Review in Fall 2011 Atlantic Books Today
Media Mediocrity–Waging War Against Science
How the Television Makes Us Stoopid!
The cover of Richard Zurawski’s new book, Media Mediocrity, contains a sly bit of fun in its subtitle. “How the television makes us stooped!” it proclaims. The internet-savvy reader recognizes the curious spelling of “stupid” as a reference to the rise of instant texting, messaging and the inability of many people to spell even ordinary words correctly. While the title might make us smile, the immaterial inside this book is far more explosive, serious…and important to read.
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:”Table Normal”;
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:”“;
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:”Times New Roman”;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
Many people know Zurawski as the amiable meteorologist who has been on many television stations, or perhaps as host of a children’s science program called “Wonder Why” which ran for several seasons on Atlantic stations. He’s currently the on-air meteorologist for several private radio stations, but also is a documentary film producer, university lecturer and passionate advocate for putting the science back into science reporting in the media. His newest book, following several well-received books on Maritime weather and climate change, takes huge issue with the way science has been dumbed down in media reporting, particularly on television.
“Big Business and Big Media have become inseparable,” Zurawski writes, backing this up with some of the myriad clever ways tobacco companies, neoconservative politicians and religious fundamentalists have been able to insert their agendas into media reporting. As he points out, one doesn’t have to be literate to watch television, and the unfortunate truth is that four out of five viewers get their science “knowledge” from watching television. With many television networks dropping their science reporters and dumping the workload onto already overworked general reporters who aren’t able to think critically about the subjects they’re called on to report, it’s easy for information to be manipulated into something palatable for the masses.
Zurawski must feel sometimes like Cassandra, crying a warning in the wilderness but unheeded by far too man. He posits no easy answers because educating ourselves with actual scientific facts and information can be difficult - the topic of global warming being a prime example. Learning to think critically, especially in a climate where critical thinking is attacked by opponents as being “naysaying” and “against progress”, is also no easy task. Zuraswki ends his book by writing that he hopes his work has been one small step in changing the way television presents science news for the better. Media Mediocrity is well-worth reading - Jodi DeLong, Atlantic Books Today, Fall 2011