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Taming the New Media Frontier

October 13th, 2008 | 2 min read

By Matthew Lee Anderson

Reviews of the New Media Frontier are trickling in at a slow pace.  The countless hordes of readers (currently #232,477 on Amazon.com!) are doubtlessly grappling with the profundity contained therein.  Especially in that oh-so-provocative section critiquing new media.

While I was hoping for a solid scathing review or two of my chapter, I have thus far been disappointed.  One blogger even had the temerity to list one thought I offered among those that he resonated with. Disappointing, really. (And yes, for those of you who are keeping score at home, I am using Google’s Blogsearch to find out what people are saying about the book).

More seriously, my aim in the chapter is to offer three critiques of new media that move beyond the “narcissistic” charge.  In my attempt, I marshal some surprising forces to my side–Dorothy Sayers and G.K. Chesterton among them.  What have they to say about new media?  Plenty.

And now to my real point:  I have a copy or two of the book lying around, which I would be thrilled to send along to the first blogger who promises to offer his most scathing rejoinder to my chapter.  I have played the critic often enough–it’s about time I stand on the receiving end.  Email me at matthew dot l dot anderson at gmail dot com.

Matthew Lee Anderson

Matthew Lee Anderson is an Associate Professor of Ethics and Theology in Baylor University's Honors College. He has a D.Phil. in Christian Ethics from Oxford University, and is a Perpetual Member of Biola University's Torrey Honors College. In 2005, he founded Mere Orthodoxy.