Incorporating HCP 314 i-viii, session 2006-07

The future of journalism isn't what it used to be. As recently as the mid-1960s, few would have predicted the shocks and transformations that have swept through the news business in the last three decades: the deaths of many afternoon newspapers, the emergence of television as people's primary news source and the quicksilver combinations of cable television, VCRs and the Internet that have changed our ways of reading, seeing, and listening. The essays in this volume seek to illuminate the future prospects of journalism. Mindful that grandiose predictions of the world of tomorrow tend to be the fantasies and phobias of the present written large-in the 1930s and 1940s magazines such as Scribner's, Barron's, and Collier's forecast that one day we would have an airplane in every garage-the authors of What's Next? have taken a more careful view. The writers start with what they know-the trends that they see in journalism today-and ask where will they take us in the foreseeable future. For some media, such as newspapers, the visible horizon is decades away. For others, particularly anything involving the Internet, responsible forecasts can look ahead only for a matter of years. Where the likely destinations of present trends are not entirely clear, the authors have tried to pose the kinds of questions that they believe people will have to address in years to come. While being mindful of the tremendous influence of technology, one must remember that computers, punditry, or market share will not ordain the future of journalism. Rather, it will be determined by the sum of countless actions taken by journalists and other media professionals. These essays, with their hopes and fears, cautions and enthusiasms, questions and answers, are an effort to create the best possible future for journalism. This volume will be of interest to media professionals, academics and others with an interest in the future of journalism. Robert Giles is editor-in-chief of Media Studies Journal and executive director of the Media Studies Center. Formerly the editor and publisher of The Detroit News, he is the author of Newsroom Management: A Guide to Theory and Practice. Robert W. Snyder is editor of Media Studies Journal, a historian, and most recently author of Transit Talk: New York's Bus and Subway Workers Tell Their Stories. He has taught at Princeton and New York universities.

Gali Einav and a strong group of international contributors offer a timely collection that combines academic insights and entrepreneurial case studies focused on digital innovation. By exploring the effect of disruptive technologies within media, health, music, and employment, they help readers to take their next steps into the digital future.

The internet opens up new opportunities for citizens to organize and mobilize for action but it also provides new channels that established political, social and economic interests can use to extend their powers. Will the internet revolutionize politics? The Prospect of Internet Democracy is a rich and detailed exploration of the theoretical implications of the internet and related information and communication technologies (ICTs) for democratic theory. Focusing in particular on how political uses of the internet have affected or seem likely to affect patterns of influence among citizens, interest groups and political institutions, the authors examine whether the internet's impact on democratic politics is destined to repeat the history of other innovative ICTs. The volume explores the likely long-term effects of such uses on the conduct of politics in the USA and other nations that declare themselves modern democracies and assesses the extent to which they help or hinder viable democratic governance.

This book looks at criticisms of the journalism profession and evaluates many of the changes in journalism--both positive and negative. In addition, it suggests what the many changes mean for this nation and indeed for the world at large, as American journalism--its methods and standards--has markedly influenced the way many millions overseas receive news and view their world. Based on author William Hachten's 50-year involvement with newspapers and journalism education, The Troubles of Journalism serves as a realistic examination of the profession, and is appropriate for upper-level un.

Choice Outstanding Title H. R. Haldeman, President Nixon's former chief of staff, is said to have boasted: "Every president needs a son of a bitch, and I'm Nixon's. I'm his buffer and I'm his bastard. I get done what he wants done and I take the heat instead of him." Richard Ellis explores the widely discussed but poorly understood phenomenon of presidential "lightning rods"--cabinet officials who "take the heat" instead of their bosses. Whether by intent or circumstance, these officials divert criticism and blame away from their presidents. The phenomenon is so common that it's assumed to be an essential item in every president's managerial toolbox. But, Ellis argues, such assumptions can oversimplify our understanding of this tool. Ellis advises against indiscriminate use of the lightning rod metaphor. Such labeling can hide as much as it reveals about presidential administration and policymaking at the cabinet level. The metaphor often misleads by suggesting strategic intent on the president's part while obscuring the calculations and objectives of presidential adversaries and the lightning rods themselves. Ellis also illuminates the opportunities and difficulties that various presidential posts--especially secretaries of state, chiefs of staff, and vice presidents--have offered for deflecting blame from our presidents. His study offers numerous detailed and instructive examples from the administrations of Truman (Dean Acheson); Eisenhower (Richard Nixon, John Foster Dulles, Herbert Brownell, and Ezra Taft Benson); LBJ (Hubert Humphrey); Ford (Henry Kissinger); and Reagan (James Watt). These examples, Ellis suggests, should guide our understanding of the relationship between lightning rods and presidential leadership, policymaking, and ratings. Blame avoidance, he warns, does have its limitations and may even backfire at times. Nevertheless, President Clinton and his successors may need to rely on such tools. The presidency, Ellis points out, finds itself the object of increasingly intense partisan debate and microscopic scrutiny by a wary press. Lightning rods can deflect such heat and help the president test policies, gauge public opinion, and protect his political power and public image. Ellis's book is an essential primer for helping us understand this process.