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Relationship between Newsmaking & the Government

The close relationship between newsmaking and the government has become a hot contemporary topic, due in large part to news coverage of U.S. involved wars as well as the American political process. In Governing the News, Timothy E. Cook examines the interrelationship between the U.S. government and the news media, particularly newspapers. CookÆs analysis focuses on developing a theory of how the interconnectivity between the American news media and the U.S. government came about, and why it continues to this day. His major argument is that ôpolitics and policy have been and are today central shapers of news organizations, practices, formats, and contentö (17). CookÆs main interest is explaining how the news media and news products are shaped by the government.

Cook has excellent credentials to author this kind of study. He is a professor of political science at Williams College and has authored and co-authored other books on the connection between the press and politics in the U.S.

Subtitled The News Media As a Political Institution, Governing the News contends that the media has become the fourth branch of the U.S. government, and this is CookÆs major thesis. Instead of acting as an independent entity guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, the press has become a political institution in itself. The ônews media are not simply distinct organizations but make up a collective (singular) institutionö constraining the activities of journalists. He asserts, however, that the news media is not only an institution, but also political; ôjournalists are political actorsö (85). They do not merely report political actions, they also directly affect policy at the highest levels. The conclusion to draw from this is that, contrary to popular belief, the American press is neither neutral nor objective. The problems this presents are well thought out by Cook.

He puts his thesis into historical context, and chapters two and three d...

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Relationship between Newsmaking & the Government. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 09:34, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1701016.html