Description
Winner of the 1994 Bart Richards Award for Media Criticism “ . . . an exceptional work . . . Kaniss achieves a journalistic hat trick with her book: She’s simultaneously fascinating, evenhanded and very tough.” —American Journalism Review
“Kaniss’ study reveals important and troubling trends in urban reporting, and is well worth reading . . . ” —Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly
“What emerges from Kaniss’ well-written work is a sense of just how dangerous the media can be, how petulance and cynicism often infect the news. . . . Thanks to the remarkable access granted to Kaniss by both politicians and reporters, the reader is taken behind the scenes and sees firsthand the forces that shape our news, including the foibles of those who present it.” —Philadelphia Magazine
“The book is readable and entertaining, as Kaniss . . . creates a motley cast of politicos and media warriors, while she follows around the chief players in the campaign . . . the book puts flesh on some of the often-heard criticisms of newspapers and television.” —Editor & Publisher
“ . . . everything you would ever want in a volume about politics.” —Quill
“[Kaniss’s] portrayal of how political stories are born and played in newspapers and on radio and television is masterful and makes the book a must-read.” —Philadelphia City Paper
“ . . . savvy observations . . . Very thorough.” —Kirkus Reviews
“The result is an interesting, well-written, well-researched study presented in a narrative style much like that of Theodore White.” —Choice
This close-up of the 1991 Philadelphia mayor’s race gives an unsettling look into the lamentable state of local media coverage of politics nationwide. Phyllis Kaniss followed reporters on the campaign trail, analyzed local news stories, and talked with candidates and their staffs about their attempts to get—even control—media coverage. The result is a fast-paced, insider’s view of local news and local politics and of how media treatment of local elections has profound implications for all citizens. |
Author Bio
| PHYLLIS KANISS is Assistant Dean at the Annenberg School for Communication and author of Making Local News. |
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
PART I: The Primary
1. From the Ritz to the Roller Rink
January 23, 1991, 5:30 p.m.
2. It’s a Users’ Business
January 1991
3. The Right Stuff
February 1991
4. Feeding the Story
February 1991
5. Sex, Lies, and the Loquacious Candidate
February 1991
6. “If I Am Rejected...”
February 7, 1991
7. The Reluctant Warrior
February 13, 1991
8. “Marijuana Smoking? Peace Activist?”
Feburary 19, 1991
9. Saving Philadelphia
February 1991
10. The Candidates on Hollywood Squares
February 27, 1991
11. Waiting for Wilson
March 8, 1991
12. Defining the Enemy
March 12, 1991
13. The Defensive Witness
March 22, 1991
14. Eight Weeks Out
March 26, 1991
15. The Lethal Blow
March 27, 1991
16. The Slugfest
April 2, 1991
17. The Third-Base Coach
Aril 16, 1991
18. One Floor Up
April 29, 1991
19. The Trap Door
May 1, 1991
20. Magic Tricks
May 6, 1991
21. Fold Up the Podium
May 14, 1991, 3:00 p.m.
22. Nobody Landed a Blow
May 14, 1991, 6:30 p.m.
23. Pumping It Up
May 16, 1991
24. Fatal Attraction
May 21, 1991
25. What Did It All Mean?
May 22, 1991
26. “Mayor? Mayor? Frank!”
July 16, 1991
PART II: The General Election
27. RIZZO IS DEAD
July 1991
28. By Unanimous Vote
August 1, 1991
29. The Search for Scandal
August 29, 1991
30. The Big Question
September 3, 1991
31. Politics Is a Funny Business
September 6, 1991
32. The Dog and Pony Show
October 4, 1991
33. Voicing-over the Election
October 15, 1991
34. Have You Had Enough?
November 1, 1991
35. The Men from the Boys
November 5, 1991, 2:00 p.m.
36. The Night the Reporters Danced
November 5, 1991, 8:00 p.m.
Conclusion
Epilogue
Appendix: How the Book Was Researched and Written
Selected Bibliography
Index |
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