TALKING TOMBSTONES and Other Tales of the...

TALKING TOMBSTONES and Other Tales of the Media Age by Gary Gumpert (Oxford University Press: $7.95) “Each medium of communication leaves its mark by altering our institutions and personal attitudes and values,” writes Gary Gumpert in this lively collection of essays.

Gumpert illustrates how technological advances distort values and ethics. Does the instant replay during a ballgame mark the end of sportsmanship or mar “the wisdom and accuracy” of referees or officials? Is truth represented when “ ‘on-the-spot’ coverage involves fragmenting an incident and restructuring the pieces into a television event”?

“We as individuals are not in control of the technological environment in which we find ourselves,” Gumpert concludes. But in “Talking Tombstones,” he hopes to jar readers to question the media technology that surrounds us.