Misunderstanding the Internet

more persuasive and compelling once Couldry narrows his sights, as when he uses Nick Davies’ work on modern British journalism to question whether current routine may work against the journalists’ own value of fidelity to the truth (p.193). That said, while Couldry’s virtue-based approach may appeal to many readers, I wonder in the end whether it is really as inclusive as he seems to assume. To take one example: for many members of the modern world, I suspect that virtues like loyalty and piety might be far more important than the ones that Couldry raises. Yet even in those moments when I found myself disagreeing with Couldry, these disagreements were productive ones. The book throughout is marked by an ethical seriousness and a careful attention to empirical work, and Couldry’s ability to handle an amazingly diverse set of sources is truly impressive. All told, it strikes me as an honest accounting of where we stand at the present moment.