Spinwars


Book Description

Today's media world is dominated by a legion of spin doctors whose job it is to feed you, the news consumer, a package labelled "the truth." Spin doctors abound in today's media world, from the pundits whose interpretations you read with your morning coffee to the lobbyists whose voices preach on the evening's 11:00 o'clock news. In a world where the facts are manipulated in order to fit a pre-set corporate agenda, where does the truth stand Spinwars.ca is the story of how the spin doctors got out of control. By tracing the delicate relationship between media and politics over the last 50 years, Fox identifies key events that have radically affected the balance between the third and fourth estates. From corporatization to television, from pundits to celebrity journalism, spinwars.ca reveals the truth about the spin doctors who have broken free of their boundaries and overturned the system. Spinwars.ca, however, is not a bad news story because a solution is at hand. New media is currently emerging that, Fox predicts, will rectify the balance between politics and journalism - the Internet. The largely anarchic force of the world wide web is presently revolutionizing the way news is presented, by creating, in effect, a fifth estate - a digital estate, the implications of which we are only now beginning to realize. spinwars.ca is a fascinating journey through the last 50 years of press and politics in North America, as well as an important examination into what the future will hold.




Spin Wars and Spy Games


Book Description

As most long-standing news outlets have shuttered their foreign bureaus and print operations, the role of GNNs as information collectors and policy influencers has changed in tandem. Western GNNs are honored for being untethered to government entities and their ability to produce accurate yet critical situational analyses. However, with the emergence of non-Western GNNs and their direct relationships to the state, the independent nature of our global news cycle has been vastly manipulated. In Spin Wars and Spy Games, Kounalakis uses his interviews with an expansive and diverse set of GNN professionals to deliver a vivid depiction of the momentous sea change in mass media production. He traces the evolution of global news networks from the twentieth century to now, revealing today's drastically altered news business model that places precedence on networks leveraging global power. This eye-opening narrative transforms our understanding of why countries like Russia and China invest heavily in their news media, and how the GNN framework operates in conjunction with state strategy and diplomatic sensitivity. Profoundly meticulous and insightful, this seminal work on the current state of transnational journalism gives readers a first-hand look at how global media powers shape policy and morph the public's consumption of information.




Original Spin


Book Description

Secret lunches, off-the-record briefings, the leaking of confidential information and tightly-organised media launches - the well-known world of modern political spin. But is this really a new phenomenon or have politicians been manipulating the press for as long as newspapers have existed? In this important new book, Paul Brighton shows that spin is not something dreamed up by modern, media-savvy politicians. In fact, it was one of the best-kept political secrets of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. From Peel and Palmerston to Gladstone and Disraeli, Prime Ministers have all tried to manipulate the press to a greater or lesser extent. Brighton uncovers the covert contacts between Westminster and Fleet Street and reveals how the Victorian occupants of 10 Downing Street secretly conveyed their viewpoints via the newspapers. For the first time, "Original Spin" tells the whole, unvarnished, story.




Covering American Politics in the 21st Century [2 volumes]


Book Description

This encyclopedia provides a real-world guide to American political journalism and news coverage in the 21st century, from the most influential media organizations and pundits to the controversies and practices shaping modern-day political journalism. Over the last 20 years, political campaigns and the media that cover them have been fundamentally altered by a mix of technology and money. This timely work surveys the legal, financial, and technological changes that have swept through the political process, putting those changes in context to help readers appreciate how they affect what the public learns—and doesn't learn—about the candidates and lawmakers at the local, state, and federal levels. The encyclopedia offers a critical examination of a broad range of topics organized in a narrative, A-to-Z format. Written by journalists and political experts, the two volumes cover the major issues, organizations, and trends affecting both politics and the coverage of political campaigns. Some 200 entries treat everything from news organizations, think tanks, and significant individuals to questions concerning money, advertising, and campaign tactics. Objective, unbiased, and comprehensive, the encyclopedia is an unequaled resource for anyone seeking to understand American political journalism and news coverage in the 21st century.




Understanding the Olympics


Book Description

The Olympic Games is unquestionably the greatest sporting event in the world, with billions of viewers across the globe. How did the Olympics evolve into this multi-national phenomenon? How can the Olympics help us to understand the relationship between sport and society? What will be the impact and legacy of the 2016 Olympics in Rio? Now in a fully revised and updated new edition that places Rio 2016 in the foreground, Understanding the Olympics answers all these questions by exploring the social, cultural, political, historical and economic context of the Games. This book presents the latest research on the Olympics, including new material on legacy, sustainability and corruption, and introduces the reader to all of the key themes of contemporary Olympic Studies including: the history of the Olympics Olympic politics access and equity the Olympics and the media festival and spectacle the Olympic economy urban development Olympic futures. The most up-to-date and authoritative introduction to the Olympic Games, this book contains a full Olympic history timeline as well as illustrations, information boxes and ‘Olympic Stories’ in every chapter. Understanding the Olympics is essential reading for anybody with an interest in the Olympics or the wider relationship between sport and society.




The Gentleman from Georgia


Book Description

"Along the way, the story of Gingrich's personal and political problems and triumphs is revealed, from his controversial first divorce and scandalous ethics problems and his early campaign losses. We also see his rise to national prominence and influence, the development of "Newt, Inc." and his involvement in the "necessary revolution." Finally, by detailing Gingrich's life experiences from childhood to adulthood the nature and development of his conservatism is examined."--BOOK JACKET.




The Integrated News Spectacle


Book Description

The Integrated News Spectacle examines the rational organization of control of popular news forms. It uses spectacular media events - such as the mourning of Princess Diana, the Monica Lewinsky presidential scandal, and the Gulf wars of 1991 and 2003 - as entry points into a discussion of the broader context surrounding an integrated system of commodity production, distribution and exchange. James R. Compton critiques the generally accepted notion of tabloidization associated with media spectacles, and situates these dramatic narratives within a broad historical context. Drawing on the work of Guy Debord, David Harvey, and Pierre Bourdieu, this book explains how the power relationships associated with media events can best be comprehended by revealing the practical application of the logic of spectacle - a logic characterized by the transposable circulation and promotion of cultural commodities.




Mother Jones Magazine


Book Description

Mother Jones is an award-winning national magazine widely respected for its groundbreaking investigative reporting and coverage of sustainability and environmental issues.




Keywords in the Press: The New Labour Years


Book Description

Building on Raymond Williams' iconic "Keywords" released in 1975, Jeffries and Walker show how some pivotal words significantly increased in use and evolved in meaning during the years of the 'New Labour' project. Focussing on print news media, this book establishes a set of socio-political keywords for the 'Blair Years', and demonstrates how their evolving meanings are indicative of the ideological landscape in Britain at that time, and the extent to which the cultural hegemony of the New Labour project influenced the language of the commentariat. Combining corpus linguistic approaches with critical stylistics the authors conduct an analysis of two newspaper corpora using computational tools. Looking closely at textually-constructed meanings within the data, their investigation of the keywords has a qualitative focus, and sets out a clear methodology for combining corpus approaches with systematic co-textual analysis.




In the News, 3rd edition


Book Description

Now in its third edition, In the News is the standard Canadian textbook on media relations, used across the country. The authors provide an introduction to media relations, grounded in both communications theory and hands-on, day-to-day experience. Whether you need to promote your issues to the nation or reach small, targeted groups, this book is your step-by-step guide. In the News is perfect for communications students; media relations practitioners in the private, public and voluntary sectors; and anyone who wants to break a story.