Synopses & Reviews
Addressing the controversial issues of the blurring boundaries between news and entertainment and the movement toward sensationalism in broadcast journalism, this study examines these distinctions: how boundaries are constructed and by whom; how they are enforced or broken and why. Rather than reflecting essential attributes by which news can be distinguished from other kinds of communication, boundary setting is viewed as a social construction, determined and changed by journalists wishing to assert their jurisdiction and authority and the prestige of the profession. Four instances of boundary-work rhetoric are examined in depth: (1) the development of roles and rules of television journalism during the early years of television; (2) attempts at Congressional and FTC regulation—broadcasting codes defining bona fide news; (3) responses to a 1992 journalistic scandal over a Dateline NBC story on exploding GM pickup trucks, and (4) reporting sex scandals during recent political campaigns, such as the allegations of Gennifer Flowers of her involvement with Bill Clinton. In these and other cases, journalists developed strategies to minimize harm to the profession.
Review
[T]his book deserves commendation for its careful and historical analysis.Afterimage
Synopsis
What is news? Can scandalous rumors emanating from supermarket tabloids be justifiable on television news programs? This study examines such issues in terms of the shifting boundaries between news and entertainment.
Table of Contents
Preface
The Cultural Space of Journalism
The Boundary-Work Approach
The Evolution of Television News
Mission Impossible?: When Government Tries to Define News
Protecting the Cultural Authority of Journalism by Sanctioning Deviance
The Clinton &Flowers Story: Too "Good" to Pass Up
Conclusions
References
Index