“Trust Me, I’m Lying” Book Review: How To Make Everyone In Your Industry Hate You
For me, book reviews typically tend to fall into three categories: loved it, hated it, heck if I know because I didn’t finish it. This book was different.
The 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer, while alarming for just about anyone who isn’t a nurse (voted #1 most trusted profession for the 15th year in a row), reveals the largest ever drop in trust in our industry. Down nearly 43 percent, media and media relations trust is at an all time low in 17 countries. It has gotten so bad that search engines have usurped us as the most trusted source of information. Just let that sink in for a minute.
This fact however, may not come as a surprise to anyone who has read Ryan Holiday’s revealing and highly controversial book, “Trust Me I’m Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator”.
Holiday pulls back the curtain on the issue of media manipulation, or maybe more like forcefully rips it down, leaving members of his own industry exposed and definitely a little embarrassed. He offers readers the opportunity to learn how to manipulate the media, as well as some philosophical insight on why we should not do it. Drawing on his own personal experiences and manipulative schemes, he provides copious steps, tactics, and accompanying examples on how to skew the truth and guide perceptions in order to achieve your messaging goals. All that is required is some creativity and a complete lack of scruples.
Now the reason this book does not fall into my archetypal categories when it comes to reading material is because not only did I love it, I also absolutely hated the person who was writing it. Here’s why:
Ryan Holiday was 25-years-old when he published this book. Which not only has me asking what the hell I have been doing with my life, as I too have just passed the quarter century mark, but also makes him all too relatable. Painfully relatable. He reminds me of the entitled frat boys I went to undergrad with. He reminds me of that guy at the bar who won’t let you get a word in edgewise because he is too busy talking about himself and his own convictions. He actually kind of reminds me of my ex-boyfriend. It also makes his irreverent and instigating style of writing exhausting, as it is something I experience enough in the real world I don’t typically seek it out in my book choices. He hates bloggers and thinks they’re lazy, he curses capitalism and the dirty shadow it casts on mainstream media, and overall thinks the accountability in the field is going to hell in a hand basket.
The book was simultaneously terrifying, irritating (Peter Shankman, founder of HARO (Help a Reporter Out), is actually quoted as wanting to “punch [Holiday] in the face“) , and inspiring, because it made me want to make a change. Which I truly believe, behind his cool guy facade, was Holidays motivation for writing the book in the first place. Or maybe it was just a PR stunt, I just can’t be sure anymore.
That being said, the man is a freaking genius.
There is a reason Holiday was able to drop out of school as a 19-year-old and still manage to work alongside “fratire” author Tucker Max, and become the director of marketing at American Apparel by the age of 22. His campaigns, though controversial, managed to skyrocket the brand into the national spotlight and renowned recognition, costing the company nearly nothing. Make something edgy or weird enough, the public will circulate it on their own volition. In the words of Holiday, “thanks for the free publicity”.
Read it. Hate it. Love it. Fear it. But most importantly, know it is happening and make the conscious effort as up-and-coming media professionals to make a change.
If you work in the media field, if you consume the news, you should be reading this book.
