preview

Summary Of The Greatest Story Sold

Good Essays
Open Document

The Greatest Story Ever Sold: The Decline and Fall of Truth from 9/11 to Katrina is a recap of one of the most vulnerable times in U.S. history; in how patriotism and Bush’s leadership lead the American people into a “fictional reality”. The main argument throughout the book focuses on how pop culture and media create the reality, in a way that is scripted by those with the power to manipulate it. In this book, the case happens to be George W. Bush creating the reality of patriotism and unity, in a time U.S. society felt destroyed and distrustful. He created a narrative of a fictional reality to the American people of what was going on in Iraq. This was the time when fake news began. The book while it covered a lot of political history …show more content…

After 9/11, all news coverage was on the twin towers, the people who had died, and the tragic event that was occurring in our America. Rich focuses on the fact that in the immediate time after the crash into the twin towers, Bush decided to disappear. This is essentially where the “story”, the narrative, being sold to the America people begins the era of a false reality. The American people were told that the White House was the next target, and that’s why we couldn’t know where our President was; because if we knew, then the enemy knew. It was three days after 9/11 when America finally heard that this was an act of terror, and Bush began using the word Islamic extremism. Using words like that, got America scared and in response war felt like the only option to get justice. From the first time, he spoke after 9/11, he demanded the attention and obedience from the media, to shape the story. Any and all information about war, and intelligence was not being investigated but instead given to the media from the Bush Administration. This ensured that the story they wanted the American people to know was coming directly from them. Bush also restricted the media from U.S. troops. The media listened to the Bush administration and got behind Iraq, just like they got behind Afghanistan. The months, and even years after 9/11 were spent in congressional hearings and investigations to try and figure out the

Get Access