Slanted: How the News Media Taught Us to Love Censorship and Hate Journalism

In a Gallup poll run through September 2020, trust in the media was found to be down to a 40-60 split toward the negative. Sharyl Attkisson is a journalist and on-air personality who has chronicled the reasons for the media’s downturn. In Slanted, she examines how the “narrative” is spun so that opinion outshines facts in mainstream journalism.

Attkisson’s career has spanned forty years, her work being honored with Emmy Awards and nominations. However, the bottom line of the corporate-backed media and the conflicts of interest led to scuttling of stories or editing of investigative work resulting in a puff piece. Attkisson tells of her battles with superiors at CBS Evening News in terms of getting stories on air, such as the CDC’s reporting of cases during the H1N1 pandemic of 2009 or being nudged toward a negative spin on Steve Forbes’ tax plan if he won the 1996 presidential election.

Slanted is an unsparing account of the corruption of journalism. Attkisson relates her opinions with a refreshing honesty, her view on the trends in journalism blunt but without snark. Attkisson’s comprehensive listing of the media miscues and falsehoods during the Trump administration may make the reader look twice at their daily news. As such, Slanted serves as a exemplary history lesson.