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4.34 AVERAGE
4.34 AVERAGE
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
This is a journalist's take on disinformation and social media, the power of the press and every responsible citizen's role in ensuring that truth shall prevail.
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
slow-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Maria Ressa brilliantly details the attacks on the media by the Duterte administration and how social media has been allowed to displace fact-checked journalism. while also providing advice on how to push back against these trends
Maria Ressa is an admirable person, and her diligence and courage in standing up for journalism in the face of authoritarian government persecution is impressive, to say the least. For anyone interested in her story, I’d recommend this book.
I hope the despicable Duterte, along with his successors, read this book (and this review) and recognize that they are squarely on the wrong side of history. Their inane greed and inexplicable hunger for power make them antagonists in direct opposition to a successful human society. Likewise I expect Zuckerberg and other tech leaders to realize that they are wrong to pretend that their policies are not enabling these pathetic authoritarians. For this they deserve some of the responsibility for the results. Making money is not as important as making the world a better place.
The revelation that social media is being harnessed by malicious jerks to influence public opinion is probably the best part of the book, though also the most depressing. These immoral people are also to blame for damage to human society, and in fact, so are all those who allow themselves to be influenced by online lies without fact checking the propaganda.
Having said all that, I have to admit that biographies are not a favorite genre of mine, and much of this book is indeed simply an autobiography. Not only that, I found Ressa’s writing, to be, strangely, for a journalist, just okay. Her passion and inner struggle come through clearly enough, but the way the story is conveyed is not as polished as might be expected, and the resulting narrative falls a bit flat for me.
So, as a source of information about an important ethical leader and the events she’s been involved in, this book is absolutely worth reading. As an enjoyable reading experience, for me, it’s less so.
I hope the despicable Duterte, along with his successors, read this book (and this review) and recognize that they are squarely on the wrong side of history. Their inane greed and inexplicable hunger for power make them antagonists in direct opposition to a successful human society. Likewise I expect Zuckerberg and other tech leaders to realize that they are wrong to pretend that their policies are not enabling these pathetic authoritarians. For this they deserve some of the responsibility for the results. Making money is not as important as making the world a better place.
The revelation that social media is being harnessed by malicious jerks to influence public opinion is probably the best part of the book, though also the most depressing. These immoral people are also to blame for damage to human society, and in fact, so are all those who allow themselves to be influenced by online lies without fact checking the propaganda.
Having said all that, I have to admit that biographies are not a favorite genre of mine, and much of this book is indeed simply an autobiography. Not only that, I found Ressa’s writing, to be, strangely, for a journalist, just okay. Her passion and inner struggle come through clearly enough, but the way the story is conveyed is not as polished as might be expected, and the resulting narrative falls a bit flat for me.
So, as a source of information about an important ethical leader and the events she’s been involved in, this book is absolutely worth reading. As an enjoyable reading experience, for me, it’s less so.
Maria Ressa has led an extraordinary life. I just found it a bit long and so much information to absorb.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
I never went back to my grandparents’ house or to school. One day, they were my world. The next day, they weren’t. The door to that world was forever shut, and a new reality opened. I was ten years old.
Since 2019, I’ve invariably been asked by interviewers why I choose to come back to the Philippines, and my response is simple: there is no other choice.
My voice broke then, so I repeated the sentence. “I want to make sure that I have done all I can. We will not duck. We will not hide. We will hold the line.”
Whether we are cancer survivors, patients, or totally healthy individuals, we actually die a little every day, they told her. Each day lived is also another day never to be repeated. Now all we ask is to spend our remaining days with significance.
Over the coming years, as I stood up to the most powerful officials attacking us, people asked me how I found the courage. “It’s easy,” I would often reply. “I have the facts.”
A very important read that made me furious, emotional, frustrated, and hopeful.
I highly recommend this for everyone to read.
I highly recommend this for everyone to read.
•••
My rating system
5 🌟 - Life-changing, a new favorite read
4 ⭐ - I loved it. There were parts, though, that I didn't like.
3 ⭐ - I liked it the most common star rating I give.
2 ⭐ - It was okay, but I wouldn't reread it again.
1 ⭐ - I hated it but decided not to DNF.
Note: I don't rate memoirs or autobiographies.
My rating system
5 🌟 - Life-changing, a new favorite read
4 ⭐ - I loved it. There were parts, though, that I didn't like.
3 ⭐ - I liked it the most common star rating I give.
2 ⭐ - It was okay, but I wouldn't reread it again.
1 ⭐ - I hated it but decided not to DNF.
Note: I don't rate memoirs or autobiographies.