Books

Breaking the news:

how the media undermine American democracy
Front Cover
16 Reviews
Vintage Books, Jan 14, 1997 - Language Arts & Disciplines - 337 pages
Polls show that Americans from every political, racial, and economic group in the country are mad at the media, but members of the press claim this simply proves that they are doing their job: reporting the news without fear or favor. As James Fallows demonstrates in this razor-sharp indictment, not only is the press not doing "the job, " it is actually getting in the way of Americans doing their jobs as citizens. Fallows details the ways in which the current style of news coverage engenders a sense of futility in the American public with regard to its ability to influence our society. Drawing on his own richly varied experience as a reporter and on scores of interviews with members of the print and broadcast media, he reveals how the reigning destructive practices evolved, and whose interests they serve. Outside the urban centers of media power, Fallows finds a new public-spirited approach to news coverage that is gathering passionate adherents while meeting fierce resistance from the media old guard. Breaking the News will ignite the increasingly heated debate over the role of the American media.

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Review: Breaking the News: How the Media Undermine American Democracy

User Review  - Mary Stevens - Goodreads

This analysis applies equally well today. There is no reporting on policies, just on who's ahead, the politics of the policies. Upper echelon journalists are making a killing on the lecture circuit ... Read full review

Review: Breaking the News: How the Media Undermine American Democracy

User Review  - Anas Sijabat - Goodreads

Pardon my subjectivity since I'm a communication science student, but I think what Fallows wrote in this book was quite mindblowing. I absorb a lot of knowledge and good analysis here. Good job. Read full review

All 15 reviews »

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Contents

Why We Hate the Media
10
What Changed
47
The Gravy Train
74
Copyright

8 other sections not shown

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References from web pages

Media bashing 101. (book 'Breaking the News: How the Media ...
Breaking the News: How the Media Undermine American Democracy, by veteran journalist James Fallows, trots out valid criticisms with vigor and commitment. ...
www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-18469182.html

JSTOR: Breaking the News: How the Media Undermine American Democracy.
Politics, social affairs and law Breaking the news: how the media undermine American democracy. By James Fallows. New York, NY: Pantheon. 1996. 304pp. ...
links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0020-5850(199704)73%3A2%3C363%3ABTNHTM%3E2.0.CO%3B2-9

Washington Monthly: Breaking the News: How the Media undermine ...
Breaking the News: How the Media undermine American Democracy. - book reviews. Amy Waldman. James Fallows, Pantheon Books, $23 ...
findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1316/is_n1-2_v28/ai_17761519/print

Fallows,J. Breaking the News. 1996
Breaking the News: How the Media Undermine American Democracy. New York: Pantheon Books, 1996. 296 pages. James Fallows was a draft-dodger at Harvard, ...
www.namebase.org/sources/bK.html

Atlantic Unbound | Fallows@large | 2002.04.03
James Fallows is The Atlantic's national correspondent and the author of Breaking the News: How the Media Undermine American Democracy (1996) and of Free ...
www.theatlantic.com/unbound/fallows/jf2002-04-03/

CJR - Books - Breaking the News, by James Fallows, and They Only ...
Breaking the News: How the Media Undermine American Democracy, by James Fallows. Pantheon, 296 pp., $23. They Only Look Dead: Why Progressives Will Dominate ...
backissues.cjrarchives.org/year/96/2/books-hume.asp

Online newshour: James Fallows Forum on the Media -- January 29, 1996
In his new book, "Breaking the News: How the Media Undermine American Democracy," James Fallows looks at the deteriorating state of American Journalism and ...
www.pbs.org/newshour/forum/january96/fallows_1-29.html

BOOKS OF THE TIMES;Press Coverage as Performance Art - New York Times
BREAKING THE NEWS How the Media Undermine American Democracy By James Fallows. 296 pages. Pantheon Books. $23. James Fallows begins his indictment of this ...
query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE7D61E39F931A15752C0A960958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print

Interview with James Fallows on journalism's future
... Fallows is one of the nation's foremost press critics, on the strength of his 1996 book, "Breaking the News: How the Media Undermine American Democracy. ...
www.jdlasica.com/interviews/fallows.html

Breaking the News Review - James Fallows - Salem on Literature
In BREAKING THE NEWS: HOW THE MEDIA UNDERMINE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY, James Fallows accuses his mass media colleagues of failing to hold up their end in the ...
www.enotes.com/breaking-news-salem/breaking-news

About the author (1997)

James Fallows is National Correspondent for "The Atlantic Monthly," and has worked for the magazine for more than twenty years. His previous books include "Breaking the News: How the Media Undermine American Democracy," "Looking at the Sun," "More Like Us," and "National Defense," Fallows has been a regular commentator on NPR. He lives in Washington, D.C.