Uncertain Guardians is a comprehensive treatment of the news media as a political institution that approaches the subject both empirically and normatively. Sparrow's book is solidly grounded in the academic literature on the subject and, more broadly, in theoretical approaches to Amercian politics. -- Michael Nelson, Rhodes College
Series Editor's Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. Media Attack Dogs
Chapter 3. Media Lap Dogs
Chapter 4. Making Money and Making News
Chapter 5. Organizational News, Ordered News
Chapter 6. The Watchdogs That Didn't Bark
Chapter 7. Reforming Political Communication
Notes
Index
Bartholomew H. Sparrow is an associate professor of government at the University of Texas at Austin.
Uncertain Guardians has some fine detail on the media's many transgressions, particularly our gormless performance as the watchdog of democracy. -- Molly Ivins Fort Worth Star-Telegram Sparrow opens this extraordinarily well-written book by examining the role of the news media in American political life, paying particular attention to the constraints under which they operate. In subsequent chapters, he analyzes several of these constraints, including how journalists fail to challenge popular political views, or 'policy monopolies,' and succumb to the economic dictates of advertising sponsors. In a crucially important chapter, Sparrow indicts reporters for failing to offer unbiased coverage of several major stories, including the Persian Gulf War, the crash of Korean Airlines Flight 007, the savings and loan crisis, the AIDS epidemic, and progress in cancer treatment. Sparrow is not without hope; his final chapter proposes practical policy reforms ranging from reducing advertisers' subsidies to fostering a problem-centered 'civic journalism' that engages the local community. Sparrow clearly hopes that these proposals make the Fourth Estate more fully accountable to the American people. Recommended. Library Journal
Uncertain Guardians has some fine detail on the media's many transgressions, particularly our gormless performance as the watchdog of democracy. -- Molly Ivins Fort Worth Star-Telegram Sparrow opens this extraordinarily well-written book by examining the role of the news media in American political life, paying particular attention to the constraints under which they operate. In subsequent chapters, he analyzes several of these constraints, including how journalists fail to challenge popular political views, or 'policy monopolies,' and succumb to the economic dictates of advertising sponsors. In a crucially important chapter, Sparrow indicts reporters for failing to offer unbiased coverage of several major stories, including the Persian Gulf War, the crash of Korean Airlines Flight 007, the savings and loan crisis, the AIDS epidemic, and progress in cancer treatment. Sparrow is not without hope; his final chapter proposes practical policy reforms ranging from reducing advertisers' subsidies to fostering a problem-centered 'civic journalism' that engages the local community. Sparrow clearly hopes that these proposals make the Fourth Estate more fully accountable to the American people. Recommended. Library Journal
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