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Over de Auteur

Robert E. Bartholomew is a native New Yorker who teaches history at Botany College in Auckland, New Zealand. His many books include The Martians Have Landed! A History of Media-Driven Panics and Hoaxes (with Benjamin Radford) and Outbreak! The Encyclopedia of Extraordinary Social Behavior (with toon meer Hilary Evans). toon minder
Fotografie: Photo: Jamilah Bartholomew

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Fortean Times 73 — Medewerker — 2 exemplaren

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Algemene kennis

Officiële naam
Bartholomew, Robert Emerson
Geboortedatum
1958
Geslacht
male
Nationaliteit
USA
Land (voor op de kaart)
USA
Opleiding
State University of New York, Plattsburgh (BA)
State University of New York (MA)
Flinders University (MA)
James Cook University (PhD)
Prijzen en onderscheidingen
Fellow, Committee for Skeptical Inquiry
Korte biografie
Robert Bartholomew is an American born medical sociologist, writer, journalist, human rights advocate and certified high school social studies instructor currently teaching history at Botany Downs Secondary College in South Auckland, New Zealand. He is credited with coining the term 'exotic deviance' in the field of social psychiatry to describe the inappropriate placement medical labels by Eurocentric scientists, onto unfamiliar behaviors and conduct codes in NonWestern countries.

He holds a doctorate in sociology from James Cook University in Queensland Australia, a Masters in American sociology from the State University of New York at Albany, a Masters in Australian sociology from The Flinders University of South Australia, a BA degree in Communications from The State University of New York at Plattsburgh, and a Certificate in Radio Broadcasting from the State University of New York - Adirondack campus. He has written on an array of topics ranging from human social and cultural diversity, to mass psychogenic illness (aka “mass hysteria”), social delusions, moral panics, fads, collective behavior, the history of tabloid journalism, history of the paranormal, popular myths and folklore.

He has published over a dozen books and over sixty articles in peer-reviewed journals.

http://robertebartholomew.com/index.p...

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Since I already have a fascination with Nessie, when I saw this book I had to read it. It is an interesting and pretty thorough look at the Lake Champlain monster phenomenon. The author is pretty much an open-minded skeptic, as am I. Fun to read about though.
 
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bness2 | May 23, 2017 |
Deze bespreking is geschreven voor LibraryThing Vroege Recensenten.
The Martians Have Landed offers a broad collection of media- inspired panics and deceptions. Such alarms have been spread by radio, television, print media, and the internet, and include urban legends spread by word of mouth. Among them are threats of space invaders, killer clowns, organ thieves, satanic cults, Pokemon panics, email viruses, killer asteroids, and killer vaccines. Bartholomew and Radford’s book is a useful and sometimes amazing compilation of case histories of such panics and hoaxes. (I had no idea that such hoaxes were so widespread in time and place. After all, invaders from Mars we’ve all heard of, but phantom killer clowns?)

However, this book fails to answer the questions posed in its own introduction, such as how the media so often get the stories wrong, why people are so fearful and gullible, and why panics are so easily spread. As a result, what could have been an interesting sociological analysis is mainly a descriptive account. Further, not having identified causes, the authors cannot offer any solutions beyond vague suggestions that “the media” become more responsible. To this meritorious (if unrealistic) suggestion, one might also recommend that people be more skeptical and investigate the credibility of rumors. In fact, the book could have done a service by recommending websites (such as snopes.com) that subject internet rumors to careful test.

Among other problems, in attempting to claim widespread panics over a given threat, the authors often rely on dubious anecdotal information and outright exaggeration. Thus, for example, we’re told without documentation that a given panic led to widespread fear or “several reports of people having a heart attack” (sic). Being unable to estimate how many people in 1910 panicked at arrival of Halley’s Comet, the authors exclaim that even if “just one percent of the population were affected, this would translate into …900,000 people.” How ironic, for the authors to use alarmist language and undocumented assertions in their claim that people are gullible! Further, in trying to show that particular alarms were entirely unjustified, the authors downplay actual concerns. Thus, to refute the likelihood of satanic cults, they claim that victims of child abuse almost never repress memories of their molestation. Finally, the book is poorly edited. The amount of space given to particular “panics” is inconsistent and incongruent with their relative importance and interest. What’s more, the writing is uneven, with repetitive passages, unclear statements, and at least a few mangled sentences.

In sum, The Martians Have Landed is a useful compilation of media- driven hoaxes and panics. The idea for this book was a good one, although in its execution the book is less than it could have been.
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danielx | 10 andere besprekingen | Dec 26, 2012 |
Deze bespreking is geschreven voor LibraryThing Vroege Recensenten.
I've been a skeptic for many years. This book only backs up my beliefs that media no longer has journalists. The media is driven by quick news cycles that don't permit fact checking. Unfortunately people tend to believe what is reported. Interesting and fact based stories from around the world about how gullible people are.
 
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Indy_115 | 10 andere besprekingen | Aug 19, 2012 |
Deze bespreking is geschreven voor LibraryThing Vroege Recensenten.
The Martians Have Landed is something of a critique on the press and media. This could have been a wonderfully entertaining book, exposing hoaxes in a fun way. Unfortunately the writing is very uneven. Several chapters are written by those other than the authors. Some of the stories were interesting, informative, and entertaining. Others were dry and often very brief. While the authors have included an extensive bibliography to substantiate their stories, some additional fact-checking and additional sources would have been helpful. A few of their "facts" had been disproven years earlier, while other claims were left for the reader to take on faith alone.
Overall I did enjoy the book, but I am an information junkie. For most people, I think it would be an excellent library read or wait for it to hit the bargain shelves of your local bookstore.
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TheBoltChick | 10 andere besprekingen | Aug 7, 2012 |

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Statistieken

Werken
17
Ook door
1
Leden
215
Populariteit
#103,625
Waardering
½ 3.4
Besprekingen
13
ISBNs
25
Talen
1

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