Scan barcode
thiswasatriumph's review against another edition
challenging
informative
slow-paced
3.0
While a useful history on a necessary topic, Mr. Burns was then badly in need of DEI training. His unironic use of the word “quadroon” to describe Sally Hemings, and his baffling avoidance of discussions of American slavery, damages this book’s legacy. To repeat without context racial labels commits a serious error; there were other instances than the aforementioned. That said, his book I think was meant as an apology for Fox News at the time, but now reads like a castigation of everything present in alternative media today. That is a useful message.
theartolater's review
5.0
I haven't had this much fun with a nonfiction history book in almost a year. Talk about a guy who has a deep, sincere reverence for what he's writing about, yet knows not to take it ''too'' seriously. He had just the right balance of research and snark to make this an excellent book. I recommend this to everyone. Seriously.
tee_tuhm's review against another edition
4.0
I was surprised to learn that author Eric Burns worked both for FOX and MSNBC, but he has such delightful storytelling in this book that it made me forget how much I struggle through history books. I'm just bummed that the "rowdy beginnings of American journalism" started out with honest attempts to cover politics and community happenings, but degenerated into questioning and demeaning politicians' character, that anyone with a press and a grudge could simply churn out a periodical.
jgauthier's review against another edition
3.0
The first newspapers in the New World were a potent political force, pushing the colonies toward the fight for independence and later dividing the citizens of the nascent United States into squabbling factions of the sort we are still well acquainted with today.
Burns follows the history of the colonies up to the 19th century, stopping regularly to point out the influence of journalists and their targets in every major event. Each significant conflict or scandal, it seems, was fueled or at least exacerbated by the extremely active and partisan press of the times.
3 stars: Worth a read to get a new perspective on the American Revolution and the early United States.
Burns follows the history of the colonies up to the 19th century, stopping regularly to point out the influence of journalists and their targets in every major event. Each significant conflict or scandal, it seems, was fueled or at least exacerbated by the extremely active and partisan press of the times.
3 stars: Worth a read to get a new perspective on the American Revolution and the early United States.
More...