The habits of highly deceptive media : decoding spin and lies in mainstream news

In this collection of courageously irreverent columns, critic Norman Solomon details the most recent excesses and failures of America’s self-censoring mainstream media. The “deceptions” of the media that he alludes to are not simply those that have to do with selectivity of sources or an obvious imbalance in the information offered but also those more clever forms of media distortion that derive from subtle shadings in the use of words, the preferential use of favorable modifiers, and the calculated instruments of denigration. A Collection Of Seventy-five Critical Columns On The Media By Syndicated Columnist Norman Solomon. Consolidating Media Power -- Shrugging Off Workers -- Giving Short Shrift To The Poor -- Newspeaking -- Maintaining The Punditocracy -- Deferring To Elites -- Dancing To Money Tunes -- Wallowing In Some Scandals, Dodging Others -- Selective Spinning For Politicians -- Confining By Race -- Fixating On Fame -- Worshipping Media Heroes, Old And New -- Expelling Heretics From Media Temples -- Shilling For Profitable Hypocrisy -- Picking And Choosing The World's Human Rights -- Boosting Corporate-backed Think Tanks -- Promoting Serious Absurdity. Norman Solomon. Includes Index. Discusses forms of media distortion and deception from the use of subtle shadings of words, the use of favorable modifiers, and the instruments of denigration