Ctrl Alt Delete: How Politics and the Media Crashed Our Democracy

by Tom Baldwin

We all know something has gone people hate politics, loathe the media and are now scared of each other too. Journalist and one-time senior political advisor Tom Baldwin tells the riveting--often terrifying--story of how a tidal wave of information overwhelmed democracy's sandcastle defenses against extremism and falsehood.

Ctrl Alt Delete exposes the struggle for control between a rapacious 24-hour media and terrified politicians that has loosened those leaders' grip on truth as the internet rips the ground out from under them. It explains how dependency on data, algorithms and digital technology brought about the rise of the Alt Right, the Alt Left and a triumphant army of trolls driving people apart. And it warns of the rise of those threatening to delete what remains of resurgent populists in Westminster, the White House and the Kremlin, but also--just as often--liberals fearful of mob rule.

This is an explosive, brutally honest and sometimes funny account of what we all got wrong, and how to put it right again. It will change the way you look at the world--and especially the everyday technology that crashed our democracy.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction

320 pages, Hardcover

Published March 1, 2019

Reviews

[Dan Nolting · Rating 5 out of 5]

A case-by-case study - with first-hand sources, of how small communities’ local journalism got bullied-out, in favor of vacuous corporate echo chambers, blindsiding national referendums and electorates with shady and ill-informed results. Culminating on how the
Populist campaign managers and their superior data analysts seize on this opportunity, paving the way for the more scrupulous politicians who will now try to mandate this stupification.
An unfortunate growing pain of a relatively young internet? Or a one-time global brain-fart? Hard to say, but the writing is superfluous and charming in a highly informative manner.

[Neil H · Rating 5 out of 5]

OK, let me preface my saying I know nuts about the UK political scene. So all those tories, Conservatives, Labour and whatnot means zilch to me. But, I do know the chaos spinning from the boon of the net as a defensive, reconnaissance project for the Vietnam war to its current fledgling of seismic tremors with nobody to stir its countless rudders. Let's start with Ctrl - how the initial floats of net awareness attracts those who wants to control the narratives via incipient technologies. Those technocrats and idealists seeking to right the world in a new fashion of digital babylon. ALT - The simmerings of the right field blisters to the surface and attracts the corresponding left now labelled the alt left/right. How the net has given form to a form of myopic, tunneling vision of tribal and provocative war of words. What this has led to traditional media getting its unregulated fixes and profit turnovers on the digital realm unharnesed towards click baits and a rise to first reporting. The dumbing down of fact checking. Professional journalist increasingly tasked for not what benefits the knowledge and form for democracy. Our robbed attention for the monoliths of Web masters mining our data and not being accountable to anyone aside from capitalistic gains says tons about a system gone wrong. A system that demands constant vigilance of its vagaries and how we will respond to its influences. The elections of the US, UK and Far East have demonstrated that a laissez faire continuance will spell the worst not just for democracy but the erosion of our system one thinking. We have to empower supranational oversight into the liberties afforded to these corporations.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book describes the last 30 years of British and US media history from the perspective of a British journalist and Labor party organizer. The title “Ctrl Alt Delete” is two thirds apt because half the book is about the struggle for control between the increasingly antagonistic and hyperbolic press and the political establishment during the 1990s while the second half is about the replacement of mass print by targeted internet media and the successive innovations in propaganda resulting in a series of unexpected political results. Part three, “Delete”, which promises solutions to help reboot media’s role in democracy turns out to be mostly more description of the problem with about three pages devoted to possible solutions. So, if you are interested in a British insider view of the downfall of impartial media over the last 30 years, this is an entertaining informative book with a wealth of footnotes as well as extensive new material from extensive interviews of important media and political figures by the author. If you are interested solutions, the book mentions occasional glimmers of hope such as the tiny British Full Fact charity with semi-automated fact checking loosely integrated with news.google. Or, read the last few pages for a few more encompassing solutions such as forcing Facebooks and Google to earn their keep with subscription rather than advertising to avoid conflict of interest

[Michel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Voor iedereen die zich zorgen maakt over filterbubbels, het dalende vertrouwen in politiek en media en meer wil weten over geschiedenis en achtergrond hiervan.

Erg interessante uiteenzetting over hoe de media door opkomst van online en de 24hour news channels vecht om de aandacht van de consument/burger, hoe politiek mede door die media en nieuwe digitale mogelijkheden het nieuws steeds meer probeerde te sturen en hoe de nieuwe online technieken zorgen voor steeds verdere polarisatie. Veel goede links naar onderzoeken. Het boek focust voornamelijk op politiek in UK (Brexit en general elections) en US (Bush, Clinton, Obama, Trump). Vooral UK deel is soms wat moeilijker te volgen als buitenstaander.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

a humble, yet perceptive and important book - these are issues affecting us all even as we may long to escape thinking about them. baldwin is well-informed across anglo-american arenas, with a lobby journalist's talent for eliciting the goods from both those he agrees with and those he doesn't. he is a humane, fine-hearted guide to this time of teetering democracy, with an elegant turn of phrase and a peerless sense of humour.

if i had to criticise, i would say its excellent critique isn't matched be detailed proposals for improvement (a thankless quest), and extending the analysis beyond the US and UK may depend on other writers (though i suspect versions of the same problems). it could be that TB was rushed as he is now an important actor in the battle against brexit. god bless him.

[Stephen Brough · Rating 5 out of 5]

A timely analysis of the way we and our politics are being manipulated - and screwed in the process. So hats off to Tom Baldwin for his thoughtful analysis into the way social media is being used to enormous effect to spread fake news and division; how a decline in local media has made the problem worse; how facts-based media struggle against popular prejudice and intolerance; and how, as has ever been the case, there are news organisations like Fox and the Daily Mail who have their own agendas and own version of the truth. Packed with facts and anecdotal evidence, this is such a timely book for anyone who cares about the future of democracy.

[Tim Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tom is a left wing (Labour supporting) journalist in the United Kingdom (UK). He takes you on a tour of how social media has and is influencing politics. The book is extremely well researched with links back to his base data. Tom does not hide is "bias" and in fact uses the fact that he used to work for the Labour Party as a "strength". In other words he can talk about it as he was there. As long as you are happy with his left wing view and understand UK politics the book is OK. If you live out the UK or are not keen on the left wing bias you IMHO will struggle.

[Daniel Lambauer · Rating 3 out of 5]

After the raving reviews I was hoping for a bit more. Most of the book is stories and facts already known brought together interspersed with some interviews. there is also not really a conclusion as to what we can all do next? however the book confirms how the media already before social media ascent was polarising society paving the way for the modern echo chambers that FB and others fuel. A sad story with an unclear ending...

[Nicholas Katers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Baldwin does a good job of identifying how the trend toward global democracies that improve the lives of people short-circuited in the early 21st century. I think there was a little bit of both-sideism in comparing alt-right and alt-left online movements (both exist but the right has held much more sway) and time has made his analysis seem naive or insufficient. However, I think it remains a good history of recent political, social, and technological trends.

[Calista Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

What makes this book so powerful is Baldwin’s ability to balance rigorous analysis with storytelling that’s both witty and alarming. He doesn’t just point fingers, he shows how politicians, journalists, and ordinary citizens alike became trapped in a feedback loop of outrage and misinformation. His writing is crisp, engaging, and laced with dark humor that keeps you hooked even as you realize the magnitude of what’s gone wrong.

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

The title says it all: it's "our" something and a conspiracy through which "they" are doing something bad to something "we" have. Oh, and democracy is when the speaker's gang gets to tell others what to do, because that's the best way.

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.

[Mills College Library]

302.23 B1828 2018

[Rosaline Weaver]

Here is a journalist who realises the terrible damage the old world media has done to the general public's trust. He can see the media has damaged democracy with their cavalier approach to feeding the masses click bait. He lists a great many offences that recent politicians and the journalists have done to the people.

However, you can't help but get the sense that he himself views the general public as a great body of water that can be sloshed about at will by the powers that be. He seems very captivated by those powers.