News The Politics of Illusion

This highly-esteemed text follows the evolution of the news, both as a social and economic product, and as a key to understanding the American political process. Analyzing how the press, public, and politicians interact in a not always functional political system, the new Fourth Edition continues to offer the features that made the previous editions so successful: the best overview of research on media and politics available, in-depth "Case Studies" in every chapter, and unique views from the press. The Fourth Edition is also a sweeping revision and several broad new themes have been woven throughout the book to reflect important changes in recent years: 1. the decline of mass media and the fragmentation of the mass news audience; 2. the rise of strategic communication and new technologies of audience targeting; 3. the rise of news negativity; and 4. the news reform movement. These themes, along with relevant new examples to illustrate them, not only bring this new edition up-to-date, but reflect theoretical and empirical developments in the political communication field as well.Bennett, W. Lance is the author of 'News The Politics of Illusion', published 2000 under ISBN 9780801319211 and ISBN 0801319218.