Spin This!: All the Ways We Don't Tell the Truth
by:
Bill Maher (author)
Bill Press (author)
Spin -- intentional manipulation of the truth -- is everywhere. It's in the White House, in the courtrooms, in headlines and advertising slogans. Even couples on dates -- not to mention book blurbs -- are guilty of spin. Here, colorful news analyst Bill Press freeze-frames the culture of spin to...
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Spin -- intentional manipulation of the truth -- is everywhere. It's in the White House, in the courtrooms, in headlines and advertising slogans. Even couples on dates -- not to mention book blurbs -- are guilty of spin. Here, colorful news analyst Bill Press freeze-frames the culture of spin to investigate what exactly spin is, who does it and why, and its impact on American society. Using examples drawn from recent history -- the Clinton presidency, the Florida recount, and the Bush White House -- Press first probes spin's favorite haunt: politics. He then surveys incarnations of spin in journalism, law, and advertising, and chews on the spin of sex and "dating," a word that has become the very embodiment of spin. Perhaps surprisingly, however, Press argues that spin isn't all bad, and that without it the harsh truths of our times might be unbearable. With a keen sense of humor, Spin This! turns the tables on the prime purveyors of spin by highlighting some of their biggest blunders. Looking to the future, Press notes that the twenty-first century, beginning as it has with a president who was "spun into office," will be a fertile stomping ground for spin. Don't say you weren't warned.
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Format: paperback
ISBN:
9780743442688 (0743442687)
Publish date: November 1st 2002
Publisher: Atria Books
Pages no: 288
Edition language: English
Press gives us a roadmap to what is out there spin-wise, and even argues that not all spin is bad. But most is intended to misinform. It is highly illuminating.