When the Press Fails: Political Power and the News Media from Iraq to Katrina

Why, in these times when we most need a critical, independent press, does this essential pillar of democracy fail us? A look at the intimate relationship between political power and the news media, When the Press Fails argues that reporters' dependence on official sources disastrously thwarts coverage of dissenting voices from all but the most influential circles.
The result is both an indictment of official spin and an urgent call to action that begins by questioning why the mainstream press neglected to cover considerable evidence against the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Drawing on interviews with journalists and Washington insiders and analyses of coverage by major news outlets, the authors show that such catastrophic blind spots, particularly during the Abu Ghraib controversy, have stemmed from the media's reluctance to use other credible sources when high-level officials are not questioning the administration publicly. Contrasting these failures with the critical reporting on Hurricane Katrina - a rare event that caught officials off guard, enabling journalists to enter a no-spin zone - When the Press Fails concludes by proposing new practices to reduce reporters' dependence on power.

Steven Livingston is associate professor in the School of Media and Public Affairs and the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University.