Timothy Recuber

The book got a nice little write-up in the journal Journalism. Here’s a link and an excerpt:

“The book’s strength is in its narrative nature and ability to situate the studies around a similar thematic argument: narratives provide cultural context, which develops deeper understanding of the human condition (Creswell 2009: 70). People use the news media to position themselves in a way that results in a feeling of proximity to the disaster, even if they are not connected to the disaster physically or by relationship. Disaster begs the viewer and reader to devote attention, and possibly emotional resources to that disaster by watching it through mediated experiences. While the chapters are longer because of their richness of detail, each one is a complete study with substantial method, findings, and discussion. Each chapter creates its own strong narrative about consumption of catastrophe and the culture Americans have developed as a result of the lens provided by the 11 September attacks.”