Junk News: The Failure of the Media in the 21st Century

by Tom Fenton

In this salient critique of the American media, veteran journalist Tom Fenton exposes the dangerous failings of our news organizations and the fundamental problems with how they present world news. Junk News is a stirring call to reform the faltering “fourth estate” and to take the blinders off our citizens for the sake of our security

128 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Maria C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book I've read by Tom Fenton and his critique of the media in which he says that the media is not doing its job in reporting important stories. I have to say that one of the reason(s) that media is not doing its job is because in the old days of CBS/NBC etc., the public and the people in charge valued heroism, noble deeds. The public valued and found it virtous that reporters would risk their lives and limbs in far off lands and distant jungles (Vietnam). However, nowadays the public (whether management of nbc/cbs or the public) doesn't value / doesn't appreciate people (whether reporters who risk lives or limbs to report, or those that serve in the military, or those that serve in any public capacity (teachers/firemen/policemen, diplomats, etc.) or anything that is in the public sphere (bridges, parks). In the days when CBS reigned supreme, the public valued the "public sphere"--now the public finds those that work or provide service in the public sphere as just wasting peoples money. People who come from a culture that doesn't value heroism, noble deeds, public jobs/public duties, are in turn not going to report on truly public matters; except to report on the latest shark sightings or the latest feud in Hollywood.