process for leaving, 96
concern trolling, 181–82
Condé Nast, 44
confirmation, see fact-checking and verification
conflicts of interest, 45, 46, 46n, 47, 55, 57
conspiracy theories and theorists, 54, 90, 162, 181, 238
content:
creation of, 26–30, 33, 90, 133, 146
stacking of, 146
contributor programs, 52
Cooley, Charles Horton, 163
Cooper, James Fenimore, 196
Cooperman, Kahane, 176
corrections, 45, 97, 243–53, 297
backfire effect and, 251
of factual errors, 248–49
link economy and, 211
time for, 246–48
Couric, Katie, 30
Cowen, Tyler, 73–74, 296
Craggs, Tommy, 216
Cromer, Gerald, 256
Cruise, Tom, 43
culture of fear, 230–36
Curbed, 46
Curbed Los Angeles, 30–31
Curtis, Drew, 28, 156
cyberwarfare, 225–41
and culture of fear 230–36
implicit shakedowns, 228–30
repetition in, 236–38
weaponizing of information, 238–41
Daily Beast, 25, 99, 189, 238
Daily Caller, 25
Daily Intel, 219–20
Daily Mail, 159–61
Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The, 174–78
Daly, Carson, 33
Dana, Charles A., 273
Danone, 227
Day, Benjamin, 105, 107
Deadline Hollywood, 262
Deadspin, 35n, 216, 263, 323
de Becker, Gavin, 277
de Botton, Alain, 268
degradation ceremonies, 257–61
de Laive, Patrick, 201
Demand Media, 130
Denby, David, 261
Denton, Nick, 16, 42, 46, 94, 136, 147, 175, 190, 273, 291
Dershowitz, Alan, 266
Descartes, René, 207, 222
Detroit in ruins slideshow, 80–82, 84, 91
Digg, 77
DNC hacking, 227
doctored footage, 188
Drudge, Matt, 245 Drudge Report, 16, 25, 89, 134, 184n, 185, 245
E!, 175
Eater LA, 233, 133n
Ebner, Mark, 43
Edwards, Jim, 161–5
elections, see presidential elections
EliteDaily.com, 45
Ellis, Bret Easton, 74
Ellsberg, Daniel, 124
e-mails, 96, 128, 204, 283
fake, 23, 32–33, 70, 139
leaked, 64–66
for sources, 67, 151
emotions, 84–85, 88, 285, 287
anger, 84, 86, 90; see also outrage
sadness, 85
valence and, 85–86, 88, 139
Ending the Fed, 199
Engadget, 50, 140, 146, 233
engagement, 96, 112–13, 196, 275
Entrepreneur.com, 52
Epstein, Edward Jay, 62, 75
errors, 208, 221, 244, 247, 248. 253
admission of, 234, 244
apologies for, 245
correction of, see corrections factual, 247–48
psychology of, 249–53
subtle untruths, 249
ethical standards, 141, 211
exclusives, 42n, 42–43, 284
experts, xv, 69–72
extortion and blackmail, 227–30
Facebook, xiii, 3, 7, 16, 26, 27, 56, 78, 79, 97, 97n, 99, 113, 126–27, 135, 137, 157, 197, 196, 199, 202, 203, 294, 205, 214, 226, 260
campaign against Google by, 226
news on, 128–29, 204
fact checking and verification, 27, 58, 67, 149, 158, 211, 215, 222, 231, 250, 297
breaking news and, 215–20, 282
link economy and, 213–15, 221–23
sources and, 26, 67, 78, 149–50
standards of, 181
Twitter and, 202
see also research
facts, 287
alternative, 208
errors in, 248–9; see also errors
fake:
accounts, 236–37
blurred line between real and, 277
comments, 121
e-mails, 23, 32, 70, 139
embracing, 275–76
events, 117, 277–79
news, xiii, 5, 7, 161, 198–200, 277, 291
quotations, 211, 212
Fark.com, 28, 156
fashion bloggers, 55
Fast Company, 24, 87
FastCompany.com, 123
Favre, Brett, 34–35, 35n
fear, culture of, 230–36
Ferriss, Tim, 77
FFFFOUND!, 23
Financial Times, 229
Finke, Nikki, 262–63
FishbowlLA, 30
Fiverr.com, 135
Fleshbot, 87
Flipboard, 67
Forbes, xvi, 37, 37n, 52, 135, 180
Forbes.com, xvii, 28, 52, 99
Ford, Andrew, 37
Ford, Henry, 141
Fortune, xvi, 149
Fox & Friends, 205
Fox News, 26, 104, 126, 199, 208n, 291
FoxNews.com, 2, 184n
FOX Sports Interactive, 44
French, Christopher, 65
frovocation, 32
see also outrage
Fuller, Jack, 150, 152
Fusion.net, 201
gaslighting, 182, 237
Gateway Pundit, 184n
Gawker, xiv, xivn, 32, 42, 43, 6, 47, 50, 51, 57, 63, 64, 71, 73, 94, 147, 159, 175, 178, 216, 217n, 247, 248, 291
Arrington and, 217n
compensation system at, 51
corrections and, 246–48
Cruise and, 43
Hogan’s lawsuit against, 191n, 293–94
Thiel and, 191n, 293–94
Gawker Media, 16, 42, 120, 208, 291, 293
stats of, 132
Gibson, Mel, 42
Gigaom, 147
Gizmodo, 76, 130, 146
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von, 261n Good Morning America, 185
Google, 37, 56, 65, 66, 79. 113, 126, 227
citations and, 213
clicks and, 126
Facebook’s campaign against, 226
Google+, 67
Google Finance, 65
Google News, 28, 112, 126–27, 204, 205, 214
Google Trends, 130
gossip, 34, 106, 219, 226, 230, 240
Gothamist, 99, 112
Gould, Emily, 178
Grantham, Christian, 37n
Greeley, Horace, 106
Greenblatt, Richard, 100n
Grey, Sasha, 87
Guardian, 58, 79, 130, 199, 212, 213
Haley, Nikki, 25
Hall, Justin, 146
Hannity, 205 Harvard Business Review, 229
Hazlitt, William, 255, 257
HBO, 30, 57
headlines, 119–28, 148–49, 214
advertising and, 125
clicks and, 94–95, 100, 112, 120–24, 128, 156, 285
competition among, 125–27
curiosity gap and, 123
newspaper, 122–27
pseudo-events and, 116
questions in, 94–96, 171–72
in science reporting, 160–61
subscription model and, 124, 125
unbelievable, 252
writing of, 120, 126
“hearing reports,” “told reporters,” 66, 282
Hearst, William Randolph, 108, 120
Hedges, Chris, 90,
Help a Reporter Out (HARO), xv, 69–71, 75, 286
Hilton, Perez, 42, 210
Hippeau, Eric, 234
hoaxes and pranks, 75–76, 101, 161, 214, 218–19
Hogan, Hulk, 191n, 293
Houston Chronicle, 99
Ho
w to Make It in America, 30
Huffington, Arianna, 16, 44, 127, 235, 239
Huffington Post, 4, 16, 22, 23, 24, 31, 44, 55, 66, 69, 79, 80, 99, 108, 119, 136, 139, 140, 147, 152, 159, 160, 161, 175, 185, 200, 226, 234, 235, 236, 239, 272
business model of, 39
comments and, 139–40
Detroit slideshow in, 79–81
sale of, 44
Super Bowl story in, 136
unpaid contributions to, 235
Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging, The, 147
Hughes, Scottie Nell, 276
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell, 2, 30–31, 33
information, 286–87, 299
cycle of, 16, 35
practical purpose of, 297
weaponizing of, 238–41
InfoWars, 199
Instagram, 54, 137
interviews, 305–55
Bohannon, John, 316–20
Carpenter, Mathew 345–48
Cernovich, Mike, 305–15
Johnson, Charles C., 321–31
Maddox, 349–55
Young, Peter, 332–44
Is Twitter Wrong?, 243
iterative journalism, 215–20, 244–46, 249–50, 253, 298
Jackson, Michael, 42
Jarre, Maurice, 211–13
Jarvis, Jeff, 202, 210, 216, 221, 222, 253
Jay, Ricky, 123
Jenkins, Henry, 78 Jezebel, 24, 63–64, 87, 99, 124, 148, 164, 152, 169, 171
American Apparel nail polish and, 171–4, 175
corrections and, 210– 11
The Daily Show and, 175–79
Jobs, Steve, 218, 218n
Johnson, Charles C., 187, 188–90, 192
interview with, 321–31
Jones, Alex, 181
Jones, Terry, 36
journalism, xiii, 105–6, 112, 221–22, 273
ethical standards in, 140–41, 211
experience in, 50
iterative, 215–19, 244–45, 249–50, 252–53, 296
pageview, 130, 135, 141
professionalization of, 110
journalists, 173, 221
breaking news and, 215–20
delegation of trust and, 192, 209–13, 222–23, 249
editorial guidelines and, 209, 210
and finding the angle, 156
Schopenhauer on, 216
sources for, see sources Juvenal, 8, 101
KCCI Des Moines, 35
Kennedy, John F., 42, 266
KFDM-TV Beaumont, 99
KGO-AM San Francisco, 99
Kickstarter, 22, 75
Kierkegaard, Søren, 203, 284
Kissinger, Henry, 59
Know Your Meme, 44
kompromat, 230–31
Koran, 36–37
KVUE-TV Austin, 99
Laughing Squid, 23
laurel leaf illusion, 286
lawsuits, 266–67
threat of, 234
Lazarsfeld, Paul, 202
leaderboard strategy, 131, 135
leaked documents, 4–5, 62, 63–64, 240, 282
Lehrer, Jonah, 258, 259, 260
Lewinsky, Monica, 245, 258, 260
Lewis, Jerry, 263
libel, 241, 294 Lifehacker, 148
Limbaugh, Rush, 119
links, 213–14
clicks on, 214; see also clicks
credibility implied by, 213
economy of, 210–12, 213, 215, 221–23, 283, 286
partner, 200–201
Links.net, 146
Lippmann, Walter, 125, 271, 278
Local.com, 65
local media, 27–28, 157, 160
Los Angeles Times, 39, 67, 74, 210
Top of the Ticket, 127
lynch mobs, digital, 256
Maddox, interview with, 349–55
Made in USA, 170
Magnum Photos, 870, 85
Malcolm, Andrew, 127
Malik, Om, 147
Malone, Noreen, 80
manipulation, see media manipulation; media manipulation tactics
Marginal Revolution, 73, 74
Mashable, 50, 136, 140
Max, Tucker, 2–3, 31, 33, 54, 68, 84, 98–99, 116, 181n, 191, 256–57
McBride, Kelly, 61
McCain, John, 190
McCarthy, Eugene, 212
McCarthy, Megan, 248
McCarthy, Ryan, 39
McClure’s, 155
McLuhan, Marshall, 144
Mediabistro, 30, 32, 157 Mediagazer, 149
media manipulation, xv–xvii, xx, 1
manipulator hall of fame, 183–93
patterns of, 174–80
rebirth of, 111–15
toxicity of, 169–82
media manipulation tactics, xvi, 48, 170
bribes, 49–59, 135
deception, 93–101
giving them what spreads, 77–92
headlines, 119–28
making news, 103–17
making stuff up, 155–65
pageviews, 129–41
telling them what they want to hear, 61–76
using the technology against itself, 143–53
Media Matters for America, 184n
Medium, 16, 47, 58
Meet the Press, 278
memes, xiii, 17, 30
Mendelson, Brandon, 135–6
Merton, Robert, 202
metrics, 134–7, 141
Mic.com, 108
Mill, John Stuart, 49
mistakes, see errors
MIT Technology Review, 227
Mobile World Congress, 56
mockery, shame, punishment, and humiliation, 89, 90, 255–69
Monde, xvii
Montaigne, Michel de, 255
Monty, Scott, xvii
Morozov, Evgeny, 255n
Motley Fool, 65
Motolese, Fernando, 227, 228
Moylan, Brian, 94
MSN.com, 77, 243
MSNBC, xv, 180
Munsterberg, Hugo, 155
narcotizing dysfunction, 202
narratives, 187, 203
creation and control of, 170–74, 176
pseudo-events and, 116–17
simple vs. complicated, 81–82, 85, 90, 150
NASA, 235
national press, 29
National Report, 199
NBC, 33
NBC New York, 87
New Orleans Times Picayune, 72, 73, 111
New Republic, 80
news, xiii, 2, 5, 103–17, 156, 273, 286, 298
addiction to, 204–206
blogs’ creation of, 13–20
breaking, 215–20, 282
cable, 144
cycles of, 16, 18–19, 35, 204, 273,
on Facebook, 126, 203
fake, xiii, 5, 7, 157, 198–200, 277, 291
filters and, 273
presentation of, 144
as pseudo-environment, 278–79
specious present and, 250
unexpected and, 273
newspapers, 26–27, 103, 104, 111–12, 160, 196, 248, 256, 273
advertising in, 109
blogs of, 28
headlines in, 122–27
One-Off Problem and, 106, 107, 108, 120
party press, 105–6
purchase of, 125
Schopenhauer on, 216
stable period of, 109–11, 127
subscription model for, 104, 105, 109–115, 295–97
yellow press, 7, 104, 105–108, 109, 120, 125, 132
Newsweek, 24n, 28
Newswhip.com, 130
New York, 24, 218, 268
New York City media set, 29
New York Daily News, 99
New Yorker, 133, 198, 261, 305
New York Evening Journal, 121
New York Herald, 106
New York Observer, xviii, 14n, 75,
New York Post, 3, 25, 257
New York Sun, 105, 183
New York Times, xvi, xvii, 18, 26, 40
, 62, 69, 77, 79, 109–11, 119, 127, 201, 208
bestseller list of, xviii, 54, 67
Carson and, 199–200
Cheney and, 278
concern trolling and, 181–82
The Daily Show and, 174–78
mission statement of, 109–10
Most E-mailed list of, 84, 85, 91, 95
Pawlenty and, 14, 15
subscriptions to, 296
vaping story in, 71
Vietnam story in, 124
Washington Post on, 156–58
New York Times Magazine, 93
New York World, 106, 120
Next Web, The, 53n
Nielsen, Jakob, 149, 150
Nixon, Richard, 225
Nolan, Hamilton, 57
NPR, xvii, 187, 188, 204, 214
Nyhan, Brendan, 251
NYMag, 152
NYTimes.com, 84
Obama, Barack, 36, 119, 127, 165, 185, 188, 190, 208, 228n, 239, 262
Sherrod and, 184–85
Ochs, Adolph S., 109–10, 296
Oculus Rift, 238
O’Donnell, Christine, 159
O’Keefe, James, 187–88, 192
One-Off Problem, 106, 107, 108, 112, 120, 286
Onion, 198
opinions, 202, 248, 287
fake supporters and, 236–37
Orlean, Susan, 133
Orwell, George, 100
Outbrain, 201
outrage, 32, 83–84, 90, 98, 165, 179, 182, 262
American Apparel ads and, 87–88
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell campaign and, 1–4, 30–33, 36
Overstock.com, 232–33
Owyang, Jeremiah, 225
Page, Larry, 213
pageviews, 1, 3, 19, 29, 99, 100, 129–141, 293, 295, 296
AOL and, 132
comments and, 96–97
compensation systems based on, 50–51, 53, 57
corrections and, 216
goals for, 135
journalism and, 140–41
revenue from, 40, 41, 44
silence and, 129, 137–40
statistics on, 130
see also traffic
PandoDaily, 159
Pariser, Eli, 85, 112
Park, Robert E., 250, 273
Parr, Ben, 50
Pascal, Amy, 259, 260
Paterson, David, 218, 219–20
Pawlenty, Tim, 14–15, 17, 18–20
Pence, Mike, 263
Pentagon Papers, 124
Peretti, Jonah, 16, 81, 97, 138
Perry, Rick, 99
Pew Research Center, 64–65, 126
Phillips, Tom, 243
Pittsburgh Tribune Review, 25
Pizzagate, 181–82
Planned Parenthood, 98–99, 116
Playboy, 42
Playboy.com, 90
Political Insider, 199
Politico, 16, 18, 20, 148, 226
Cain and, 20
Pawlenty and, 14, 17, 18–19
Portlandia, 3
Portland Mercury, 87
Poynter Institute, 37, 61
pranks and hoaxes, 75–77, 101, 161, 214, 218–19
PR, 233
battles and crises, 226–28, 234–35
presidential elections:
cycles of, 16–18
of 2008, 239
of 2012, 14, 15, 20
of 2016, 14–16, 187, 204–6, 236
press releases, 64–67, 128, 283