Rating: 
Summary: Well worth your time
Review: Auletta is one of the best thoughtful, dare I say, "fair and balanced" writers of media criticism out there. I can't see how very many people could argue with his findings, even if it casts them in a bad light, they are well documented and sourced. Media has been and is in a state of flux if not outright crisis since the late '90s, and though Auletta may not have a crystal ball, he is better than most at reading a map.
Rating:
Summary: Well worth your time
Review: Auletta is one of the best thoughtful, dare I say, "fair and balanced" writers of media criticism out there. I can't see how very many people could argue with his findings, even if it casts them in a bad light, they are well documented and sourced. Media has been and is in a state of flux if not outright crisis since the late '90s, and though Auletta may not have a crystal ball, he is better than most at reading a map.
Rating:
Summary: Well worth your time
Review: Auletta is one of the best thoughtful, dare I say, "fair and balanced" writers of media criticism out there. I can't see how very many people could argue with his findings, even if it casts them in a bad light, they are well documented and sourced. Media has been and is in a state of flux if not outright crisis since the late '90s, and though Auletta may not have a crystal ball, he is better than most at reading a map.
Rating: 
Summary: A Compelling Analysis of Contemporary News Media
Review: Frequent readers of The New Yorker are already familiar with Auletta's brilliant essays on the news media. What we have here in this volume are several of his best, all but one of which previously appeared in that magazine. Specific subjects include the Howell Raines "doctrine" during his tenure at the New York Times, Mark H. Willes' major reorganization of that newspaper, initiatives within the Tribune Company to achieve organizational synergies, the "tabloid wars" waged by the New York Daily News and the New York Post, Arthur M. Sulzberger, Jr.'s "Outward Bound Adventure" at the New York Times, a profile of John McCandlish Phillips, Jr. ("the reporter who disappeared"), an explanation of how and why "fee speech" could corrupt "journalism's claim to public trust," a profile of Don Imus, an examination of the life and death of Inside.com, and an analysis of the creation, emergence, and impact of Fox News.
However, Auletta's primary objective is to answer questions such as these:
1. What is the proper role of the news media?
2. How has that role changed during the last decade? Why?
3. What are the nature and extent of the impact of business considerations on the selection, articulation, and provision of news?
Auletta's thinking and writing have exceptional rigor, focus, and clarity. Yes, we learn a great deal about the individuals and organizations on which he focuses in this volume but its much greater value (to me) is derived from his thoughtful and eloquent responses to the questions posed earlier.
Rating: 
Summary: re: very interesting overview
Review: How does the "reviewer from cambridge" "know" that the "somewhere in maine" reviewer is michael wolff? And if he does know, why is he also hiding behind the cloak of anonymity? Because he is probably ken auletta! all this is probably way more entertaining than either wolff's or auletta's books, both snoozes...one of these days there'll be a book about the media that actually has some reporting in it. that one i'll buy!
Rating: 
Summary: very interesting overview
Review: I happen to know that the one-star review written from "somewhere in Maine" was in fact written by Michael Wolff, who has a competitive book out now that's flopping badly. Pathetic.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent read! Gets you the inside story!
Review: I saw a story about this book on PBS and was intrigued to read it. It was worth it! It lets you know the true inside story about the media and the problems they have critizing their stories enough.
Rating:
Summary: Pathetic Snickering
Review: If you are who the other one says you are, I'd beg YOU BOTH to remember that you're fortunate to EVEN HAVE BOOKS PUBLISHED. For every two of you, there are thousands of others who put their hearts and souls into their writing and never make a dime. Get some perspective and grow up!
Rating:
Summary: A Real Let Down
Review: In this book, the publisher asks the reader to pay for old articles that the author wrote years ago. Much of the information is outdated and I am at a loss to understand why the author felt the need to put these olds articles in a book. For example, the first article is about the past editor of the NY Times and there is another article about Cokie Roberts who is no longer with ABC NEWS. I was expecting an up-to-date volume about current media players not old stories about fogotten ghosts. What was the publisher thinking??
Rating:
Summary: re: very interesting overview
Review: Insightful collection of articles which explores the state of journalism by focusing on individual newspapers and news companies. Most of these articles have been published over the years in the New Yorker, but the collection gives a perceptive overview of the journalistic world that so influences public perceptions of world events.
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