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February 13, 2012
Binyamin Rose: Back to the Bunker: How a life-risking act by a Christian family during the Holocaust saved a family and built a thriving community a world away
Menachem Wecker: Business Schools Teach Real Estate Despite Troubled Housing Market
February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
March 23, 2009
/ 27 Adar 5769
Dwindling the demands of thinking
By
Jonathan Gurwitz
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
In his novel “Fahrenheit 451” — selected by the San Antonio Public Library for its 2009 “Big Read” community reading initiative — Ray Bradbury describes a society in which reading is outlawed and firemen burn books. Not because they are profane or blasphemous. Not because they pose a threat to national security. Fahrenheit 451 — the temperature at which paper combusts — isn’t a metaphor for totalitarian censorship.
No, books are burned because they are complicated. They present creative ideas — and challenge conventional wisdom. They provide answers — but also provoke questions. They are burned to simplify life by emancipating people from the demands of thinking.
Captain Beatty, the fire chief, explains the incinerating impulse: “What traitors books can be! You think they’re backing you up, and then they turn on you. Others can use them, too, and there you are, lost in the middle of the moor, in a great welter of nouns and verbs and adjectives.”
As newspapers around the country face an economic conflagration of closings, bankruptcies and layoffs, you can hear the voice of Captain Beatty cheering on the flames. You hear it from conservative readers who believe that because journalists tend to be politically liberal, the news pages are irredeemably biased.
You hear it from liberal readers who promote the notion that because a small minority of major newspapers endorsed John McCain — who won 46 percent of the popular vote — it’s evidence of a corporate media completely out of touch with the American people.
And you hear it from the geniuses of the new media who deride their “dead-tree” colleagues, even as they digitally piggyback on the original research, reporting and analysis of print journalists.
How much easier it is to get uncomplicated information, to rely solely on radio or television personalities and bloggers who sift out the complexity and confusion and deliver to you only the news that confirms your worldview and only those opinions that validate your own — and in bytes small enough not to exceed your attention span.
There is a seductive appeal to this kind of intellectual harmony, an appeal explored by journalist Bill Bishop and sociologist Robert Cushing in “The Big Sort.” The subtitle of their book is “Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America is Tearing Us Apart.” The demise of newspapers is one consequence of that sorting.
The newspaper industry isn’t without blame for the media bonfire. For a decade, they’ve conditioned readers to expect to receive their product’s institutional knowledge, editorial checks and balances and comprehensive coverage at no cost, as long as it’s on the Internet. Now, more and more readers are asking why they should bother to pay for the privilege of paper. Let it burn.
There is much that radio and television personalities and Internet journalists do well, especially on matters of national and international significance. There is much that newspapers can do better. But the farther down the news chain you go and the farther away from Washington, the more important the role of print journalists in providing news and views, even when they are complicated and provocative.
As newspapers downsize and close, communities are losing the commentary of columnists who share the plight of the homeless, the dreams of immigrants and the criticism of police officers fearful of retribution; of political cartoonists who pack the power of a thousand words in a single image; of reporters who convey the often competing narratives of politicians and citizens, interest groups and taxpayers, business owners and workers, Republicans and Democrats, Americans and foreigners.
Society may be far less confusing, life less vexing without their welter of nouns and verbs and adjectives. But something more is lost.
In the intellectually barren world of “Fahrenheit 451,” Chief Beatty says the beauty of fire is that it “destroys responsibility and consequences.” That is precisely as some people in positions of authority would like it in this world.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
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JWR contributor Jonathan Gurwitz, a columnist for the San Antonio Express-News, is a co-founder and twice served as Director General of the Future Leaders of the Alliance program at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. In 1986 he was placed on the Foreign Service Register of the U.S. State Department.
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© 2009, Jonathan Gurwitz
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