Wow this is full of tons of information -- it is very detailed and researched. The information is interesting too. Anyone involved in media, journalism or communications will find this interesting. The elements of religion are insightful too. Many things in this book were eye opening and thought provoking.

Media, Journalism and Communication: A Student Guide
By Read Mercer Schuchardt


This student guide, explores the opportunities and hazards of modern communication, including news media from a Christian position.

It explores why media matters in a 24/7 news world and the role of social media in the age of global information warfare, before presenting a Christian perspective on identity in a digital world.

The facts remain that in the western world, children and adults spend more time being influenced by television and other forms of media, than any other factor. This book educates the reader to consider their use and engagement with media in a digital age.

The author highlights the dangers of media directing our thinking through reality television shows, and social media sites. The author claims that we have become desensitised and passive in the direct that media is taking us.

While the book provides a base for further study, it is a little confusing as to the purpose. It is a text to convince students, or a read to inform?

Thank you to Netgalley for providing a review copy in return for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

#Media,journalism,andCommunication #NetGalley

Reviewed by Heath Henwood
www.books-reviewed.weebly.com

Media, Journalism and Communication is the latest addition to Crossway’s Reclaiming the Christian Intellectual Tradition.

Schuchardt seems to be channelling Ellul in his critique of media. He provides pertinent and apposite warning of the proliferation and all-encompassing nature of the media. This is a warning that needs to be heard and taken on-board by all students.

It has often been said we can identify someone’s worldview by what they do rather than what they think. As Schuchardt points out:

‘When times are compared, our media consumption habits, in terms of hours spent, are far more holy to us than the Sabbath, by any stretch.’

The aim of the book is ‘ to make you a more conscious user, and a less susceptible usee’. The book certainly does that. He ably demonstrates the ubiquity of media and why it matters, particularly today:

‘In the past, media was something you picked up, used, and then put down to get on with your life. Now media is your life, or at least the way you access everything else necessary to get on with your life.’

So much so that media is shaping us into its image.

‘Emojis are the new hieroglyphics’

And

‘Txtng is the new Hbrw’

This book will help all who read it to better discern the ideologies and assumptions behind most media (clue: it’s usually mammon).

My only gripe with the book is that it focuses on the fallen aspects of technology. And it seems, following Ellul (?), that Schuchardt regards technology as a product of the fall and not creation.

‘There was no technology in this environment [Genesis 1] because in a perfect world, you cannot improve it by inventing any form of labor saving or time-saving devices.’

What we need then is a complementary book that deals with the creative and redemptive aspects of technology and media. Nonetheless, this is an important book that demands to be read by all students, and not just students of media.



Book website: https://www.crossway.org/books/media-journalism-and-communication-tpb/