Description: Long ago dubbed the fourth branch of government, the American press remains to most of the general public an inscrutable enterprise whose influence and behavior are alternately welcomed and maligned; yet the proper functioning of a democracy depends upon a media-literate populace to act as the ultimate watchdog. With wit and authority, John Hamilton and George Krimsky lead readers through the whirl of print journalism. They offer a curiosity-satisfying blend of explanation and interpretation, history, anecdotes aplenty, and statistical analysis to show what's wrong and what works with today's newspapers.
Brief description: John Maxwell Hamilton, a former journalist and government official, is the Hopkins P. Breazeale LSU Foundation Professor of Journalism in the Manship School of Mass Communication at LSU and a global fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC. He has authored or edited many books, including Journalism's Roving Eye and Manipulating the Masses, both of which won the Goldsmith Book Prize.
Review Quotes: Hold the Press is a good idea well executed. . . . A good gift for the young person contemplating a degree or a career in journalism.-- "Chicago Tribune"