Disconnected America: The Future of Mass Media in a Narcissistic Society - The Future of Mass Media in a Narcissistic Society (Paperback)

The more that media and advertising bombard consumers with messages, the more consumers find ways to filter out everything except for what interests them as individuals. What are the consequences -- for individuals and society -- of this trend?

Media consultant Ed Shane convincingly demonstrates that we are moving from a society in which the mass media created a sense of connection among individuals to one in which the media now foster a "self-editing" consumer who filters out collective experience and universal knowledge, the organizational benchmarks of culture. As a result, he foresees an uncivil society composed of inwardly focused citizens with little or no ability to learn from historical experience.