When the Press Fails: Political Power and the News Media from Iraq to Katrina (Studies in Communication, Media, and Public Opinion) - Softcover

Bennett, W. Lance; Lawrence, Regina G.; Livingston, Steven

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0226042855 ISBN 13: 9780226042855

Publisher: University of Chicago Press, 2008

Synopsis

A sobering look at the intimate relationship between political power and the news media, When the Press Fails argues the dependence of reporters on official sources disastrously thwarts coverage of dissenting voices from outside the Beltway.

The result is both an indictment of official spin and an urgent call to action that questions why the mainstream press failed to challenge the Bush administration’s arguments for an invasion of Iraq or to illuminate administration policies underlying the Abu Ghraib controversy. Drawing on revealing interviews with Washington insiders and analysis of content from major news outlets, the authors illustrate the media’s unilateral surrender to White House spin whenever oppositional voices elsewhere in government fall silent. Contrasting these grave failures with the refreshingly critical reporting on Hurricane Katrina—a rare event that caught officials off guard, enabling journalists to enter a no-spin zone—When the Press Fails concludes by proposing new practices to reduce reporters’ dependence on power.

“The hand-in-glove relationship of the U.S. media with the White House is mercilessly exposed in this determined and disheartening study that repeatedly reveals how the press has toed the official line at those moments when its independence was most needed.”—George Pendle, Financial Times

“Bennett, Lawrence, and Livingston are indisputably right about the news media’s dereliction in covering the administration’s campaign to take the nation to war against Iraq.”—Don Wycliff, Chicago Tribune

“[This] analysis of the weaknesses of Washington journalism deserves close attention.”—Russell Baker, New York Review of Books

About this title

About the Author

W. Lance Bennett is professor of political science and the Ruddick C. Lawrence Professor of Communication at the University of Washington. Regina G. Lawrence is the Kevin P. Reilly Sr. Chair of Political Communication in the Manship School of Mass Communication at Louisiana State University. Steven Livingston is professor of media and international affairs in the School of Media and Public Affairs and the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University.

From Booklist

The American press has become so enamored of power and politics that it has in recent years failed to maintain its independence and act as a watchdog over the government, lament journalism professors Bennett, Regina Lawrence, and Steven Livingston. They maintain that the failures of the press to scrutinize the Bush administration's preemptive war on Iraq and to question the administration's policy on torture of captives are the most egregious examples of the press taking its cues from government officials. The press is now so accustomed to getting information from government sources that unless someone within the government challenges a view or policy, no other side is heard. Cozy relationships between the press and insider sources have made the press easily manageable. Exploring the refreshing independence the press showed in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when the administration was caught off guard and unable to manage the coverage, the authors offer suggestions on how the press can recover its independence on a broader scale. Vanessa Bush
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About this edition

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0226042855
• ISBN 13: 9780226042855
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 280