Recommended/optional readings relevant to COMT 425/525

- "The Hive" by Marshall Poe (The Atlantic Monthly, September 2006) -- about how Wikipedia has changed our lives, sort of...

- "Fear Factor" by Nicholas Lemann (The New Yorker, March 27, 2006) -- an in-depth look at Fox News Channel's infamous Bill O'Reilly

- "Lapdogs" by Eric Boehlert (Salon.com, May 4, 2006) -- an excerpt from a book criticizing the U.S. news media for failing to question the motives of the Bush administration

- "Failures of Imagination" by Eric Umansky (Columbia Journalism Review, September/October 2006) -- about U.S. journalists' failure to cover/critique American torture

- "In Phones vs. Cable, a New Turn" by Matt Richtel (New York Times, December 21, 2006) -- recent news in the ever-consolidating media industry

- "Avast, Me Critics! Ye Kill the Fun" by A. O. Scott (New York Times, July 18, 2006) -- about the value (or lack thereof) of journalistic arts criticism

- "A Column on (Your Product Here) Placement" by Stuart Elliott (New York Times, August 16, 2006) -- an article from the Times's advertising columnist about product placement in movies and TV programs

- "The Media World As It Is" by Michael Bugeja (Inside Higher Ed, October 3, 2005) -- about the trend in TV news coverage to replace fact with opinion

- "Show Trial: Barack Obama's Non-Scandal" by Conor Clarke (The New Republic Online, December 20, 2006) -- about the news media's quest to find something--anything!--scandalous to print about Sen. Obama

- "On Camera, Tough Times for President are Evident" by Alessandra Stanley (New York Times, February 1, 2006) -- a review of Pres. Bush's on-camera "performance" during his 2006 State of the Union address

- "Ease of Alteration Creates Woes for Picture Editors" by Maria Aspan (New York Times, August 14, 2006) -- about manipulation of photos coming out of Lebanon during the summer '06 battle with Israel

- "In Wars, Quest for Media Balance Is Also A Battlefield" by Lorne Manly (New York Times, August 14, 2006) -- more about the Lebanon photos issue (see Aspan, above)