HOW THE PRESS AFFECTS FEDERAL POLICYMAKING: Six Case Studies

by Martin & Others Linsky ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 13, 1986

This companion piece offers complete versions of each of the six case studies used as source material by Linsky in Impact (reviewed above). Most general readers will be content with the author's narrative gleanings. The exhaustively annotated audits, which incorporate and reference a wealth of collateral documentation (broadcast transcripts, published news stories, legal motions, excerpts from position papers), examine in detail the interplay between the press and government officials in the course of major policy decisions made by different agencies of the executive branch. Covered are: the campaign to create a professionally managed Postal Service; the under-the-gun resignation of Vice President Agnew during the Watergate scandal (Justice Department); President Carter's decision not to deploy the neutron bomb (Defense); the subsidized relocation of 700 families from New York's Love Canal area (Environmental Protection Agency); the restoration of a tax exemption to Bob Jones University (Justice and Treasury); and the spotlight thrown on the Social Security Administration's suspension of disability reviews by the TV disclosure that a war hero had been summarily denied benefits. The individual analyses are painstakingly researched and presented as objectively as seems possible under the arguable circumstances. On balance, though, the appeal of these drawn-out briefings seems limited to scholars and others with a special interest in journalism or governance.

Pub Date: Oct. 13, 1986

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Norton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1986

Categories: NONFICTION