Truthteller

Wow, nonfiction is not usually my go to genre, but the topic of this book and how prevalent it was to what is going on in the US right now made me want to read it, and I’m glad I did.

Stephen Davis is an investigative reporter who has covered numerous world events, and who has been privy to information that governments and people around the world have tried to hide. Davis does not just focus on one nation. The stories and events in this book cover, Russia, New Zealand, Australia, US, Britain, and other countries.

The book is broken down into ten different ways that stories are spinned and deception and cover-ups are created not only by the various governments, but groups of people on social media. The events in here range from the Gulf War to Antarctica to whales rescues in the 1980s to murder mysteries to current FBI text messages (to name a few). Davis has done his research, he has talked to numerous witnesses and experts, and has put the pieces of each event together in a seamless timeline of events that is eye opening. He also discusses how social media has also influenced what the world reads and believes, and it’s a little terrifying. You truly cannot believe everything you read.

This was one of the first times that I highlighted passages in a book I was reading for fun. Society needs to be aware that not everything is transparent and that there are things going on behind the scenes. We may not get the full truth, which is why it is so important to continue to have amazing investigative reports like Stephen there to try to uncover as much of the truth as they can.

I taught Journalism in high school for some years, and I believe that this book should be required reading in all journalism classes.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who has questioned anything they have every read.