The Troubles of Journalism: A Critical Look at What's Right and Wrong With the Press

212 Pages·2004·12.699 MB·English

by  William A. Hachten

The Troubles

of Journalism

A Critical Look at What's
Right and Wrong
With the Press
LEA'S COMMUNICATION SERIES
Jennings Bryant/Dolf Zillmann, General Editors
Selected Titles in Journalism (Maxwell McCombs, Advisory Editor) include:
Bunker • Critiquing Free Speech: First Amendment Theory and the Challenge
of Interdisciplinarity
Friedman/Dunwoody/Rogers • Communicating Uncertainty: Media Coverage
of New and Controversial Science
Garrison • Professional Feature Writing, 4 Edition
lorio • Qualitative Research in Journalism: Taking It to the Streets
Kaid • Handbook of Political Communication Research
McCombs/Reynolds • The Poll With a Human Face: The National Issues
Convention Experiment in Political Communication
Merritt/McCombs • The Two W's of Journalism: The What and Why of Public
Affairs Reporting
Salwen/Garrison/Driscoll • Online News and the Public
Titchener • Reviewing the Arts, Third Edition
For a complete list of titles in LEA's Communication Series, please contact
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, at www.erlbaum.com.
The Troubles

of Journalism
A Critical Look at What's
Right and Wrong
With the Press
Third Edition
William A. Hachten
LAWRENCE ERLBAUM ASSOCIATES, PUBLISHERS
2005 Mahwah, New Jersey London
Copyright © 2005 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in
any form, by photostat, microform, retrieval system, or any other
means, without prior written permission of the publisher.
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Publishers
10 Industrial Avenue
Mahwah, New Jersey 07430
Cover design by Kathryn Houghtaling Lacey
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The Troubles of Journalism: a Critical Look at What's Right
and Wrong With the Press, Third Edition, by William A. Hachten
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8058-5166-6 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN 0-8058-5167-4 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Copyright information for this volume can be obtained by contact­
ing the library of congress
Books published by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates are printed on acid-
free paper, and their bindings are chosen for strength and durability.
Printed in the United States of America
1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents

Preface To Third Edition vii

Preface ix

Introduction xiii

1. Best News Media in the World? 1

2. Global Impact of American Media 14

3. Freedom of the Press: Theory and Values 30

4. Recent History of the Press 42

5. Bigger, Fewer, and More Like-Minded 54

6. News on the Air: a Sense of Decline 71

7. The Fading American Newspaper? 85

8. Why the Public Mistrusts the Media 102

9. The Clinton Scandal and Mixed Media 113

10. Foreign News Revived? 121

11. Covering Wars in an Era of Terrorism 133

12. News and Comment on the Internet 148

v
vi CONTENTS
13. Educating Journalists 159

14. Conclusion: Journalism at a Time of Change 170

References 177

Author Index 181

Subject Index 183
Preface To Third Edition

The second edition of The Troubles of Journalism came out in early 2001
before the seismic events of September 11th and subsequent upheavals in
American life. The U.S. news media, in what critics considered their finest
hour, magnificently reported this historic event.
Confronted with a war on terrorism, the American press now has a
slightly different and perhaps more serious perception of itself and how it
should serve the American public. Some matters that before were consid­
ered important are no longer so pressing; in other ways, the news media
probably have changed little—certainly less than media critics had hoped.
Since 9/11,the nation has been "at war" with terrorism but Americans
cannot agree what kind of war and who indeed are the enemies of America
and other Western nations. Some say the enemy is Islamic fascism or totali­
tarianism, but others here and in Europe are not so sure. Does this amor­
phous and vague "war" constitute a very real threat to American lives or is it
more of a threat to the American way of life and its freedoms (including
press freedom), constitutional protections, and our values because of the
ways the war has been conducted?
These are some of the matters the press must deal with in this asymmetri­
cal war against an elusive and shadowy opponent. One journalist probably
overstated the challenges of defending the "homeland" when he said, "Now
we are all war corespondents."
In the months after Sept. 11, 2001, the news media responded to three
historic, interrelated challenges—the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York
City and Washington DC, a prolonged war against the Taliban in Afghani­
stan, and a full-scale war against Iraq with its continuing and unresolved af-
Vll
viii PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION
termath. The pluses and minuses of uneven media performance since 9/11
need to be analyzed.
Other significant recent challenges to the media have involved (a) con­
tinuing mergers and consolidation of media ownership; (b) new concerns
about press credibility and bias, as exemplified by The New York Times' or­
deal over Jayson Blair; (c) the expanding and controversial role of cable
news channels; (d) the growing impact role of news and comment on the
Internet; and (e) continuing globalization and controversy over the role of
American media in international communications.
To do justice to these recent "troubles" of the news media, important
additions and modifications have been made in every chapter of this re­
vised edition.