Brooke Gladstone - The Influencing Machine

Praise for THE INFLUENCING MACHINE Hilarious and levelheaded. The New Yorker One of the coolest and most charming book releases of this year.... [T]hink The Information meets The Medium is the Massage meets Everything Explained Through Flowcharts.... The Influencing Machine takes a refreshingly alternative approach to the age-old issue of why we disparage and distrust the news. Kirstin Butler, The Atlantic This is one of those books that feels like the author has been working up to it for her whole life, distilling all her varied experience and insight into one mind-opening, thought-provoking, and incredibly timely volume.... An absolutely spectacular read.

Cory Doctorow, BoingBoing Exhaustively researched, elegantly argued, and stylishly illustrated by Neufeld in a way that gives a guiding simplicity to even its headiest ideas, The Influencing Machine is a singular piece of contemporary media criticism. John Semley, The A.V. Club NPRs Gladstone is so remarkable as a commentator, and Neufeld so brilliant as a graphic artist, that all you can do is laugh and be amazed at the clarity of her commentary. Lena Tabori, Huffpost Books Enthralling. Ray Olson, Booklist The Influencing Machine is more than graphic nonfiction. Its a media studies course in itself.

Cartoon Movement Gladstone... and noted illustrator Neufeld... make a formidable pair in this fascinating history of medias influence.... An indispensible guide to our ever-evolving media landscape thats brought vividly to life. Publishers Weekly , starred review Gladstone has nailed it by opting for a comic-book format for her first book, The Influencing Machine ; the images work as a puckish counterpoint to occasionally abstract discussions, as well as sobering reminders of the real-world consequences of the medias misdeeds. Laura Miller, Salon Though the graphic format employed here is often playful and always reader friendly, this analysis of contemporary journalism is as incisive as it is entertaining, while offering a lesson on good citizenship through savvy media consumption.

Kirkus Reviews , starred review Neufeld uses expressionistic panels to tease complexity out of Gladstones sharp point. Dan Kois, New York Times The Influencing Machine is an indispensable guidebook for anyone who hopes to navigate the mirages and constantly shifting sands of our media landscape. Brooke Gladstones text and Josh Neufelds images illuminate one another with crackling wit and intelligence. Alison Bechdel, author of Fun Home and The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For Brooke Gladstones The Influencing Machine is so remarkable that it is hard to describe. The best I can do is: its a book about the history and current controversies of the media, all done as a Spiegelman-style comic-strip narrative. Brooke herself (or at least an avatar) leads you through it all, and her voicewell known after her years as host of NPRs On the Media comes through loud and clear, thanks to Josh Neufelds witty drawings.

I learned a lot, including a lot that I should have known already, and enjoyed every minute. Michael Kinsley A first-rate comics manifesto. The Influencing Machine has influenced me to think much more deeply about the media landscape we live in. Gladstone and Neufeld can show and tell with the best of em. Scott McCloud, author of Understanding Comics Think Art Spiegelman meets Marshall McLuhan. Leon Neyfakh, New York Observer The Influencing Machine seems birthed from the same graphic novel universe as Daniel Clowes, Harvey Pekar and the Hernandez brothers with their skeptical, soulful slackers and alt-take on the world.

Felicia Feaster, Arts Critic ATL A visual tour de force. John Pavlus An incisive and engaging look at the mainstream media, its evolution and its biases. Time Out New York Often brilliant and always thought-provoking. Graphic Novel Reporter A great book. Stephen Colbert THE INFLUENCING MACHINE Copyright 2021, 2011 by Brooke Gladstone and Josh Neufeld With additional penciling by Randy Jones and Susann Ferris-Jones All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America First published as a Norton paperback 2012; reissued 2021 For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions, W. W.

Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110 For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact W. W. Norton Special Sales at specialsales@wwnorton.com or 800-233-4830 Manufacturing by LSC Crawfordsville Book design by Neil Swaab Production manager: Anna Oler The Library of Congress has cataloged a previous edition as follows: Gladstone, Brooke. The influencing machine : Brooke Gladstone on the media / illustrated by Josh Neufeld ; with additional penciling by Randy Jones and Susann Ferris-Jones. 1st ed. cm. cm.

Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-0-393-07779-7 (hardcover) 1. JournalismComic books, strips, etc. 2. Broadcast journalismComic books, strips, etc. 3.

Gladstone, BrookeComic books, strips, etc. 4. Graphic novels. I. Neufeld, Josh. II.

Jones, Randy, 1950 III. Jones, Susann. IV. Title. PN4731.G53 2011 302.23dc22 2011009820 ISBN: 978-0-393-54157-1 pbk. W. W.

Norton & Company, Inc. 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10110 www.wwnorton.com W. W. Norton & Company Ltd. G. G.

To Sari and Phoebe J. N. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION We hunger for objectivity, but increasingly swallow news like Jell-O shots in ad hoc cyber-saloons. We marinate in punditry seasoned with only those facts and opinions we can digest without cognitive distress. Sometimes we feel a little queasy about itqueasiness we project back onto the media. But we dont really get agitated until we encounter the other guys media.

Those guys are consuming lies. They are getting juiced up. Their media diet is making them stupid. What if our media choices are making us stupid? What if theyre shortening our attention span, exciting our lusts, eroding our values, hobbling our judgment? Ive been reporting on the media for some 25 years, apparently none of them good years. The concentration of media ownership, the blurring of news and opinion, the yawning news hole (theres teeth in there!) created by 24-hour news cycles... shriveled foreign coverage... liberal bias...conservative bias... celebrities... scandal... echo chambers... arrogance... elitism... influencers with no standards ... influencers with no standards ...

Ive seen newspapers, often the sole watchdogs of state and local government, wink out like spent Christmas lights, and business models that relied on mass audiences swiftly displaced by ones that thrive by aggregating millions of audience fragments.