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4.34 AVERAGE
4.34 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
A must-read for anyone who follows Zuckerberg's refusal to acknowledge how governments are using Facebook to influence elections and the people. Incredible read. The first half is a slow build-up, but serves to establish Ressa's career and credentials.
This is a manifesto per modern times. The book is as inspiring as Maria. Her personal story is perfectly balanced with the description of the situation of the Philipiness and a global message on the importance of journalism, democracy, information, the challenges big techs are bringing to the infosphere combined with a call to activism. Her humbleness really transpires from the book and how she found her way to fight for her country and find her voice as a woman, journalist, editor, activist and citizen.
Well written autobiography that pulls you along. Ressa is undeniably an excellent story teller.
challenging
informative
reflective
fast-paced
Content Warnings
Minor: Cancer
I beg journalists to read this and ask themselves where they have compromised their integrity. For us in the general public we need to hold these tech companies accountable for their part in masking the truth.
dark
informative
reflective
slow-paced
I never would have heard of this book if it weren’t for my book club so I’m very glad this ended up on my radar! Because it was SO enlightening to read while the TikTok ban and the inauguration were happening in the background.
Maria is a queer Filipino American journalist who runs a news website Rappler in the Philippines. She won the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to bring FACTS back to journalism in a country run by a fascists dictator. Sound familiar?
That’s cuz the Philippines and America are not that far off in lots of ways. One being that, after Americans, Filipinos are the number one users of Facebook. And social media is a tool manipulated by their violence-seeking president…sound familiar??
I found it so eye opening to read this book about how social media can be manipulated by the people not only in charge of it, but they can make it worse! It all reminded me of the recent TikTok ban and how the app seems to be changing after its “savior” came to rescue us 🙄
My only issues were with the sometimes dense and statistical writing style, which just made my eyes glaze over, more of a me problem. I also feel like after we got to the founding of her news site we loss the more intimate part of her memoir, about her personal stories. Which could indicate that she was a workaholic of course but it just seem to grow personally detached over the course of the book. This also could have been to put some distance between her and this recent trauma of always fearing an arrest.
But this book was amazing and I highly recommend it!
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
She’s a fascinating lady. And I admire her. But the title is misleading. This is a memoir. There was no real “how to take on a dictator” wisdom.
informative
fast-paced