Mightier than the Sword: How the News Media Have Shaped American History

by Rodger Streitmatter

Overview

In this engaging examination of the media's influence on US history and politics, Rodger Streitmatter visits sixteen landmark episodes, from the American Revolution to the present-day fight for gay and lesbian marriage equality. In each of these cases, Streitmatter succinctly illustrates the enormous role that journalism has played in not merely recording this nation's history but also in actively shaping it. Mightier than the Sword offers students and professors a highly readable and accessible alternative to journalism history textbooks. Instead of trying to document every detail in the development of US media through dry, dull lists of names, dates, and headlines, this book focuses on sixteen discrete episodes that illustrate a point that is much larger than the sum of their parts: media have played and continue to play an enormous role in shaping this nation.

The fourth edition features an entirely new chapter on the way US media have championed various gay and lesbian rights initiatives, from the 2003 Lawrence vs. Texas sodomy case through the June 2013 Supreme Court decision striking down DOMA (the Defense of Marriage Act). Balancing criticism and celebration of news media and exploring both print and electronic platforms, Mightier than the Sword provides students with a sense of the power and responsibility inherent in the institution of journalism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813349770
Publisher:	Westview Press
Publication date:	07/28/2015
Edition description:	Fourth Edition, Fourth Edition
Pages:	318
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

A journalist and historian, Rodger Streitmatter is a leader in exploring how communication has helped shape the history of the United States. He is a professor of journalism at American University, where he has integrated his research into his teaching and created more than a dozen new courses including popular offerings on how the news media shape history, the role of dissident media, and the media and sexuality. He is a contributor to The Washington Post, The Advocate, and other periodicals, and as a journalism scholar, he has written for Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, American Journalism, and Journalism History, where he is a corresponding editor. He has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Journalism Historians Association, and on the Executive Committee of the History Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. He has received honors from the Virginia Press Association for his reporting, and from the American Journalism Historian Association as Outstanding Researcher.

Table of Contents

Illustrations Preface Acknowledgments Introduction 1 Sowing the Seeds of Revolution 2 Turning America Against the Sins of Slavery 3 Slowing the Momentum for Women's Rights 4 Attacking Municipal Corruption 5 Pushing America Toward an International War 6 Achieving Reform by Muckraking 7 Defying the Ku Klux Klan 8 Spreading Anti-Semitism via the Radio 9 Using "Rosie the Riveter" to Propel Women into the Workforce 10 Standing Tall Against Joseph McCarthy 11 Pushing Civil Rights onto the National Agenda 12 Bringing the Vietnam War into the American Living Room 13 Exposing Criminal Activity in Richard Nixon's White House 14 Failing the American Public with 9/11 Coverage 15 Electing an African-American President 16 Supporting Gay and Lesbian Rights 17 Focusing on How Notes Bibliography

Editorial Reviews

Praise for the Third Edition of Rodger Streitmatter's Mightier than the Sword

“When it comes to looking American journalism square in the eye and asking exactly the right questions, no book offers a fresher perspective and does it better than Mightier Than the Sword. Just for his examination alone of the media's failure over the years to support women's suffrage, or for questioning what is ethical in the pursuit of a cause as important as independence, Rodger Streitmatter deserves high grades for making his readers critically rethink their preconceived notions.”
—Steve Klein, coordinator of the Journalism program at George Mason University

"Streitmatter's book is an excellent auxiliary text for an introductory mass media class. It provides students with a real sense of the role the media have played in the development of American society and how they were used as agents of social change. It also provides a context for the role the media play today."
—Dave Cassady, Pacific University

“Rodger Streitmatter's Mightier than the Sword is a welcome addition to my course in the history of American mass media. His writing style is accessible and enjoyable for students, and his focus on important historical moments makes it easy for me to make good use of the text no matter how I organize my class. Students like this book because it's fun to read, and I like it because it asks them to think critically about something important—the role of journalism in shaping American history.”
—Janice Hume, Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Georgia

“Many students tell me in their course evaluations that Mightier Than the Sword is one of their favorite textbooks ever. It's so interestingly written that some of them don't even wait until the end of the semester to tell me how inspiring it is and that it's one textbook they plan to keep. This has been the case since I started using it back with the first edition. Pretty good for a book on history, a subject many students don't expect to enjoy. Doubly good that the book has always been more affordably priced than most texts students are asked to buy.”
—James Pinson, Eastern Michigan University

Praise for Previous Editions:

“In this engagingly written collection of case studies, Rodger Streitmatter demonstrates that journalism history is much more than a static gallery of the usual portraits…Overall, the second edition of Mightier than the Sword is well worth acquiring, as it offers substantial new content and updates. As in the first edition, Streitmatter writes gracefully and concisely, in a style sure to command students' interest. He embeds considerable scholarship in each chapter, so that readers wishing more can easily see where next to go…This book will continue to be useful not only in the standard journalism history course but in myriad others from media and society to media criticism to reporting.”
—Journalism History (Nancy L. Roberts, SUNY-Albany)

“In succinct, engrossing prose, Streitmatter shows how courageous, effective communicators have accepted their own and their media's limitations to shape the outcome of events from abolitionism to anti-Semitism, women's rights to civil rights, the Ku Klux Klan to Vietnam.”
—Booklist

“An easy-to-digest …overview of the media's influence on American history and politics…A fine introductory textbook for a journalism class.”
—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher