Broken News


Book Description

"One of America’s most experienced and exemplary journalists has written an unsparing analysis of the dreadful consequences -- for journalism and the nation -- of ‘how the news lost a race to the bottom with itself.’” -- George F. Will In this national bestseller, Chris Stirewalt, a former Fox News political editor, takes readers inside America’s broken newsrooms that have succumbed to the temptation of “rage revenue.” One of America’s sharpest political analysts, Stirewalt employs his trademark wit and insight to reveal how these media organizations slant coverage – and why that drives political division and rewards outrageous conduct. The New York Times wrote that Stirewalt’s book "is an often candid reflection on the state of political journalism and his time at Fox News, where such post-mortem assessments are not common..." Broken News is a fascinating, deeply researched, conversation-provoking study of how the news is made and how it must be repaired. Stirewalt goes deep inside the history of the industry to explain how today’s media divides America for profit. And he offers practical advice for how readers, listeners, and viewers can (and should) become better news consumers for the sake of the republic.




That's the Way It Is


Book Description

Ever since Newton Minow taught us sophisticates to bemoan the descent of television into a vast wasteland, the dyspeptic chorus of jeremiahs who insist that television news in particular has gone from gold to dross gets noisier and noisier. Charles Ponce de Leon says here, in effect, that this is misleading, if not simply fatuous. He argues in this well-paced, lively, readable book that TV news has changed in response to broader changes in the TV industry and American culture. It is pointless to bewail its decline. "That s the Way It Is "gives us the very first history of American television news, spanning more than six decades, from Camel News Caravan to Countdown with Keith Oberman and The Daily Show. Starting in the latter 1940s, television news featured a succession of broadcasters who became household names, even presences: Eric Sevareid, Walter Cronkite, David Brinkley, Peter Jennings, Brian Williams, Katie Couric, and, with cable expansion, people like Glenn Beck, Jon Stewart, and Bill O Reilly. But behind the scenes, the parallel story is just as interesting, involving executives, producers, and journalists who were responsible for the field s most important innovations. Included with mainstream network news programs is an engaging treatment of news magazines like "60 Minutes" and "20/20, " as well as morning news shows like "Today" and "Good Morning America." Ponce de Leon gives ample attention to the establishment of cable networks (CNN, and the later competitors, Fox News and MSNBC), mixing in colorful anecdotes about the likes of Roger Ailes and Roone Arledge. Frothy features and other kinds of entertainment have been part and parcel of TV news from the start; viewer preferences have always played a role in the evolution of programming, although the disintegration of a national culture since the 1970s means that most of us no longer follow the news as a civic obligation. Throughout, Ponce de Leon places his history in a broader cultural context, emphasizing tensions between the public service mission of TV news and the quest for profitability and broad appeal."




Investigated Reporting


Book Description

Triple Award Winner: 2006 History Division Book Award of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, 2006 Frank Luther Mott/Kappa Tau Alpha Communications Award, and 2005 Donald McGannon Award for Social and Ethical Relevance in Communications Policy Research The public often views television investigative reporting as a watchdog on the government. In fact, some of the centerpiece moments of TV muckraking relied heavily on official sources for inspiration, information, and regulatory protection from critics. At the same time, criticism by government officials and overt threats to regulate the television industry influenced the decision-making and content that went into some of broadcast news's iconic moments. Chad Raphael's looks at the relationship between journalism and regulation during the celebrated period of muckraking that took place on American television between 1960 and 1975. Raphael offers new insights into the economic, political, and industrial forces that shaped documentaries like Harvest of Shame, Hunger in America, and Banks and the Poor while placing the investigative television documentary into its institutional, regulatory, and cultural context. Throughout, Raphael exposes the complex strands of influence used by government officials to shape--and attack--investigative reporting, and highlights how these tactics created a troubling legacy for the regulation of television news today.




What's Next?


Book Description

The future of journalism isn't what it used to be. As recently as the mid-1960s, few would have predicted the shocks and transformations that have swept through the news business in the last three decades: the deaths of many afternoon newspapers, the emergence of television as people's primary news source and the quicksilver combinations of cable television, VCRs and the Internet that have changed our ways of reading, seeing, and listening.The essays in this volume seek to illuminate the future prospects of journalism. Mindful that grandiose predictions of the world of tomorrow tend to be the fantasies and phobias of the present written large-in the 1930s and 1940s magazines such as Scribner's, Barron's, and Collier's forecast that one day we would have an airplane in every garage-the authors of What's Next? have taken a more careful view.The writers start with what they know-the trends that they see in journalism today-and ask where will they take us in the foreseeable future. For some media, such as newspapers, the visible horizon is decades away. For others, particularly anything involving the Internet, responsible forecasts can look ahead only for a matter of years. Where the likely destinations of present trends are not entirely clear, the authors have tried to pose the kinds of questions that they believe people will have to address in years to come.While being mindful of the tremendous influence of technology, one must remember that computers, punditry, or market share will not ordain the future of journalism. Rather, it will be determined by the sum of countless actions taken by journalists and other media professionals. These essays, with their hopes and fears, cautions and enthusiasms, questions and answers, are an effort to create the best possible future for journalism. This volume will be of interest to media professionals, academics and others with an interest in the future of journalism.




Broadcast Hysteria


Book Description

On the evening of October 30, 1938, radio listeners across the United States heard a startling report of a meteor strike in the New Jersey countryside. With sirens blaring in the background, announcers in the field described mysterious creatures, terrifying war machines, and thick clouds of poison gas moving toward New York City. As the invading force approached Manhattan, some listeners sat transfixed, while others ran to alert neighbors or to call the police. Some even fled their homes. But the hair-raising broadcast was not a real news bulletin-it was Orson Welles's adaptation of the H. G. Wells classic The War of the Worlds. In Broadcast Hysteria, A. Brad Schwartz boldly retells the story of Welles's famed radio play and its impact. Did it really spawn a "wave of mass hysteria," as The New York Times reported? Schwartz is the first to examine the hundreds of letters sent to Orson Welles himself in the days after the broadcast, and his findings challenge the conventional wisdom. Few listeners believed an actual attack was under way. But even so, Schwartz shows that Welles's broadcast became a major scandal, prompting a different kind of mass panic as Americans debated the bewitching power of the radio and the country's vulnerability in a time of crisis. When the debate was over, American broadcasting had changed for good, but not for the better. As Schwartz tells this story, we observe how an atmosphere of natural disaster and impending war permitted broadcasters to create shared live national experiences for the first time. We follow Orson Welles's rise to fame and watch his manic energy and artistic genius at work in the play's hurried yet innovative production. And we trace the present-day popularity of "fake news" back to its source in Welles's show and its many imitators. Schwartz's original research, gifted storytelling, and thoughtful analysis make Broadcast Hysteria a groundbreaking new look at a crucial but little-understood episode in American history.




Radio Production


Book Description

This classic book is a must-have for anyone involved in radio production, covering everything from operational techniques and producing different programme formats, to conducting interviews and writing for radio. The fifth edition features new and updated information on: * digital production, such as the computer editing process, digital recording and DAB * the internet and internet-only radio stations * automatic playout systems * ethics * storytelling, showing simple ways of creating different acoustics for drama * station management * scheduling * remote reporting This edition is further enhanced by a supporting CD-Rom, packed with examples, exercises and resources.




Mass Communications Research Resources


Book Description

This reference book is designed as a road map for researchers who need to find specific information about American mass communication as expeditiously as possible. Taking a topical approach, it integrates publications and organizations into subject-focused chapters for easy user reference. The editors define mass communication to include print journalism and electronic media and the processes by which they communicate messages to their audiences. Included are newspaper, magazine, radio, television, cable, and newer electronic media industries. Within that definition, this volume offers an indexed inventory of more than 1,400 resources on most aspects of American mass communication history, technology, economics, content, audience research, policy, and regulation. The material featured represents the carefully considered judgment of three experts -- two of them librarians -- plus four contributors from different industry venues. The primary focus is on the domestic American print and electronic media industries. Although there is no claim to a complete census of all materials on print journalism and electronic media -- what is available is now too vast for any single guide -- the most important and useful items are here. The emphasis is on material published since 1980, though useful older resources are included as well. Each chapter is designed to stand alone, providing the most important and useful resources of a primary nature -- organizations and documents as well as secondary books and reports. In addition, online resources and internet citations are included where possible.




The Battle to Control Broadcast News


Book Description

The Battle to Control Broadcast News chronicles the power plays, fights, betrayals, and skirmishes behind the use and misuse of both the Fairness Doctrine, which required broadcasters to air news on controversial issues and to provide a "balance" in their programming, and the Equal Time Law, which governs political programming and claims that federal law cannot require broadcasters to carry all candidates. Hugh Donahue argues that these restrictions were never justified, that the public lost more than it gained by having them, and that fear of the power of mass communications is a constant theme shaping regulation of broadcast journalism.Donahue's sweeping history describes the curious position that broadcast news occupies on the spectrum of American journalism and political activism: it is by far the most widespread force in news and politics, but also the most restricted, as it is the only one whose First Amendment rights have been limited by Congressional action and regulatory fiat.The book analyzes disputes over broadcasters' free speech rights and government regulation. Donahue demonstrates that dramatic growth in emerging cable television and satellite technologies is significantly expanding television news and politics, making existing regulations obsolete. He argues that the remarkable durability of these outdated laws can be attributed to such special interest groups as the automobile and oil industries and the gun lobby, which want direct access to broadcast audiences, and to a public wary of both "big media" domination of political discourse and "big money" advertisers seeking to monopolize the airwaves.




When the News Broke


Book Description

A riveting, blow-by-blow account of how the network broadcasts of the 1968 Democratic convention shattered faith in American media. “The whole world is watching!” cried protestors at the 1968 Democratic convention as Chicago police beat them in the streets. When some of that violence was then aired on network television, another kind of hell broke loose. Some viewers were stunned and outraged; others thought the protestors deserved what they got. No one—least of all Chicago mayor Richard J. Daley—was happy with how the networks handled it. In When the News Broke, Heather Hendershot revisits TV coverage of those four chaotic days in 1968—not only the violence in the streets but also the tumultuous convention itself, where Black citizens and others forcefully challenged southern delegations that had excluded them, anti-Vietnam delegates sought to change the party’s policy on the war, and journalists and delegates alike were bullied by both Daley’s security forces and party leaders. Ultimately, Hendershot reveals the convention as a pivotal moment in American political history, when a distorted notion of “liberal media bias” became mainstreamed and nationalized. At the same time, she celebrates the values of the network news professionals who strived for fairness and accuracy. Despite their efforts, however, Chicago proved to be a turning point in the public’s trust in national news sources. Since those critical days, the political Right in the United States has amplified distrust of TV news, to the point where even the truest and most clearly documented stories can be deemed “fake.” As Hendershot demonstrates, it doesn’t matter whether the “whole world is watching” if people don’t believe what they see.




Now the News


Book Description

-- Walter Cronkite