Trust Me, I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator

by Ryan Holiday

Perhaps you remember Terry Jones, the idiotic pastor whose burning of the Koran led to riots that killed nearly thirty people in Afghanistan. Jones’s bigotry happened to trade up the chain perfectly, and the media unwittingly allowed it. Jones first made a name for himself in the local Florida press by running offensive billboards in front of his church. Then he stepped it up, announcing that he planned to stage a burning of the Koran. This story was picked up by a small website called Religion News Service. Yahoo! linked to their short article, and dozens of blogs followed, which led CNN to invite Jones to appear on the network. He was now a national story. Yet the media and the public, aware of the potential implications of airing video of his act, began to push back. Many decided they would not air such a video. Some five hundred people attended a protest in Kabul where they burned Jones in effigy. At the last second Jones, under pressure, backed down, and the crisis was averted.