The Rise and Fall of the Media Establishment

by Darrell M. West

Book Overview

Darrell West argues against prevailing wisdom that the media has increased in influence in the past decade. Covering over 200 years of American history, beginning in colonial America and ending with the present day, The Rise and Fall of the Media Establishment provides an overview of the media in various key stages of American History, paying particular attention to the rise and fall in influence of the media elite. West organizes the book into five...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1349624950
• ISBN13: 9781349624959
• Release Date: July 2001
• Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan
• Length: 140 Pages
• Weight: 0.51 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Fantastic resource

A great book -- West does a tremendous job of culling together a ton of research and documenting the history of the U.S. news media. He breaks it down into five eras: Partisan (1790s-1840s), Commercial (1850s-1920s), Objective (1930s-1960s), Interpretative (1970s-1980s), and Fragmented (1990s-present). These boundaries make a lot of sense and help create a unified approach to the evolution of the news media. Packed with great examples (in case study form) for each era and extremely well researched. And most importantly -- quite unbiased. Leaves you feeling like he presented all sides of debates fairly.