How Media Make Us Hate Each Other
Why I avoid TV that creates fear by using sneaky tricks and treating news as a combat sport
As a book critic, I’ve had my share of hate mail from offended authors. But I’ve found that you can usually avoid the worst of it by following an easy guideline: Review the book, not the author.
I try to focus on what’s on the page, not on gossip about an author’s latest stint in rehab or hapless presentation at BookExpo America. That may help to explain why I’ve seldom faced the kind of personal attacks the critic Joseph Epstein has said he’s had in letters full of words like: “May God castrate you!”
The relative civility of my correspondents has clearly involved some good luck in an age of free-range hate. More and more, outrage seems to need no excuse — it attaches itself to whatever is handy.
Hate crimes are rising and have caused nearly all states to enact related laws. The bestselling novel-turned-movie The Hate U Give took aim at hatred, only to become a target more of it: It ranks high on lists of the books most often challenged at libraries. If the Beatles urged you to resist hate by remembering that “All You Need Is Love,” Taylor Swift shrugs, telling you that “haters gonna hate” and you need to “shake it off.”
