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A Field Guide for Navigating Polarized Speech, Conspiracy Theories, and Our Polluted Media Landscape

Whitney Phillips and Ryan M. Milner
MIT Press, 2021

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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Controversial
  • Analytical
  • Eye Opening

Recommendation

Professors Whitney Phillips and Ryan M. Milner offer a ray of hope for overcoming the information pollution of the modern media landscape. They trace the history of disinformation, false news and conspiracy theories – from the “Satanic Panics” of the 1980s and 1990s to today’s QAnon conspiracy. The academic flavor of the writing means this is not a breezy read, but the insights are fascinating and often terrifying. Phillips and Milner conclude with steps you can take to counter the onslaught of polluted information that undermines the marketplace of ideas.

Take-Aways

  • Polluted information has triggered a crisis in the online media ecosystem. 
  • Innovations in media created the conditions for the spread of polluted information.
  • The internet developed around the classical liberal ideal of personal freedom.

About the Authors

Whitney Phillips is assistant professor in the Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies at Syracuse University. Ryan M. Milner is associate professor of communication at the College of Charleston.

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