Television news and the Supreme Court : all the news that's fit to air?

Beginning with the recognition that the Supreme Court is the most invisible branch of American government and the one that most Americans know the least about, this book examines the way in which television news, the primary source of the public's limited knowledge, covers the Supreme Court. The book relies on rich interviews with network news reporters who have covered the Court, coupled with actual videotapes of network newscast coverage, to develop a unique portrait of the constraints faced by reporters covering the institution as well as a thorough picture of what facets of the Court's work actually are covered by television news. The analysis demonstrates convincingly that there are characteristics of the television news industry (such as its heavy reliance on dramatic stories and visuals) that, coupled with the rules and habits of the Supreme Court (such as its refusal to allow cameras in the Court as well as its propensity to announce several critical rulings on the same day) come together to make network news coverage of the Court infrequent, brief, and in too many instances, simply plain wrong. Beginning with the recognition that the Supreme Court is the most invisible branch of American government and the one least known by Americans, this book examines the way in which television news, the primary source of the public's limited knowledge, covers the Supreme Court. The book relies on interviews with network news reporters who have covered the Court, coupled with actual videotapes of network newscast coverage, to develop a portrait of the constraints faced by reporters covering the institution as well as a picture of what facets of the Court's work are actually covered by television news. The analysis sets out to demonstrate that there are characteristics of the television news industry (such as its heavy reliance on dramatic stories and visuals) that, coupled with the rules and habits of the Supreme Court (such as its refusal to allow cameras in the Court as well as its propensity to announce several critical rulings on the same day) come together to make network news coverage of the Court infrequent, brief and often wrong. The book explores the implications of this situation to the public

This book offers the most in-depth analysis of journalistic attention to the Supreme Court (primarily television) currently available. It combines penetrating and remarkably frank interviews with prominent Supreme Court journalists with extensive examination of videotapes of network television news coverage of the Court, to provide a comprehensive picture of how numerous constraints faced by reporters covering the Court (imposed by the nature of the television news industry and the Court itself) contribute to the pattern of infrequent, brief, and in too many instances, incorrect and misleading stories that are aired about the Court. The implications of this situation for the American public are explored.

Beginning with the recognition that the Supreme Court is the most invisible branch of American government and the one that most Americans know the least about, this book examines the way in which television news, the primary source of the public's limited knowledge, covers the Supreme Court. The book relies on rich interviews with network news reporters who have covered the Court, coupled with actual videotapes of network newscast coverage, to develop a unique portrait of the constraints faced by reporters covering the institution as well as a thorough picture of the facets of the Court's work that are factually covered by television news The analysis demonstrates convincingly that there are characteristics of the television news industry (such as its heavy reliance on dramatic stories and visuals) that, combined with the rules and habits of the Supreme Court (such as its refusal to allow cameras in the Court as well as its propensity to announce several critical rulings on the same day), make network news coverage of the Court infrequent, brief, and in too many instances, simply plain wrong. The book explores the implications of this situation for the public This book offers an in-depth analysis of journalistic attention to the Supreme Court