Social Media and the Public Interest by Philip M. Napoli

SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE PUBLIC INTEREST by Philip M. Napoli is an important contribution and essential reference to the ongoing debate about the role and regulation of social media platforms. Praised by dana boyd and others, this work focuses on how social media platforms (like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, and WhatsApp) have “unexpectedly become key platforms for how journalism (and disinformation posing as journalism) is produced, disseminated, and consumed.”  Napoli explores their “gatekeeping” roles, noting, for example, “that Facebook went from accounting for 16 percent of referrals to online news sites in 2013 to more than 40 percent in 2017” although he also later questions whether we have seen the peak. Napoli provides historical context, too, in that he contrasts the “unprecedented level of regulatory oversight” for radio broadcasting technology (e.g., federal licensing, indecency rules, and public affairs programming requirements) with less dramatic changes for other technologies like cable and the “pinballing … between the imposition and elimination of net neutrality regulations.” This work is written by an academic and while therefore somewhat wordy and jargon-laden, it should be viewed by more than policy wonks and be of concern to all. Napoli is writing “about a problem related to the effective functioning of the democratic process, …the very nature of the problem undermines the means for developing and adopting solutions.” Napoli is a Duke University Professor and thorough researcher; roughly a third of SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE PUBLIC INTEREST contains extensive source notes and additional commentary.

The Fate of Food by Little and Falter by McKibben

Here are some comments on two newer books which independently use “bleak” to describe a possible future.

THE FATE OF FOOD by Amanda Little, a professor of journalism and science writing at Vanderbilt University, is subtitled “What We’ll Eat in a Bigger, Hotter, Smarter World.” In over a dozen chapters, she explores some really interesting – and disruptive – ideas like Impossible Meat product development and research into why humans crave meat. The CEO of Impossible Meats says, “our mission is to completely replace animals in the food system by 2035, which we will certainly do.”  Sound far-fetched? Maybe, but starting next week the Impossible Burger will be available at every Burger King. Amanda Little’s research about our changing food supply led her to conduct interviews in a dozen countries and around the United States and she includes black and white photographs in this text. That helps envision some of these technologies and how wide-spread they could become.  Little deftly explains changes in agriculture, threats to the water supply, and evolving production processes like vertical farming.  For a quick overview, listen to Terry Gross’ interview with her on NPR’s Fresh Air. Notes and an index comprise about fifteen percent of THE FATE OF FOOD which received a starred review from Kirkus.

FALTER by Bill McKibben is a new non-fiction work by the activist author of the more fanciful Radio Free Vermont. Thirty years after publishing The End of Nature about global warming, McKibben combines his long-standing concern about Earth’s environment with apprehension about the increasing influence of technology (especially artificial intelligence and genetic engineering) in our lives. In FALTER he argues that “we’re simply so big, and moving so fast, that every decision carries enormous risk.” In the first section, Size of the Board, McKibben looks at ways that “privilege lies in obliviousness,” how we have distanced ourselves from nature, and how we already have losses due to a changing climate (e.g., “winter doesn’t reliably mean winter anymore, and so the way we’ve always viscerally told time has begun to break down.”) In a section titled Leverage, he looks at shifts in ideology involving profit-seeking and race-baiting, the short-term outlook and lack of human solidarity. His philosophical comments are interspersed with data and statistics (e.g., on establishing solar panels) and, thus, FALTER is a rather involved call to action. McKibben argues that “we have the tools (nonviolence chief among them) to allow us to stand up to the powerful and the reckless.” He has “walked the talk” by founding the environmental organization 350.org and offers in his latest work an updated, but at times, meandering treatise which is both alarming and hopeful. Approximately ten percent of FALTER is devoted to notes and an index. FALTER received starred reviews from Booklist and Publishers Weekly and appears in The Washington Post list of “40 new books that tell America’s Story.”