Trust Me, I'm Lying

Confessions of a Media Manipulator

By: Ryan Holiday

Narrated by: Ryan Holiday

You’ve seen it all before. A malicious online rumor costs a company millions. A political sideshow derails the national news cycle and destroys a candidate. Some product or celebrity zooms from total obscurity to viral sensation. What you don’t know is that someone is responsible for all this. Usually, someone like me.

I’m a media manipulator. In a world where blogs control and distort the news, my job is to control blogs - as much as any one person can.

In today’s culture...

1. Blogs like Gawker, Buzzfeed, and the Huffington Post drive the media agenda.
2. Bloggers are slaves to money, technology, and deadlines.
3. Manipulators wield these levers to shape everything you read, see, and watch - online and off.

Why am I giving away these secrets? Because I’m tired of a world where blogs take indirect bribes, marketers help write the news, reckless journalists spread lies, and no one is accountable for any of it. I’m pulling back the curtain because I don’t want anyone else to get blindsided.

I’m going to explain exactly how the media really works. What you choose to do with this information is up to you.

©2012 Ryan Holiday (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“A playbook for the dark arts of exploiting the media.” (Robert Greene, author of The 48 Laws of Power)

“Ryan Holiday's brilliant exposé of the unreality of the Internet should be required reading for every thinker in America.” (Edward Jay Epstein, author of The Big Picture)

"[Like] Upton Sinclair on the blogosphere." (Tyler Cowen, MarginalRevolution.com; author of An Economist Gets Lunch)

“The strategies Ryan created to exploit blogs drove sales of millions of my books and made me an internationally known name.” (Tucker Max, number-one New York Times best-selling author of I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell)

Very insightful

Phenomenal inside look at how modern media actually reports news, and it turns out to be worse than sausages.

Great Book

Honest and sobering book. I've always had the feeling that the whole thing is a huge theater. Ryan confirmed I was right.

enlightening

I enjoyed this very much. Ryan shares so much info on the dark arts of media manipulation.

If You Want Inspiration, Look Elsewhere

I enjoy and admire Ryan Holiday. I discovered him, if you will, as part of my study of Stoicism. In that regard, what he shares is positive and life-changing. This book, about the cesspool of Internet blogs specifically and rapid news generally, will not inspire. Holiday himself admits that is impossible, given the shitty state of which he reports. He's correct. Read this book, for your own sanity and understanding. I recommend it. Afterwards, find something else to cheer yourself up!

A Cautionary Tale

Ryan does a great job pointing out the pitfalls of publishing on the web. I learned a lot.

Solid read

The approach of this book was a lessons learned and moral compass adjustment by someone in the thick of it. I am grateful for pulling the covers back a little on this world. Insider books are good, one which provides recent examples and correlation is a rare treat, which this book certainly does in spades. Recommending reading for certain

All the reasons fake news is real

Great insight into the ridiculousness of the news media business. Appreciate the author for shining the light.

Made me think about why no one talks about my business and ways I might start to play the game in an ethical way. Sound like the best are dirty but there are tactics in here about good story telling that any entrepreneur could likely use. Valuable read and I am wiser for the time.

He told you and you won’t listen

Ryan literally just dropped tons of knowledge and experience on the listener to paint a picture of just how easy it is to deceive. He laid out a great case and I would bet most people reading/listening to this will still believe everything on the internet. Thanks for trying anyways, author. You did your best.

A revelation for those outside of the industry

A very important book that questions how we receive news, where it comes from, and its values. It frames the perspective of the media by showing how the players in the media are incentivized and not held accountable. It shows the effects of media exploitation perpetuated by a system of incentives that encourage bad behavior and ultimately lead to a reactionary world and real consequences despite pseudo catalysts.

Important to anyone who consumes online info

It’s easy to check the news feed on the web “for a few minutes” and end up clicking through news story after news story looking for something worth reading. There was nothing useful.

I picked up “Trust Me I’m Lying” to learn how media manipulation works and to understand the how and why. It made me realize how easily I fall for the traps and tricks used to get my attention and to get me click on something. Learning about how blogs (all online publishing) work and what they actually mean in the real world is fascinating and scary and something every user should be aware of because what you read is distorted and makes it very hard to know if you are reading is fact or fiction. I am now more aware of my online behavior now and am more discerning about what I choose to read online. This is a life skill.

The appendix has examples of comments from actual media manipulators. Some of what they did was very disturbing, distorting reality for a specific result (usually not for the common good) and making hard to trust information on blogs. It made me question past decisions I have made and reminded me that I need to be more aware of now and in the future.

I read the revised edition of the book and ebook and listened to the audible of the original edition. Even though there were the differences, they were minor. Listening to the audible version reinforced the ideas in the book and helped draw me into the book even more. I got more out of the experience this way.