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Media Virus! : Hidden Agendas in Popular Culture
by Douglas Rushkoff
Reprint Edition
Paperback, 344 pages
List: $12.00 -- Amazon.com Price: $12.00
Published by Ballantine Books (Trd Pap)
Publication date: February 1,1996
Dimensions (in inches): 8.21 x 5.51 x .84
ISBN: 0345397746
Amazon.com Books:
Have you ever noticed that the word "media" refers
both to the tool for disseminating information in
human societies as well as the substrate upon which
geneticists grow bacteria and viruses? Rushkoff has
written one of the more provocative and insightful
analyses of the paths of conceptual infection in
human media, and about the techniques and goals of
those who spread media viruses. This fun, hip, yet
insightful book is well worth buying. --This text
refers to the hardcover edition of this title.
New Perspectives Quarterly:
The brilliant heir to McLuhan . . . Rushkoff is the
first media theorist to emerge from the primordial
soup of the datasphere instead of the hallowed
stacks of the university library. --This text
refers to the hardcover edition of this title.
Synopsis:
The most virulent viruses today are composed of
information. In this information-driven age, the
easiest way to manipulate the culture is through
the media. A hip and caustically humorous McLuhan
for the '90s, culture watcher Douglas Rushkoff now
offers a fascinating expose of media manipulation
in today's age of instant information.
Synopsis:
Media Virus! examines the intricate ways in which
popular media manipulate those exposed to them--and
are manipulated by those who can tap their power.
Douglas Rushkoff analyzes the fads, fantasies,
truth, and propaganda that flood the datasphere of
the late 20th century--and offers a daring
diagnosis for a society in the grip of an
information epidemic. --This text refers to the
hardcover edition of this title.
Card catalog description
Finally, there is a way to understand the bizarre
relationship we Americans have with our information
technology: the media is alive. Welcome to the
"datasphere," also known as the late twentieth
century. Here, good news, bad news, any news,
travels in the blink of an eye. And not just news,
but information: ideas, images, and icons; fads,
fashions, and fantasies; truths, lies, and
propaganda. While cable television, fiber-optic
telecommunications, satellite dishes, computer
modems, camcorders, fax machines, and
videocassettes form the crisscrossed arteries of a
vast "information superhighway," we must ask
ourselves: What sort of messages are these brave
new medias carrying into our culture? Bold, daring,
and provocative, Media Virus! examines the
intricate ways in which popular media both
manipulates and is manipulated by those who know
how to tap into its power. And it considers - with
something between amusement and mild alarm - the
ever-widening ripple effect of the successful
"media virus." As culture critic for our wild
times, Douglas Rushkoff shows that where there's a
wavelength, there's a way to "infect" those on it -
from the subtly, but intentionally, subversive
signals broadcast by shows like "The Simpsons," to
the odd serendipity of a classic New York-style sex
'n' family values scandal (a la Woody and Mia)
exploited by the Republicans during their
convention. What does it all mean? Unless you've
been living in a cave that isn't cable-ready,
you're already infected with the media virus. But
don't worry, it won't make you sick. It will make
you think.... --This text refers to the hardcover
edition of this title.
Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Nature of Infection
Pt. 1. On Getting Cultured
Ch. 1. The Datasphere
Pt. 2. The Mainstream
Ch. 2. TV Forums
Ch. 3. Presidential Campaigning
Ch. 4. Kids' TV
Ch. 5. The MTV Revolution
Pt. 3. The Underground
Ch. 6. Alternative Media
Ch. 7. Tactical Media
Ch. 8. The Net
Ch. 9. Pranks
Ch. 10. Meta-media
Afterword
Notes
Bibliography
Index
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Hakeeb A. Nandalal
nanco@trinidad.net
http://www.caribinfo.com/als/
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