 at 8am

  7. […] ‘Exquisitely researched and lively’ […]

    Pepco the rude « Media Myth Alert 2 February 2011 at 10am

  8. […] ‘Exquisitely researched and lively […]

    Bra-burning in Toronto: Confirmed « Media Myth Alert 19 February 2011 at 12am

  9. […] ‘Exquisitely researched and lively’ […]

    Hat-tipping ‘On Language’ « Media Myth Alert 26 February 2011 at 7am

  15. […] ‘Exquisitely researched and lively’ […]

    More media myths from CounterPunch « Media Myth Alert 24 July 2011 at 8am

  17. […] ‘Exquisitely researched and lively’ […]

    Some dubious history from Frank Rich « Media Myth Alert 1 August 2011 at 9am

  19. […] ‘Exquisitely researched and lively’ […]

    That’s not what Zhou meant « Media Myth Alert 17 August 2011 at 7am

  20. […] ‘Exquisitely researched and lively’ Advertisement GA_googleAddAttr("AdOpt", "1"); GA_googleAddAttr("Origin", "other"); GA_googleAddAttr("theme_bg", "FFFFFF"); GA_googleAddAttr("theme_text", "000000"); GA_googleAddAttr("theme_link", "990000"); GA_googleAddAttr("theme_border", "CCCCCC"); GA_googleAddAttr("theme_url", "CC0000"); GA_googleAddAttr("LangId", "1"); GA_googleAddAttr("Autotag", "books"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "debunking"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "jessica-lynch"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "media-myths"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "watergate-myth"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "debunking"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "distortion"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "fact-checking"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "getting-it-wrong"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "iraq-war"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "jessica-lynch"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "journalism"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "new-york-times"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "washington-post"); GA_googleFillSlot("LD_ROS_300-WEB"); LD_GetBids(); Share this:PrintStumbleUponDiggRedditEmailFacebookTwitterLike this:LikeBe the first to like this post. « Before Misreporting Watergate August 20, 2011 […]

    Recalling who gave us the ‘manufactured heroism’ of Jessica Lynch « Media Myth Alert 22 August 2011 at 5am

  21. […] ‘Exquisitely researched and lively’ Share this:PrintStumbleUponDiggRedditEmailFacebookTwitterLike this:LikeBe the first to like this post. « Before Challenge the dominant narrative? Who, us? September 4, 2011 […]

    Recalling the 1960s ‘bra-burning days of women’s lib’ « Media Myth Alert 6 September 2011 at 4am

  22. […] ‘Exquisitely researched and lively’ LD_AddCustomAttr("AdOpt", "1"); LD_AddCustomAttr("Origin", "other"); LD_AddCustomAttr("theme_bg", "FFFFFF"); LD_AddCustomAttr("theme_text", "000000"); LD_AddCustomAttr("theme_link", "990000"); LD_AddCustomAttr("theme_border", "CCCCCC"); LD_AddCustomAttr("theme_url", "CC0000"); LD_AddCustomAttr("LangId", "1"); LD_AddCustomAttr("Autotag", "politics"); LD_AddCustomAttr("Tag", "cinematic-treatments"); LD_AddCustomAttr("Tag", "debunking"); LD_AddCustomAttr("Tag", "washington-post"); LD_AddCustomAttr("Tag", "watergate-myth"); LD_AddCustomAttr("Tag", "all-the-presidents-men"); LD_AddCustomAttr("Tag", "fact-checking"); LD_AddCustomAttr("Tag", "getting-it-wrong"); LD_AddCustomAttr("Tag", "history"); LD_AddCustomAttr("Tag", "journalism"); LD_AddCustomAttr("Tag", "nixon"); LD_AddCustomAttr("Tag", "scandal"); LD_AddCustomAttr("Tag", "washington-post"); LD_AddCustomAttr("Tag", "watergate"); LD_AddSlot("LD_ROS_300-WEB"); LD_GetBids(); Share this:PrintStumbleUponDiggRedditEmailFacebookTwitterLike this:LikeBe the first to like this post. « Before Carl Bernstein, at it again October 1, 2011 […]

    Made-up Watergate line, ‘follow the money,’ crosses into the news « Media Myth Alert 6 October 2011 at 4am

  23. […] ‘Exquisitely researched and lively’ […]

    Carl Bernstein, naive and over the top « Media Myth Alert 17 February 2012 at 2pm

  24. […] ‘Exquisitely researched and lively’ Share this:PrintStumbleUponDiggRedditEmailFacebookTwitterLike this:LikeBe the first to like this post. « Before How’s that? ‘Bra-burning’ influenced mid-1960s fashion? March 22, 2012 […]

    The ‘seismic cultural shifts’ of the 1960s: Protests, assassination — and bra-burning? « Media Myth Alert 25 March 2012 at 10am

  25. […] ‘Exquisitely researched and lively’ Share this:PrintStumbleUponDiggRedditEmailFacebookTwitterLike this:LikeBe the first to like this. « Before NYTimes ignores senior former AP journalists seeking correction on ‘napalm girl’ context August 17, 2012 […]

    Pardon the scoffing: NYT corrections desk is ‘a powerful engine of accountability’? « Media Myth Alert 26 August 2012 at 11am

  27. […] ‘Exquisitely researched and lively’ […]

    Debates are over, media myth lives on « Media Myth Alert 28 October 2012 at 12pm

  34. […] ‘Exquisitely researched and lively’ […]

    What was Rush Limbaugh talking about? | Media Myth Alert 13 September 2014 at 4pm

  35. […] The book and its screen version introduced the shadowy, conflicted character known as “Deep Throat,” whose identity was the subject of not-infrequent speculation over the years. That guessing game had the effect of keeping Woodward and Bernstein “in the public eye far longer than they otherwise would have been,” I pointed out  in Getting It Wrong. […]

    NYTimes Mag and the heroic-journalist myth of Watergate | Media Myth Alert 18 September 2014 at 3pm

Comments are closed.

%d bloggers like this: