John Zada

On the central coast of British Columbia, the Great Bear Rainforest is part of the largest temperate rainforest in the world; for centuries people have reported encounters with the Sasquatch.

In Search of the Sasquatch

In the Valleys of the Noble Beyond

A rare and insightful account by a newsroom insider of how the news skews our perceptions and disorients society 'Fake news' has become a ubiquitous catchphrase and a worldwide obsession. Yet too few of us know that shades of falsehood have always run through the mainstream news media. As news organizations double-down in their efforts to shock and entertain, more people than ever before are tuning-out, disillusioned by negative and manipulative news cycles. In Veils of Distortion, John Zada draws on two decades of journalism experience to explain how and why the news has become broken. By depicting our world through a tiny sample of dramatized events that are often far-removed from our experiences, the news warps our picture of reality. What we see is not the world that actually is, but rather a caricature of it: a simple two-toned realm in which dangers and conflicts lurk around every corner. The societal angst that results can make the news a self-fulfilling prophecy, and can turn our minds into prisons of blinkered thought. Zada walks us through the newsroom to reveal these distorting 'veils.' He offers suggestions on how to mitigate the effects of this coarse infotainment, which, if left unchecked will continue to dumb down and polarize our society, causing it to further unravel.

How the News Media Warps Our Minds

Veils of Distortion

'Fake news' has become an obsessional catchphrase and a worldwide fear. Yet few of us realize that shades of falsehood have always run through the mainstream news media. As news organizations double-down in their efforts to shock and entertain, more people than ever before are tuning-out, disillusioned by an overly-negative and manipulative news cycle. In Veils of Distortion, John Zada draws on two decades of journalism experience to explain how and why the news has become broken. By depicting our world through a tiny sample of dramas that are often far-removed from our experiences, the news warps our picture of reality. What we see is not the world that actually is, but a caricature of it: a simplistic two-toned realm in which dangers and conflicts lurk around every corner. The anxiety that is induced can transform the news into a self-fulfilling prophecy and turn our minds into prisons of blinkered-thought. Zada walks us through the newsroom and exposes these distorting "veils" as one might the layered skin of an onion. He offers suggestions on how to help mitigate the effects of this coarse infotainment, which, if left unchecked will continue to dumb-down and polarize our society, causing it to further unravel.

John Zada

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