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1.0 out of 5 stars
What a disappointment!, 1 Jul 1999
By A Customer
I don't ever recall being more disappointed with a book that I agreed with.Dr. Sommerville begins with an interesting thesis: people are being exposed to more and more news "product" cranked out by an industry that depends upon daily publication or broadcast, regardless of the significance of what is being reported. They are, consequently, unable to discern what is truly significant and are distracted from "wisdom." Unfortunately, Sommerville fails to really develop his own thesis. Instead he delivers a rather cranky indictment of the news industry. He devotes a page at the beginning of each chapter to reprinting contradictory headlines to prove that news people don't really know what they are talking about. While these might make an amusing addition to Jay Leno's "Headlines" segment on The Tonight Show, they do seem out of place in a book that invites us to return to wisdom. If Sommerville would examine all news headlines, he would undoubtedly find that most are in agreement, undermining the very point he is trying to make. He might also find that books written by historians after years of research and reflection, do, sometimes, disagree with each other. A more useful book on this topic might give guidance on establishing a healthy balance between intake of news and other sources of "wisdom." It might suggest ways of reading news with the perspective that solid historical grounding and developed critical skills provide. Unfortunately Sommerville is too busy ranting to make a more significant contribution. Sommerville argues that once the news business has set up its "machinery" it needs to run it on a regular basis to be profitable. Perhaps InterVarsity Press faces the same economic reality. The publication of this book certainly suggests that is the case. He also suggests that we judge the value of newspapers by storing them away for some weeks, months, or years and then reading them. Why not wait five or ten years before ordering this book?
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