MARTIN WALKER - Powers of the Press. The World's Great Newspapers

London England, Quartet Books, 1982. First Edition, Binding: Cloth, Fine/Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall 0704322714 Hardback In this book, the author examines the history, finance, policies and workings of twelve of the great newspapers. He analyses their editorial reactions to world crises since 1945 and studies and compares in depth each newspaper's reporting of the events leading to the fall of the Shar of Iran. The author, himself a journalist with the Guardian in London, assesses the nature of an international elite press: the way that its reporters work on foreign major stories as a pack, staying at the same hotels, interviewing the same people and socializing together to the point where, almost unconsioously, a concensus view of that country is formed and passed on to readers. He shows that ninety percent of the world's raw news data is handled by only four wire agencies but that real cultural authority of the media in the West lies with this handful of elite newspapers; that newspapers are often seen as the unofficial voice of their governments. Haven't you ever wished you were better informed. This book shows you how and why you aren't.