Synopses & Reviews
This book offers the most in-depth analysis of journalistic attention to the Supreme Court (primarily television) currently available. It combines penetrating and remarkably frank interviews with prominent Supreme Court journalists with extensive examination of videotapes of network television news coverage of the Court, to provide a comprehensive picture of how numerous constraints faced by reporters covering the Court (imposed by the nature of the television news industry and the Court itself) contribute to the pattern of infrequent, brief, and in too many instances, incorrect and misleading stories that are aired about the Court. The implications of this situation for the American public are explored.
Review
"....will certainly remain a definitive book on the subject of television coverage of the Supreme Court. This well organized and well-written book is far superior to other works focusing on media coverage of the Supreme Court (Davis, Devol, Graham, and Katsh). That is because Slotnick and Segal analyze the subject from just about every possible angle, employing a variety of methods and providing different levels of analysis." David M. O'Brien, The Law and Politics Book Review
Review
"...a valuable and detailed view of how broadcasters cover the Court as well as some sense of how coverage has changed over time." Robert E. Drechsel, Judicature
Review
"Appropriate for journalists, lawyers, and scholars and students of mass communications and judicial process." Choice
Review
"...provide[s] a highly readable scholarly examination of the ways in which the media, particularly television news, (mis)inform the public about the Supreme Court....Television News and the Supreme Court contributes significant new information about the Court and the reporters who cover it....this book could become part of an excellent graduate course on the interactions of the Court and the media." Susan Dente Ross, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly
Synopsis
This book offers an in-depth analysis of journalistic attention to the Supreme Court.
Table of Contents
List of tables; Acknowledgements; 1. Television news: a critical link between the Supreme Court and the American public; 2. The Supreme Court beat: a view from the press; 3. Television news and the Supreme Court: opportunities and constraints; 4. A tale of two cases: Bakke and Webster; 5. A tale of two terms: the 1989 and 1994 court terms; 6. 'The Supreme Court decided today ...' - or did it?; 7. Which decisions are reported? It's the issue, stupid!; 8. Television news and the Supreme Court: all the news that's fit to air?; Appendix: schedule of interviews; Notes; References; Index.