Customer Reviews (1)

Important Read
As good as a book you will read on the history of television in this country. The author does a great job in tracing where television started and where it is today. For anyone who is interested in reading about the decline in the way we get our news I highly recommend this book. ... Read more

Product Description
"Every four years, the network news machines crank themselves up to cover the presidential election campaigns. What we get is often a mix of sound bites, horserace standings, and scandals. In Campaign 2000, we also got network meltdown on election night and then, the Florida fiasco. This book looks at campaign coverage over the past four presidential elections and tracks its changing nature in terms of objectivity, negativity, quantity, and overall quality.Acclaimed media scholars Farnsworth and Lichter use extensive data from the non-profit, non-partisan Center for Media and Public Affairs to document the decline of network news. Analyzing the content of over 5800 network campaign stories and 9500 campaign items from other sources ranging from public television to newspapers to campaign speeches, the authors compare what the candidates said with what the networks say they said and judge the disparity a nightmare.The unprecedented breadth and depth of the evidence allow Farnsworth and Lichter to shatter old myths, raise new questions, and propose new answers to many of the most hotly debated questions about the media. They then venture reform proposals ranging across the spectrum of affected parties, focusing not just upon the news organizations, but also upon the political process and the candidates themselves." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

decent
Overall, a good read.The authors give considerable insight about the facts. However they do show a bias.For example, they seems to, at times, take pot shots at the New Hampshire population. These insults are completely unnecessary and takes away from the book's value. I would mildly recommend the book to read but I would not go out of my way to find it. ... Read more

Product Description
A book you can use from your broadcasting class through your beginning years in the television newsroom!

This book uses an integrated approach to teaching the fundamental skills of writing, reporting, shooting, and editing. This approach will enable you to learn the basics as interrelated processes that must be integrated to create an effective newscast. The book's comprehensive coverage allows readers to make important connections between writing, reporting, shooting, and editing. You will learn to think like a writer or editor when you are shooting or think like a videographer or editor when you are writing. You will learn about TV reporting as it is in the real world, where one professional frequently has to do it all.

In addition to the basics, this book helps readers develop more sophisticated skills, such as writing to the video and adapting the editing pace to the style of the story. The book also covers other essentials of broadcast news reporting, including developing sources, successful interviewing, using public records, and perfecting voice and performance.

Keller and Hawkins understand real-world newsroom pressures. Their dedication to high professional and ethical standards permeates the book. This handbook provides readers with a foundation for learning TV reporting by doing and will teach them how to integrate all the skills required for producing television news. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

VERY HELPFUL!
This book is perfect for students in Mass Communications as well as reporters on the beat.In the classroom or in the newsroom it is a must have for all hard core broadcasting people who are dedicated to the industry. ... Read more

Product Description
Broadcast News Writing Handbook will make students and professionals better writers and better broadcast journalists. With 50 years of combined broadcast journalism experience, the authors discuss how to write, how to craft language, and how to be effective story tellers.Some of the topics covered:Deadly Copy Sins and How to Avoid Them, Interviewing: Getting the Facts and the Feelings, Producing TV News, and Writing Sports Copy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

great text
This handbook is a wonderful reference for broadcast writing and offers good general tips as well.The authors bring personal experiences to the book, and though I read this for a college journalism course, it was an enjoyable read and I intend to keep it on hand as I begin my uphill climb in the TV news world. ... Read more

Product Description
"News That Matters does matter, because it demonstrates conclusively that television newscasts powerfully affect opinion. . . . All that follows, whether it supports, modifies, or challenges their conclusions, will have to begin here."--Aaron Wildavsky, The Public Interest

"Because of its methodological integrity and richness, News That Matters is likely to be regarded as an impressive, possibliy grounbreaking work."--Neil Postman, New York Times Book Review ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Media and Electoral Behavior
The authors contend that television news plays an important role in shaping American public opinion.The logic is that American's develop opinions on many issues, but they often have little personal experience related to those issues.As such, their opinions are based on information provided by other (Zaller 1992 would agree).Today, such information is disseminated through the media, particularly thorough TV.As such, the television has a great deal of power to shape public opinion.

Iyengar and Kinder contend that television news has an "agenda-setting effect," that is, TV news shapes what issues people view as nationally important."By attending to some problems and ignoring others, television news shapes the American public's political priorities" (pg. 33).However, priority preferences are not static.Rather, they vary with the degree to which the media covers the event.

The authors also contend that stories occurring early in the new broadcast are more influential on the agenda-setting of the public than those occurring in later broadcasts.Still, the authors contend that additional factors play a role in agenda setting.For example, individuals who are personally affected by an issue coved by the media are more susceptible to media agenda-setting.Similarly, the more coverage and issue receives, the more likely citizens are to view that issue as a priority.Again, this parallels much of Zaller's (1992) work on the power of elite discourse.

In regards to demographic data, the authors find that citizens with higher levels of education, stronger feelings of partisanship, and are more politically active are least likely to be influenced by the agenda-setting nature television news coverage.

Iyengar and Kinder also examine "priming effects" and television news.In particular, they examine "priming effects" and perceptions of presidential approval.This is based primarily on the psychological assumption that people cannot analyze all aspects of an issue when making decisions.Rather, they rely on information that is most readily available. As such, "The more attention television news pays to a particular problem - the more frequently a problem area is primed - the more viewers will incorporate what they know about that problem in their overall judgment of the president" (65). In regards to priming, the authors contend that people's perceptions of presidential qualities depend on "which aspects of national life television news choose to cover and which to ignore" (80).That is, if the media is aiming blame at the president, priming is likely to have the greatest effect, when the media aims away from the president, there is less effect.

Quite importantly, Iyengar and Kinder contend that the priming effects of the media can shape voting decision, and subsequently electoral outcomes."The priorities that are uppermost in the voters' minds as they go to the polls to elect a president or US representative appear to be powerfully shaped by the last minute preoccupations of television news" (110).There can be both positive and negative priming.

Classic -Easy and informative (but a bit dry) read
This is a seminal work in political science for both its study of media effects and its use of experimental methodology.In regards to the latter, this is arguably the book that placed experimental methods on "map".In terms of its media findings, it does an outstounding job of documenting agenda-setting and priming effects; also, there is a lot of sub-analysis that nicely details which people are most prone to and what type of coverage enhances such effects.That said, the findings will likely strike many people today as fairly obvious, but this was not the case at the time (a testament to the research agenda I&K established).While the agenda-setting, priming, and now framing research has progressed in the last two decades, this is still an excellent introduction to the topic.And it is a pretty easy and quick read (only 130 pages).

Start Here
Fairly quick, but vitally important read to anyone studying the media, communication, and politics.Experimental design demonstrates the media has the ability to set the national agenda, prime what people think is important within issues, and frame the way we think about the world.This is the seminal and original work in the field. ... Read more

Product Description
The current climate of American journalism is fraught with incestuous relations between government and a handful of Fortune 500 corporations that own and operate news organizations. From News Corporation’s Fox News, General Electric’s NBC, Viacom’s CBS, Disney’s ABC, and Time Warner’s CNN to Clear Channel’s massive radio empire, what the mainstream media present as "news" has become largely a "paid political announcement" born of favor trading, conflict of interest, and self-serving, bottom-line corporate logic. As a result of such accommodationism, American viewers receive a homogenized, censored version of reality and the watchdog of American democracy, the press, has become a docile instrument of governmental authority and big money.

In this timely collection of essays by more than a dozen of the nation's top media scholars, critics, and journalists, including a preface by Arthur Kent, the present media crisis is carefully exposed. From coverage of the war in Iraq to national security, this book details the manner in which journalists have walked in lockstep to the self-serving quid pro quo of government and corporate media giants. Among the many topics broached are methods of media manipulation and propagandizing; the claim that the media is liberal; media ownership, rules, and deregulation; alternative media; the threat to free access to information on the Internet; the effects of media consolidation on actors, producers, agents, managers, and lawyers in the film industry; and the standardization of music and reduction of localism in radio. The contributors include media critic Danny Schechter, political analyst Michael Parenti, Mother Jones publisher Jay Harris, the ACLU’s Barry Steinhardt and Jay Stanley, former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt, and many other distinguished commentators.Not only does this book expose the current crisis, it proposes solutions to it, pinpointing legal and constitutional challenges, reviewing recent FCC rulings and congressional legislation, and proposing structural changes in the ways diverse media currently operate. For any American who prizes democracy, this book is a clear wake-up call to look more carefully behind the superficial slogans of a free America and the stars and stripes strategically displayed on the TV monitor. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Dangers in how the news delivery system is structured
Essays by more than a dozen of the country's top media scholars, critics and journalists discuss how the corporate ownership of the media holds dangers to the American democratic process itself, from issues of standardization in program content and party lines to the demise of local interests and the nationalization of the news media itself. Recommended as critical reading for any college-level student of journalism, News Incorporated: Corporate Media Ownership And Its Threat To Democracy considers the underlying dangers in how the current news delivery system is structured and regulated, and how it could be fixed.

A must for the democratically minded
Elliot Cohen's new book, News Incorporated, is an extremely valuable contribution to contemporary discussions about the failure of the American media to promote American interests. The book is scholarly, but accessible; it is provocative but suitably practical. If you want to understand what's happening in America today, you need to read this book. ... Read more

Product Description
An authoritative and detailed illustration of the state of journalistic practice in the United States today, The American Journalist in the 21st Century sheds light on the demographic and educational backgrounds, working conditions, and professional and ethical values of print, broadcast, and Internet journalists at the beginning of the 21st century. Providing results from telephone surveys of nearly 1,500 U.S. journalists working in a variety of media outlets, this volume updates the findings published in the earlier report, The American Journalist in the 1990s, and reflects the continued evolution of journalistic practice and professionalism.
 
The scope of material included here is extensive and inclusive, representing numerous facets of journalistic practice and professionalism, and featuring separate analyses for women, minority, and online journalists. Many findings are set in context and compared with previous major studies of U.S. journalists conducted in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s.
 
Serving as a detailed snapshot of current journalistic practice, The American Journalist in the 21st Century offers an intriguing and enlightening profile of professional journalists today, and it will be of great interest and value to working journalists, journalism educators, media managers, journalism students, and others seeking insights into the current state of the journalism profession. ... Read more

Product Description
A recent Times-Mirror survey has shown that 65 percent of Americans prefer television over other news media for news coverage, an increase of 10 percent in just over a decade. To understand the enormous impact television news has had on American life, it is important to define the contributions made by various individuals in the field, as well as to recognize the news programs and broadcast journalism issues that have captivated, enlightened, and informed our nation. Never before have the forces and individuals of television news been so thoroughly and authoritatively examined. ... Read more

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Brad Pitt left Missouri just before graduating from college to take a chance in Hollywood, a move that paid off with fame, fortune and a marriage to actress Jennifer Aniston. His sparkling blue eyes and taught abdominal muscles have helped him earn the title of Sexiest Man Alive, but throughout his career he's worked hard to rise above his good looks and prove himself as a credible actor. ... Read more

Product Description
Addressing the controversial issues of the blurring boundaries between news and entertainment and the movement toward sensationalism in broadcast journalism, this study examines these distinctions: how boundaries are constructed and by whom; how they are enforced or broken and why. Rather than reflecting essential attributes by which news can be distinguished from other kinds of communication, "boundary setting" is viewed as a social construction, determined and changed by journalists wishing to assert their jurisdiction and authority and the prestige of the profession. Four instances of "boundary-work rhetoric" are examined in depth: (1) the development of roles and "rules" of television journalism during the early years of television; (2) attempts at Congressional and FTC regulation--broadcasting codes defining "bona fide" news; (3) responses to a 1992 journalistic scandal over a "Dateline NBC" story on exploding GM pickup trucks, and (4) reporting sex scandals during recent political campaigns, such as the allegations of Gennifer Flowers of her involvement with Bill Clinton. In these and other cases, journalists developed strategies to minimize harm to the profession. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Interesting book about journalism
The premise of Mapping the Cultural Space of Journalism is that the boundaries of journalism are socially-constructed, and do not rest on any essential elements. Winch's research shows that journalists try to "construct" boundaries by arguing both within and outside the journalism profession that journalism has essential, distinctive characteristics--and that it is different from entertainment.
Recent disputes regarding the proper role of journalism are discussed in several chapters, and will spark interest in many readers. For instance, one of the chapters examines discussions among journalists about the newsworthiness of allegations of womanizing by Bill Clinton which were raised by Gennifer Flowers during the 1992 presidential election. Another chapter examines the uproar over a 1992 Dateline NBC story about exploding GM pickup trucks in which sparking devices were used to insure fiery video footage. Another chapter shows how early television journalists felt pressure to make their genre of news more entertaining and easier to digest (and hence, more profit-centered), than traditional forms of journalism.
Although the information is presented as scholarly research, the subject matter will interest non-academics alike, and Winch's (my) writing style is very readable. ... Read more

Product Description
For the first time, the true picture of the legendaryQueen of the News, the incomparable redhead who reigned supreme for 37years at the first television station between New York andChicago. Carefully researched and annotated. Thirty-two pages ofphotos, some never before published. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Cleveland's First Lady of TV News
I grew up with Dorothy Fuldheim in my living room. (On the TV--not literally.) Mote's book fleshed out the picture that began to form in my mind and heart as a child, teen, and young woman. (I guess that gives away my age.) This commentator was a Cleveland institution and a trailblazer.

In the memoir group I teach, many likewise have fond memories of her. I brought the book to class and watched how people handled it - with curiosity and respect.

Was Fuldheim overdressed...even flamboyant? Of course, and the book will tell you why. Did she speak with a flair? Sure, and you'll find out how she got it. Opinionated? Would you want a commentator that wasn't? She spoke her mind on the events of the day with a degree of insight neither too lofty nor lowbrow. One did not need to agree...just to think. The book's research is a definite strength.

Mote shares childhood experiences integral to who Dorothy Violet Schnell became. This poor daughter of immigrants would eventually brush shoulders with public figures near and far. Before pioneering on TV, she offered well-attended book reviews, taught school, acted in little theater. She interviewed Hitler and Albert Speer...Helen Keller...many U.S. presidents...and many others.

I read about Fuldheim's heartfelt commentary in response to the Kent State University tragedy of May 4, 1970 and the divided public reaction. I recall the look in her eyes (on TV) following the death of her own daughter--one of those things I never forgot. The book includes other losses as well and stimulated enough curiosity that I intend to examine KSU archives to read more of the commentaries; a few are in the text.

For my taste, the book is written with just a bit more "enthusiasm" than necessary. That's the only flaw as I see it--but one can't fault Mote too much. The facts of this amazing life speak for themselves.

The most surprising chapter is the one suggesting Fuldheim's spiritual questions. Of the pictures included, my favorite is her firm handclasp with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Fuldheim was smart, blunt, elegant -- like the type of aunt one regards with awe and keeps a bit at a distance. The details of her life as a celebrity are juxtaposed with her sad decline in her final years following emergency surgery.

Her career on TV began at the age of 54 ... and continued until she was 91. In an era in which women on newscasts and as commentators is taken for granted, I enjoyed rewinding the reel.Recommended for media students, history buffs, Clevelanders, and anyone seeking a good "rags to riches" story.

Scores an impressive hit.
Mote succeeds in weaving together elements from all areas of Fuldheim's life, her own books, her commentaries and her many television interviews as well as her many conversations with society's elite. Fuldheim's life represents a footnote in the history of broadcasting and it is in this area that Mote's book excels. Anyone looking for a good overview of television during its formative stages can find it by reading about how Fuldheim managed to get hired in an industry where experience was non-existent.

...I commend Patricia Mote for the manner in which she captured Dorothy Fuldheim.

From a review in Ohio Writer by Ted Henry, news anchor at WEWS-TV Cleveland. ... Read more

Product Description
For sixty years Stan Chambers, KTLA s Channel 5 News most beloved reporting icon, has come into Southern California s (and sometimes the nation s) homes. From KTLA s inception as the first commercial TV station this side of the Mississippi to KTLA s first news telecopter, Stan Chambers was an integral part of those achievements. His over 22,000 stories include the Bobby Kennedy assassination, the 1984 Olympics, the Watts riots, the Baldwin Hills dam disaster, and the devastating Northridge quake. Stan and KTLA were the first to break the Rodney King beating that sent Los Angeles into turmoil. Stan is also involved with the Stan Chambers Journalism Awards, an annual essay competition that awards senior high school students interested in journalism careers with cash awards. Other honors include several Emmy and Golden Mike awards, the Sigma Delta Chi Broadcaster of the Year award, the Governor's Award from the Television Academy, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Professional Journalists, an L.A. Press Club Award, L.A. City and County proclamations, and from his alma mater, the USC Alumni Association Award. The Associated Press Television-Radio Association of California-Nevada also annually presents the Stan Chambers Lifetime Achievement Award. He s still out there, mic in hand, sixty years after covering his first big story, the rescue efforts of the Kathy Fiscus case in Pasadena. As Chambers puts it, When you report news in Los Angeles, you are broadcasting to the biggest hometown in America. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

good history
A good first person account, I highly recommend for anyone doing a history in TV news.

Excellent History of KTLA
I 've always wanted to be in broadcasting, but in the great scheme of things I was destined to get a job that was dependable and not interesting.

Growing up in the midwest radio and TV stations were copying things that "big city" stations accomplished first...but on a smaller scale.

One of those big city stations that did things on a grand scale was KTLA-TV.It was not the first experimental station in los Angeles, but it was the first commercial TV station west of the Mississippi River.

A friend of mine whetted my appetite for KTLA by sending me a copy of the station's 40th Anniversary program back in 1987.I was floored by the things they did.Starting with on the spot news coverage for events that would last several hours, which in those days meant taking a big van with several cameras and associated video equipment out to a scene and showing the viewing public what was going on.

KTLA recorded live entertainment TV programs on kinescope so that stations in other cities could have high quality programming.There was the live coverage of an atomic bomb test that was fed nationwide that would not have been coovered if not for ingenuity of the station's founder, Klause Landsberg.

The phone company wanted several months to construct the relay, but Klause only had a few weeks.By studying topographical maps he found a way to microwave the TV signal to Los Angeles and the networks then carried the signal across the country.Granted, an atomic bomb test may not be your cup of tea, but the fact that a major problem was solved in a hurry was most interesting.

The book, "KTLA's News at Ten: 60 years with Stan Chambers," covers the entire history of KTLA mainly because the author has been at the station since late 1947.It is a very good book, and a good addition to the other Stan Chambers book about KTLA printed ten years ago.The two books complement each other in that a lot of the same subjects are covered by vastly reworded.

If you are as interested in broadcasting history as I am then this book is a must for your library.It's easy and pleasant to read and impossible to put down.(You can take that two ways: you'll want to read it cover to cover in one sitting and you'll never say anything bad about it.)

I highly recommend this book and its predecessor.(DISCLAIMER: I receive no compensation to say that, nor do I have an interest in the book publisher.)The TV stations on the east coast may have similar stories and people to tell them, but my heart tells me these books are the very top.Everything else is a distant second.

Happy reading.

Stan.
A well known, loved, and respected
TV Journalist here in the Los Angeles area.

Have watched Stan most of his 60 year career,

reading this book brought back a lot of memories. ... Read more

Product Description
Big Bear, Rabbit, and the other animals work hard to write, edit, and print their newspaper, "The Furry News." Includes tips for making your own newspaper and defines a number of newspaper terms. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

very cute and informative
This book reads somewhat like a comic book. It teaches children the behind the scenes look at the making of a newspaper.

This book made my son want to make his own newspaper with his Dad!

The pictures in the book are also very cute!

The Furry News
There's nothing like sitting down with a good book - or a good newspaper. This book gives young kids the advantages of both. In simple language and with wonderful illustrations and characters, it explains the role of a newspaper and also the roles of those who work there. The wonderful cast of animals, whose interests aren't being addressed by the local media, decide to start a paper of their own.They track down stories, write opinions, review the arts, sell ads and papers and type, edit, paste up, print and deliver. The subtle humor won't be missed on adults.

The Furry News
As book featured on Reading Rainbow, it is the perfect sourcefor our homeschool group to establish their own newspaper. Witty, fun, innovative and very easy to understand.Great Book! ... Read more

Product Description
"Broadcast News Handbook" enables students and professionals to become better writers and better broadcast journalists. Backed by 50 years of combined broadcast journalism experience, the authors provide helpful discussions on crafting language and becoming an effective storyteller. Topics addressed include: "Deadly Copy Sins and How to Avoid Them"; "Interviewing: Getting the Facts and the Feelings"; "Producing TV News"; and "Writing Sports." ... Read more

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A straightforward account of the editorial and production processes used by journalists to bring television news to the viewer. It is an invaluable text for students on journalism courses, print and radio journalists moving into television and TV journalists wishing to update their knowledge.Takes into account the latest practices and issues in the television industry.

This fourth edition has been thoroughly updated to take account of the latest practices and issues in the television industry. It includes new illustrations of developments from both a technological and an editorial perspective.

In a changing broadcasting environment, newcomers to television journalism are finding themselves entering a world in which an empathy with technology is as important as a way with words. The newsroom itself is now completely computerized and consequently new skills and working methods need to be mastered to take account of the revolutionary advances.

Keep up to date with the latest practices and issues
Get everything you need to know from this respected and classic text
Easy to understand - factual and logical approach ... Read more

Product Description
An eye-opening look at how the top media covers world news. Explores the pack mentality that drives reporters and how it distorts what we know about global news, economics, wars, human rights and more. Vividly illustrated with incisive anecdotes, it argues that while individual reporting is at its peak, the system is less reliable than ever. Analyzes coverage of recent hot spots such as Iran, Somalia and Eastern Europe. Features interviews with media stars. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Understanding the news
For anyone who wishes to understand the process of news gathering, this book is the best available. I use it in all my international news classes at Scripps School of Journalism. Rosenblum extracts from his lifetime of journalism a clear, logical and comprehensive explanation of how the story you read got there, and what influences affected its selection and presentation at every stage of the process. It's also a fascinating and exciting read, by one of the world's most prolific and professional journalists. He introduces you to individual correspondents, both as individuals and as types. He explains how geography, economics and sheer prejudice can determine what you learn about the world. He tells great bar stories -- the kind of thing journalists tell each other over a beer. And he does it all with skill and style. Worth reading by anyone -- a must for anyone interested in news.

Speak up!
A great book. Even though it focuses primarily on american media, it's lesson can be applied in all parts of the world: We need to start making demands on the media, instead of letting it dictate what we need to know.An eye-opener. ... Read more

Product Description
This how-to book tells those starting out in television how to get professional results in real situations. Full of instruction and practical advice, the book covers every element of TV news from shooting tape to producing news shows. ... Read more

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Decade by decade, this book looks at the milestones and major events that have shaped the world we live in through the eyes of the newsmakers themselves. Offering a guided tour to what has made the world what it is today, Meet the Press tells the inside story of those events through rare photos, behind-the-scenes anecdotes, and real-life quotes. 150 illustrations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A tribute to one of television's longest running programs
This book is a excellent tribute to the public affairs program that spawned such programs as "Face the Nation" and "This Week".This book is a very interesting look at the political facesthat have passed through "Meet the Press" in its first fiftyyears. This book is a must read for those who really enjoy this program. ... Read more