ABSTRACT
This chapter shows the critic to slow down, at least long enough to ponder, among other important questions, in what ways mass media may be affecting us much as they always have. It explores how news-gathering techniques can influence audiences in unintended ways and examines the enduring power of television even as consider the emerging influences of digital media. Because mass-media systems have become so diverse, they no longer seem controlled solely by a few powerful corporations. Rhetorical studies of the mass media, like media channels themselves, are still emerging. In fragmented media environment, then — where news, opinion, disputed information and outright sham may share common quarters — there is new impetus for the rhetorical critic to become media literate. In other words, the critic should know how to evaluate the believability of news and understand the norms, mores and institutional biases that guide its creation.
