Agents of power : [electronic resource] the media and public policy / by J. Herbert Altschull.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Also issued online.

How powerful are the news media? In what way do they operate as agents of social control, and to what extent is command of information necessary to gain and maintain power in this age of global communication. Agents of Power: The Media and Public Policy, Second Edition boldly explores these timely issues to emphasize the interdependence of mass media and politics in the United States and abroad. A "global" book about a "global" world on the brink of the twenty-first century, it focuses on actual political, economic, and cultural events. Updated and expanded topics in this major revision include: the social control function of the news media and the world wide interaction of media and politics from Washington to Moscow, from the newsroom to the board room; the growing power of the image-maker industry in manipulating media coverage of election campaigns and the course of public policy; and a history of the media; the frustrated search for a world information order; and current attempts to diversify newsrooms and news coverage.