If It Bleeds It Leads
Author: Matthew R Kerbel
You’ve been watching television news forever. You’re intimately familiar with the friendly faces and soothing voices that nightly tell you what’s wrong with the world. You think you know everything there is to know about them. You’re wrong.If It Bleeds, It Leads takes us minute-by-minute through two-and-one-half real hours of syndicated, local, and network information programming to uncover the truth behind what passes as news. Why is the only real difference between Jerry Springer and Dan Rather that Dan’s guests usually don’t need medical attention? How did a load of baking powder spark two minutes of high-strung local news coverage? It’s all here: the personal revelations of talk show guests; the dangers lurking in your neighborhood; sports; sex; celebrity; power; and weather updates every ten minutes--all real material taken from real broadcasts designed to keep viewers glued to the screen.
Publishers Weekly
In a scathing critique of local and national television news, Kerbel slyly argues that talk show hosts like Jerry Springer, Jenny Jones and Montel Williams have much more in common with "hard" news anchors like Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw and Peter Jennings than the anchors would like to admit. Oozing compassion, facilitating the instant resolution of disputes and quickly moving on to new faces and problems, the "talkers" are, in Kerbel's formulation, the close counterparts of prime-time news anchors, who manipulate audiences by emphasizing sound bites and visuals over substance, decontextualizing events, kowtowing to the powerful, famous and wealthy and playing upon viewers' fears or outrage. Drawing on his experience as a former radio news reporter and PBS newswriter and as a political science professor at Villanova University, he alternates italicized excerpts from actual broadcasts with his own fast-paced, acerbic commentary, which is structured like an amorphous chunk of TV talk and news programming, complete with teasers, weather reports and ad breaks. Although Kerbel's critique would have a lot more bite if he had delved into corporate ownership and control of the news media, he uncannily re-creates and simultaneously exposes superficial reporting, titillation and trivial distraction in television news. (Feb.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
School Library Journal
Adult/High School-From his first words, "WARNING: Everything you are about to read is true," readers know that they are in for a scathing look at television news. Kerbel deconstructs two-and-one-half hours of syndicated, local, and network information programming by analyzing an amalgam of news scripts from four of the largest U.S. media markets on a minute-by-minute basis. His tone is made clear in his Fundamental Rule of televison: "It is a pretend medium." Headlines for each news segment grab readers' attention. Kerbel gives readers a chance to put what they have read into practice by playing a game to create their own lead local story from a list of standard phrases. The author loves stock phrases, often referring to the "newswriter's bible, The Thesaurus of Clich s and Aphorisms." One of his favorites, "Please, use good judgment," allows weathercasters to make only slightly annoying weather conditions look dangerous, if not life threatening, to please their news directors and build their ratings. Kerbel drives home his points with a biting sense of humor. Students will look at the news with a new sophistication after reading this book.-Jane S. Drabkin, Chinn Park Regional Library, Prince William, VA Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Booknews
In a real-time look at television news, this book takes readers minute-by-minute through three-hours of syndicated, local, and network information programming to debunk what passes for news. The format is that of a "composite" of various broadcasts, followed by a brief concluding essay. Kerbel (political science, Villanova University) uses a breezy, ironic voice to play up the silliness and predictability of the television news media. Comparisons are drawn between "tabloid" and respected news shows. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
What People Are Saying
Susan Tolchin
A tour de force…lively, lucid.
Table of Contents:
| Disclaimer: Everything you are about to read is true | xi | |
| Hour 1 | Syndicated Talk (The Actual Program You See Will Vary Depending on Where You Live) | 1 |
| Station Identification | ||
| Opening Montage (Roll Tape) | ||
| Meet the Hosts | ||
| Meet the Guests | ||
| Supply Medical Treatment for the Guests | ||
| Begin First Protracted Shoving, Punching, and Deleted Dialogue Segment Between Best Friends Who Care About Each Other a Lot | ||
| Add Fuel to Fire; Cue Second Bouncer | ||
| Begin 2-Minute 45-Second Sibling Shoving, Punching, and Deleted Dialogue Segment | ||
| Add More Fuel to Fire; Alert Hospital to Prepare for Injuries | ||
| Everyone Realizes This Is the Show | ||
| Prepare to Pay Bouncers Overtime | ||
| Hour 2 | Live at Five (Dead by Six) | 12 |
| Tease | ||
| Inventing a Riot | ||
| A Reassuring Segue | ||
| Only Popular Restaurants Are Dangerous | ||
| Tease | ||
| Ad Time-Out: You Will Be on Television | ||
| Feeling the Barometric Pressure | ||
| What Ever Happened to the Story About the Breast Implants? | ||
| Movie--or Reality? | ||
| The Great Baking Powder Incident | ||
| Tease | ||
| Promo | ||
| Ad Time-Out: You Can Be a Newswriter | ||
| First Feature: It Could Happen Any Time Without Warning | ||
| Segue into Terrifying Weather | ||
| Air Quality | ||
| Weather Time-Out: You Can Be a Weathercaster | ||
| Dessert | ||
| How Many Times Can One Car Smash into a House? | ||
| Minor Injuries, Major Pictures | ||
| Wicked Winds | ||
| Tease | ||
| Ad Time-Out: May Is the Cruelest Month. February's Not So Great, Either | ||
| Second Feature: Extreme Sex | ||
| What's Really Important in Philadelphia | ||
| Exactly Why Do They Need Weather Reports in San Diego? | ||
| Ad Time-Out: You Can Be a News Director | ||
| Score! | ||
| Now, an Ad for an Ad | ||
| Third Feature: Implants | ||
| After the Surgery | ||
| Ad Time-Out: You Can Be a Star | ||
| More Sex, Please | ||
| Dave Loves Cheesesteaks | ||
| Lock Those Doors--and Come Back at Eleven | ||
| Hour 3 | Network | 77 |
| Tease | ||
| War Stories | ||
| Excuse Me? | ||
| But Enough About You | ||
| Up Next | ||
| Promo | ||
| Ad Time-Out: Let's Have an Impeachment! | ||
| Al Gore Gets a Surprise Makeover | ||
| Down to Size | ||
| Tease | ||
| Promo | ||
| Ad Time-Out: Fear at 6:16, Outrage at 6:20 | ||
| Scary Cars | ||
| Scary Phones | ||
| Feeling Fleeced | ||
| Tease | ||
| Promo | ||
| Ad Time-Out: Take the Fear and Outrage Challenge! | ||
| Freaky, Roof-Busting Great Balls of Hail | ||
| Promo | ||
| Promo | ||
| Promo | ||
| Promo | ||
| Promo | ||
| Promo | ||
| Promo | ||
| Promo | ||
| Promo | ||
| Fade Out | ||
| Postscript: The Sky Keeps Falling | 127 | |
| News | ||
| TV Show | ||
| Mini-Series | ||
| News | ||
| News | ||
| News | ||
| Mini-Series | ||
| News | ||
| Closing Comments | 130 | |
| About the Author | 135 | |
| Notes | 137 | |
| Index | 145 |
New interesting book: 222 Geheimnisse der Einstellung, des Handhabens, und des Behaltens Großer Angestellter in Gesundheitsfürsorge-Praxen
Fundamentals of Marketing Research
Author: Scott M Smith
Fundamentals of Marketing Research covers all facets of marketing research including method, technique, and analysis at all levels. The methodological scope regarding research design, data collection techniques, and measurement is broad with three chapters devoted to the critical area of measurement and scaling. The presentation is from primarily a pragmatic and user-oriented perspective which aides the student to evaluate the research presented to them. This text explores cutting-edge technologies and new horizons while ensuring students have a thorough grasp of research fundamentals.
Key Features
• Contains a wealth of modern methods and techniques not found in competing texts
• Provides numerous illustrative cases at the end of each section
• Integrates international marketing research throughout instead of placing it in a separate chapter
• Has a full chapter devoted to the essential topic of online research
• An Instructor's Manual on CD-ROM provides instructors with examination questions, additional background material on discussion questions in the text, and other helpful aids
Fundamentals of Marketing Research has been bundled at no additional cost to the students, with a license to use SurveyZ.com to prepare and distribute an online survey.
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