According to certain media personalities, pundits, politicians, and clergymen, the United States faces an enemy who threatens to unravel the social fabric. That enemy has a name, and that name is antifa. In recent weeks rumors proliferated how busloads of antifa anarchists were on their way to small towns across Continue Reading
Media Studies
Propaganda Model of the Media
In an environment when one is blasted at all sides with distorted, biased, and invented news, it is more important than ever to be an educated consumer of information. In communication theory, there is a powerful model of the media that explains how market forces shape the news we receive. Continue Reading
Manufactured Outrage and the War on Christmas
This Christmas season, I noticed how often I was greeted with “Merry Christmas!” as if I was being challenged or tested. Having recently returned from living abroad for six years, I found such encounters bizarre. Then, I read The Outrage Industry: Political Opinion Media and the New Incivility by Berry Continue Reading