Logo

Contents: Preface. 1. Media Function Theories: Time for a Rethink. 2. Media in Crisis: Commodification of News. 3. Did We Ever Have a Truth Era?. 4.Imbalances in News: Truth Is Subjective. 5. Dawn of the Post-Truth Era?. 6. Human Rights: The New Missionary Religion. 7. Neo-liberalism Breeding Inequality: Who Is Telling the Truth?. 8. Redefining Journalistic Ethics. 9. Fake News Hysteria: Attempt to Stifle Alternative Views?. 10. Fighting the Gloom with New Thinking. Appendices. References. Index. Myth of ‘Free Media’ and Fake News in the Post-truth Era reveals the story of ‘fake news’ hysteria and myth of ‘free media’ in the post-truth world order, starting from the question of whether there has really been a ‘truth’ era. The book examines how the news media is battling for relevance in the age of Internet. It shows how the wave of media ‘liberalization’ has weakened the basic premise of Libertarian Media Function Theory, which states that the media is the ‘Fourth Estate’ that protects the citizens from abuse of power by the government. It analyses how excessive commercialization of the media and the commodification of news has changed journalism globally. The book recommends a new paradigm and explains how it can be used to transform news reporting from an adversarial model to a human-centric one.