Jonathan Rose

For the Internet and digital generation, the most basic human right is the freedom to read. The Web has indeed brought about a rapid and far-reaching revolution in reading, making a limitless global pool of literature and information available to anyone with a computer. At the same time, however, mostra altro the threats of censorship, surveillance, and mass manipulation through the media have grown apace. Readers' Liberation addresses questions that deeply concern everyone in the twenty-first century, and especially Millennials. What should we be reading? Can we trust what we read in the mass media? Can we use the Internet to find the truth out there? Is the Establishment out to deceive us and control our reading, and if so, what can we do about it? This book surveys the history of independent sceptical reading, from antiquity to the present. It tells the stories of heroic efforts at self-education by disadvantaged people in all parts of the world. It analyzes successful reading promotion campaigns throughout history (concluding with Oprah Winfrey) and explains why they succeeded. It also explores some disturbing current trends, such as the reported decay of attentive reading, the disappearance of investigative journalism, 'fake news', the growth of censorship, and the pervasive influence of advertisers and publicists on the media. Jonathan Rose is William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of History at Drew University. mostra meno