When the Press Fails: Political Power and the News Media from Iraq to Katrina. By W. Lance Bennett, Regina G. Lawrence, and Steven Livingston. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007. 278p. $22.50 cloth, $15.00 paper.

It takes a vacuum for the American mainstream press to seize an opening to perform its vital role. And it takes a crack in what the authors portray as an edifice of official secrecy, lying, intimidation, and retribution for the mainstream press to do its job—holding public officials to standards of accountability.

Duke Scholars

Author Ellen Mickiewicz Sanford School of Public Policy