If the title of the first chapter of this book resonates, “How To Know What To Believe Anymore,” then add Blur: How to Know What’s True in the Age of Information Overload to your reading list for 2011. Written by two seasoned journalists, this work brings clarity to the process of navigating the rapidly changing, and often confusing, information landscape today. Bill Kovach (former Washington bureau chief of the New York Times and founder of the Committee of Concerned Journalists) and Tom Rosenstiel (former Congressional correspondent for Newsweek and director of Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism) provide guidelines for identifying the truth in what you read. Check out Blur to learn how to practice active skepticism and the skill of verification in your daily media consumption. (Loop Library, 070.9 K666B)
Deciphering the truth in media coverage of environmental issues is becoming increasingly difficult. Stakeholders in the debate range from grassroots activists to corporations, with initiatives and policies being implemented on the state, local, national, and international levels. In Media & Environment: Conflicts, Politics and the News, Dr. Libby Lester explores the influence of media on environmental politics. International in scope, this book examines the roles of communication and responsibility in environmental decision-making. (Loop Library, 302.23 L6426M)
Leon Barkho compares the coverage of the Middle East by three of the largest media networks: Al-Jazeera, CNN, and the BBC in this book. Barkho brings experience as both an academic and a journalist to his research, which focuses primarily on the Iraq War and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Through the use of Critical Discourse Analysis (social and linguistic theory), he explores how these three networks shape and influence our interpretation of these conflicts. News from the BBC, CNN, and Al-Jazeera: How the Three Broadcasters Cover the Middle East dispels the notion of objectivity in the reporting by these three corporations. (Loop Library, 070.4 B2559N)