In The Power of News, Michael Schudson offers a compelling argument for bringing the press back in to the political history of the United States. Historians, he claims, have largely ignored the vital and largely salutary role of the press in the career of American democracy. Ironically, moreover, in the few historical dramas in which the press has starred, historians and the general public have exaggerated its powers of persuasion, especially the power of modern television in shaping hearts and minds. Taken together, the ten essays explore first the historical development of the news, then myths about its influence, and finally its relationship to two basic aspects of a democratic society: the public sphere and the informational citizen.
