Synopses & Reviews
Deborah L. Jaramillo investigates cable news' presentation of the Iraq War in relation to "high concept" filmmaking. High concept films can be reduced to single-sentence summaries and feature pre-sold elements; they were considered financially safe projects that would sustain consumer interest beyond their initial theatrical run. Using high concept as a framework for the analysis of the 2003 coverage of the Iraq War--paying close attention to how Fox News and CNN packaged and promoted the U.S. invasion of Iraq--Ugly War, Pretty Package offers a new paradigm for understanding how television news reporting shapes our perceptions of events.
Review
"Jaramillo provides a highly illuminating analysis of the aesthetics and politics of recent TV war coverage. Well-researched... comprehensive and penetrating... offer[ing] highly original research and analysis." --Douglas Kellner, author of Media Spectacle and the Crisis of Democracy
Review
"... a thoughtful commentary and critique of the state of the cable news component of early-21st-century journalism.... Highly recommended." --Choice, May 2010 Indiana University Press Indiana University Press
Review
"The author's thorough documentation and careful analysis will be most appreciated by students of journalism or communications, as an understanding of communications theory is helpful, but readers seriously following current events may be interested as well." --Library Journal Indiana University Press
About the Author
Deborah Jaramillo is Assistant Professor in the Department of Film and Television at Boston University. She is a two-time Ford Fellow and sits on the board of the Texas Archive of the Moving Image.
Table of Contents
Introduction: The Spectacle of Televised War
1. High Concept, Media Conglomeration, and Commercial News
2. The High-Concept War Narrative
3. Intertextuality, Genres, and Stars
4. War Characters
5. The Look and Sound of High-Concept War Coverage
6. The Marketing of the 2003 Invasion of Iraq
Conclusion: The Narrative Exits Screen Right, the Coverage Fizzles, and News is What, Exactly?
Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C
Works Cited
Index