Bad News: How Woke Media Is Undermining Democracy
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- Create Date：2022-01-04 08:52:20
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Batya Ungar-Sargon
- ISBN：1641772069
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Summary
Something is wrong with American journalism。 Long before “fake news” became the calling card of the Right， Americans had lost faith in their news media。 But lately， the feeling that something is off has become impossible to ignore。 That’s because the majority of our mainstream news is no longer just liberal; it’s woke。 Today’s newsrooms are propagating radical ideas that were fringe as recently as a decade ago， including “antiracism，” intersectionality， open borders， and critical race theory。 How did this come to be？
It all has to do with who our news media is written by―and who it is written for。 In Bad News: How Woke Media Is Undermining Democracy， Batya Ungar-Sargon reveals how American journalism underwent a status revolution over the twentieth century―from a blue-collar trade to an elite profession。 As a result， journalists shifted their focus away from the working class and toward the concerns of their affluent， highly educated peers。 With the rise of the Internet and the implosion of local news， America’s elite news media became nationalized and its journalists affluent and ideological。 And where once business concerns provided a countervailing force to push back against journalists’ worst tendencies， the pressures of the digital media landscape now align corporate incentives with newsroom crusades。
The truth is， the moral panic around race， encouraged by today’s elite newsrooms， does little more than consolidate the power of liberal elites and protect their economic interests。 And in abandoning the working class by creating a culture war around identity， our national media is undermining American democracy。 Bad News explains how this happened， why it happened， and the dangers posed by this development if it continues unchecked。
It all has to do with who our news media is written by―and who it is written for。 In Bad News: How Woke Media Is Undermining Democracy， Batya Ungar-Sargon reveals how American journalism underwent a status revolution over the twentieth century―from a blue-collar trade to an elite profession。 As a result， journalists shifted their focus away from the working class and toward the concerns of their affluent， highly educated peers。 With the rise of the Internet and the implosion of local news， America’s elite news media became nationalized and its journalists affluent and ideological。 And where once business concerns provided a countervailing force to push back against journalists’ worst tendencies， the pressures of the digital media landscape now align corporate incentives with newsroom crusades。
The truth is， the moral panic around race， encouraged by today’s elite newsrooms， does little more than consolidate the power of liberal elites and protect their economic interests。 And in abandoning the working class by creating a culture war around identity， our national media is undermining American democracy。 Bad News explains how this happened， why it happened， and the dangers posed by this development if it continues unchecked。
Reviews
Michelle Pollino
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This is the book ll of America needs to read right now。
Timothy Schmidt
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The only criticism I can place on the book is that it overlooks society's penchant for wanting the best of something without having to pay for it。 This can relate to media choices， infrastructure that can help the working and middle classes， information acquisition， and even jobs/careers。 Blaming the media for false and rhetorical information is one side of the coin， also holding Americans accountable for their own echo chambers is the other。 In many cases， Americans made their own bed in how an The only criticism I can place on the book is that it overlooks society's penchant for wanting the best of something without having to pay for it。 This can relate to media choices， infrastructure that can help the working and middle classes， information acquisition， and even jobs/careers。 Blaming the media for false and rhetorical information is one side of the coin， also holding Americans accountable for their own echo chambers is the other。 In many cases， Americans made their own bed in how and where they digest information， that is not just the media's fault。 。。。more
Sandra
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Scathing and brilliant。 - MeIt's the class， stupid。 - Also me Scathing and brilliant。 - MeIt's the class， stupid。 - Also me 。。。more
Dan
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Ignore the title， which almost knee-jerk response comes across that this book will be some sort of far right wing， ultra conservative denunciation of progressives and elites。 It comes more from a center-left position， and opines， in my view correctly， that the woke approach of labeling any dissent as racist， homophobic， transphobic， or misogynistic， is unintentionally leading， and will continue to lead， to a failure of liberal politics。 Ungar-Sargon takes the position that much of what is labele Ignore the title， which almost knee-jerk response comes across that this book will be some sort of far right wing， ultra conservative denunciation of progressives and elites。 It comes more from a center-left position， and opines， in my view correctly， that the woke approach of labeling any dissent as racist， homophobic， transphobic， or misogynistic， is unintentionally leading， and will continue to lead， to a failure of liberal politics。 Ungar-Sargon takes the position that much of what is labeled as one of the -isms is a veneer over classism， and that that is intentional on the part of much of a very specific media elite （the history of which takes up the majority of the book）， and unintentional on the part of ordinary， but well meaning people， who end up， instead of engaging in the actual issues around classism， racism， various phobias， etc。， do little more than virtue signal how guilty they feel about it all， and condescend to various minorities by， more or less， proclaiming themselves as the saviors of those minorities， simply by embracing their own complicity。 。。。more
JustEvan
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I was dying to give this book 5 stars because it's very needed。 First of all， it's a great companion to Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America。 Lots of great history and information。 It's always nice to see someone on the left start to change their viewpoint。 But， at the end of the day， Ungar-Sargon is still a creature of the left， so she still accepts without question some of the main canards of the leftist press without question。 The most blatant one is Trump's racism， incl I was dying to give this book 5 stars because it's very needed。 First of all， it's a great companion to Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America。 Lots of great history and information。 It's always nice to see someone on the left start to change their viewpoint。 But， at the end of the day， Ungar-Sargon is still a creature of the left， so she still accepts without question some of the main canards of the leftist press without question。 The most blatant one is Trump's racism， including the easily disproven claim that he was averse to disavowing white supremacy。 Something he did unequivocally dozens of times。 I'd call it a work in progress。 。。。more
Bob
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Garbage polemic pretending to be from a left perspective。 It's real purpose is to deploy rhetoric about the working class as a smokescreen for the usual reactionary concerns: unhinged & decontextualized fear-mongering about immigrants， criminals， antisemites， & dense European philosophies lurking around every corner to afflict a working class that the writer repeatedly asserts， w/o evidence， is economically & socially conservative。 The first half of the book's populist history of US journalism i Garbage polemic pretending to be from a left perspective。 It's real purpose is to deploy rhetoric about the working class as a smokescreen for the usual reactionary concerns: unhinged & decontextualized fear-mongering about immigrants， criminals， antisemites， & dense European philosophies lurking around every corner to afflict a working class that the writer repeatedly asserts， w/o evidence， is economically & socially conservative。 The first half of the book's populist history of US journalism is interesting but not reliable given how myopic & blinkered the writer's coverage of other topics， like European & Afro-American intellectual history， are。Wokeness is a hollow & hypocritical discourse that liberal elites use to hoard virtue， exclude the multiracial working class， retrench the US's sham meritocracy， & fail to do anything to address the nation's grotesque social & economic inequalities。 All of that can be easily admitted w/o carrying water， as the writer does， for the agendas of conservatives elites （further militarization of the border & police， perpetual military support for Israel's apartheid， tax cuts & student debt hawkery， &c。， all in the name of the working class）。 。。。more
Stuart
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This book should be listed as science fiction and fantasy。 The hard right of America desperately wants to believe that journalism steeped in facts and science is “fake” so that it can continue to cling to Trumpian “alternative facts” and ignore and hate science。 Even Ungar-Sargon knows this。 But she’s pandering to right wing extremists as a career choice。 So she creates a straw-man that mainstream journalism， in particular the NYT， is radical left and then spends most of this book knocking down This book should be listed as science fiction and fantasy。 The hard right of America desperately wants to believe that journalism steeped in facts and science is “fake” so that it can continue to cling to Trumpian “alternative facts” and ignore and hate science。 Even Ungar-Sargon knows this。 But she’s pandering to right wing extremists as a career choice。 So she creates a straw-man that mainstream journalism， in particular the NYT， is radical left and then spends most of this book knocking down that straw-man。 Does mainstream journalism and the NYT， which is almost the sole focus of Ungar-Sargon’s screed， slant center left？ Yes。 Is it radical？ Absolutely not。 Yes， mainstream media covers racism。 It should do so。 Yes， mainstream media， despite Ungar-Sargon’s denials， also covers economic inequality。 Do I get irritated by NYT’s center left slant？ Certainly and I completely ignore its oped section， which Ungar-Sargon obsesses about because she desperately wants to connect the oped page to the real journalism in the rest of the newspaper。 But the bottom line is that NYT journalists are not radicals and almost always get their facts right。 Does the NYT have a problem covering Jewish topics and Israel？ Yes， but this problem is not new and goes back at least to WWII and its coverage of the Holocaust。 Books like this one are all about fueling resentment。 They are certainly not about tikkun olam。Ungar-Sargon wants her readers to believe that racism isn’t an important issue in America。 It’s an odd argument to make from someone well aware of another significant hate in America， antisemitism。 We are at a crisis in America and that crisis is not about a radical NYT。 The crisis is that extremists， almost entirely on the right， are trying to take down American democracy。 The crisis is that one of two major American parties， the GOP， is being held captive by a wannabe anti-democratic strongman who tried to overturn a legitimate election that he lost。 Rather than invent a crisis in mainstream journalism， Ungar-Sargon would do America some good if she examined this real crisis。 She has a brain， certainly。 She should use it for a better purpose than careerism。I’ve seen formerly sane conservatives go down this rabbit hole of hate and conspiracy theories， some out of careerism， others so they can stay in the GOP because the GOP is all they’ve ever known。 It’s sad and depressing to watch people get pulled into a radical， extremist mindset。 I think that’s what may have happened here。 。。。more
James Baynes
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So far the bad news is that this book is exceptionally boring。
Miri
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A very timely book; well researched， articulated and eye opening。 I also liked the tone of her writing， it was reasonable， frank， and balanced。 I highly recommend it to anyone who’s interested in current events/journalism/history of journalism。
Brian Katz
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This was an excellent book， very well done。 The premise of the book is that the differences in class in our society are being ignored by discussing race， which narrative is perpetrated by the elite media。 A conclusion that is supported by the various chapters in the book。It starts with a history lesson， Joseph Pulitzer was an advocate of the masses and sold news papers to each and every person。 The NYT changed that， by focusing on wealthy readers by seeking advertising dollars that wanted rich e This was an excellent book， very well done。 The premise of the book is that the differences in class in our society are being ignored by discussing race， which narrative is perpetrated by the elite media。 A conclusion that is supported by the various chapters in the book。It starts with a history lesson， Joseph Pulitzer was an advocate of the masses and sold news papers to each and every person。 The NYT changed that， by focusing on wealthy readers by seeking advertising dollars that wanted rich eye balls。 Then journalists migrated from blue collar to elite status through attendance at elite universities。 These elite journalists than abandoned the working class in their reportage。 The digital revolution upsets the revenue model and forces media to target readership through subscriptions and fees， and to tailor their articles to the views of their readers， the liberal elite。 Vox and NYT are examples of this out of sorts dynamic。 Then Trump comes along and the elite media uses race to return profits to the news room。 Critical race theory is released from academia into the public sphere and affects media， corporate America and much more - putting race at center stage。 With the media using moral panic to push this narrative - in order to cover up for the class divide that exists in the Country。 The author them points to an interesting debate that is taking place within the black community， which debate is not making it to the public sphere because of the media。 Next there is a discussion about how the media incorrectly uses bias and half truths to portray Jews， Crime and Trump supporters。 Followed by a summation that holds that the media elite are partnering up with the tech oligarchs to perpetuate inequity and undermine democracy。 The last chapter discusses what each citizen can do the put a stop to this attack on democracy - where public debate is silenced and the working class has no voice in policy discussions。 。。。more
Xavier Bonilla
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This was an excellent book！ Batya is a treasure。 This was well-researched， balanced， and pragmatic。 Her tone was respectful and her passion for journalism showed throughout。 Fantastic work！
Chris Boutté
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