Book Reviews
Abstract
Book reviews Michael Schudson The Sociology of News New York: W. W. Norton, 2003. ix + 261 pp. ISBN 0 393 97513 4 (pbk) Reviewed by E. N. Ben-Porath, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania The Sociology of News is an all-encompassing account or assessment of the state of American journalism and its critique. Focusing on journalists and their inter-relation with their organizations, their audience, their sources and their peers, Michael Schudson attempts to defuse some of the polemics surrounding the news organizations' performance, stating: 'We should try to understand the trends before trashing them.' At its core the book is an interpreted review of the parallel interactive evolution of media and media criticism, consciously not siding with either. The scope of this review ranges from the lofty discussions of the press by the likes of Habermas and Anderson to the anecdotal details of Ted Koppel's lecture fees. The author's proclaimed analytical approach is one of 'media analysis rather than media criticism'. As such, he confronts the dominant critiques, from both the right and left, who claim that journalists are 'the most powerful, dangerous and irresponsible group in society'. They are none of these, Schud- son maintains,