Did the coverage of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal set a new low for American journalism? How has news gathering and reporting changed, and what effects has this had on the political and cultural landscape? In this insightful and thoughtful book, Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel, two of America's leading press watchers, explore the new culture of news--what they call the new Mixed Media Culture--and show how it works.  Warp Speed describes a world of news in which the speed of delivery is reducing the time for verification, sources are gaining more leverage over the news, and argument is overwhelming reporting. The press, forced to adhere to the demands of the bottom line and keep its audience, is straining more and more to find the Big Story to package as a form of entertainment, turning news stories into TV dramas; and turning history into a kind of Truman Show. As a result, the role of the press in a self-governing society is undermined.    Grounded in extensive research, Warp Speed is informed by interviews and testimony from the principal journalists who covered this story and who covered the other great scandals of Washington politics. It offers detailed recommendations on how journalists can right their ship, such as using anonymous sources more responsibly and turning good journalism into good business.

Warp Speed: America in the Age of Mixed Media

Rosenstiel, Tom

Kovach, Bill

Reference

The Century Foundation

American politics often seems to be focused on three deficits, real and potential: the federal budget, the Social Security Trust Fund, and the trade balance. Robert Eisner, past president of the American Economic Association, explains why this is an unhealthy situation as well as a source of much misunderstanding. He argues that simply looking at the raw numbers creates misimpressions about the country's real economic situation, as well as provoking potentially damaging ideas for "remedies." Eisner points out that Social Security Trust Fund deficits can be "fixed" by simple changes in accounting procedures or funding requirements. And America's trade deficit will not bankrupt the country—servicing America's foreign obligations will take only a tiny share of its national wealth. As with any other loan, Eisner reminds us, it is what deficits are spent on that counts: tax cuts or investments in education, research, or the nation's capital stock. Eisner maintains that the economic dragons the American nation should be attempting to slay do not entail mythically measured budget or current account deficits. The real economic troubles that America faces are those of poverty, income inequality, and a failure to invest in human capital and public infrastructure.

The Great Deficit Scare: The Federal Budget, Trade, and Social Security

Business & Money

Eisner, Robert

Economics

According to conventional wisdom, American public schools have suffered a terrible decline and are in need of dramatic reform. Today's high school students, it is alleged, display an ignorance of things that every elementary student knew a generation ago. American business leaders warn that rising illiteracy and "innumeracy" threaten our competitiveness in the global marketplace. Political scientists worry that poor schooling is undermining the very foundations of our democracy as American adults exercise their citizenship on the basis of dumbed-down sound-bites. But are things really that bad? What evidence are these criticisms based on, and does it hold up under examination? In this book, Richard Rothstein analyzes the statistical and anecdotal evidence and shows that public schools, by and large, are not falling down on the job of educating our children. To the contrary, by many measures they are doing better than in the past. Minority students have improved their test scores significantly, and overall dropout rates have fallen. Moreover, our schools educate more poor children, and more children whose native language is foreign, than ever before. Further improvement in American education, Rothstein argues, should be based on an accurate appraisal of strengths and weaknesses rather than on exaggeration. Rothstein shows in convincing detail how standardized tests comparing American students' performance today with that of the past, and with student performance internationally, frequently confuse apples with oranges. The nation's student population today is very different from that of decades ago and from the student population in other nations. As critics of public education promote private alternatives and politicians debate the value of standardized national testing, The Way We Were? is especially timely.

The Way We Were?: The Myths and Realities of America's Student Achievement (Century Foundation/Twentieth Century Fund Report)

Rothstein, Richard

Today, one in eight Americans--32 million people--are aged sixty-five or older. That proportion will rise to one in five by 2020. The number of elderly Americans is growing faster than the U.S. population at large, with those aged eighty-five or older representing the most rapidly increasing segment of all. Because most of the elderly are no longer in the workforce, and because they are especially vulnerable to chronic illness, disability, and social isolation, the projected explosion in their numbers has enormous ramifications for American society and public policy.   This collection of essays, cosponsored by The Century Foundation/ Twentieth Century Fund and the International Longevity Center, explores the wide-ranging economic and social consequences of the aging of America. Compiled under the supervision of Pulitzer Prize-winning author and gerontologist Dr. Robert N. Butler, the volume presents essays by some of the nation's foremost experts on economics, demography, public policy, health care, and the media. The authors include Marilyn Moon of the Urban Institute; Robert H. Binstock, professor of aging, health, and society at Case Western Reserve University; economist James Schulz of Brandeis University; former NBC News president Lawrence K. Grossman; William Gale of the Brookings Institution; and Sara Rix of the American Association of Retired Persons.

Life in an Older America

Robert N. Butler, Editor

Like most of those who have observed the constant fighting in Washington over the past three decades about how best to eliminate the federal deficit, one would assume that, once there was a surplus, the annual budget debate would be far easier, go much faster, and be far less confusing. However, assumptions are typically wrong. In The Guide for the Federal Budget, author Stanley E. Collender makes clear that despite the regular uncertainties of the nations budgetary needs and the first fiscal year with a surplus since 1969, the budget is an immense and understandable entity. Collender's ability to present the most complex and intricate budget process in the world into understandable and concise format is excellent. This book will serve as a resource to anyone trying to understand what goes into preparing the largest budget in the world.

The Guide to the Federal Budget: Fiscal 2000

Collender, Stanley E.

In many respects, religion was a bedrock of the civil rights movement during the 1950s and 1960s. Theology infused the spirit and rhetoric of the movement, churches served as the gathering place for its followers, and men of the cloth--foremost among them the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.--led the perilous journey that changed the nation. Today, the quest for improving the lives of racial minorities and pursuing justice is less a "movement" and more a collection of diffuse efforts to fend off a retrenchment from affirmative action and nondiscrimination laws, improve economic prospects for residents of low-income urban neighborhoods, and organize grass-roots political activities. In that context, the relationships between religion and civil rights have become less obvious and more complex. This volume of essays takes stock of the ways in which different religions, their leaders, and their followers now see their role in promoting civil rights. Developed in conjunction with the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University, this book is the first in a series edited by Gary Orfield and Holly J. Lebowitz. Authors include Robert Franklin, president of the Interdenominational Theological Center; Robin Lovin, dean of the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University; David Chappell, a Buddhist scholar at the University of Hawaii; Amina Waddud, an Islam expert at Virginia Commonwealth University; Reuven Kimmelman at Brandeis University; and Allan Figueroa Deck, professor at the Loyola Institute for Spirituality.

Civil Rights in a New Era: Religion, Race and Justice in a Changing America

History

World

Warp Speed: America in the Age of the Mixed Media

Did the coverage of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal set a new low for American journalism? How has news gathering and reporting changed, and what effects has this had on the political and cultural landscape? In this insightful and thoughtful book, Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel, two of America's leading press watchers, explore the new culture of news--what they call the new Mixed Media Culture--and show how it works. Warp Speed describes a world of news in which the speed of delivery is reducing the time for verification, sources are gaining more leverage over the news, and argument is overwhelming reporting. The press, forced to adhere to the demands of the bottom line and keep its audience, is straining more and more to find the Big Story to package as a form of entertainment, turning news stories into TV dramas; and turning history into a kind of Truman Show. As a result, the role of the press in a self-governing society is undermined. Grounded in extensive research, Warp Speed is informed by interviews and testimony from the principal journalists who covered this story and who covered the other great scandals of Washington politics. It offers detailed recommendations on how journalists can right their ship, such as using anonymous sources more responsibly and turning good journalism into good business.

Computers & Technology

Networking & Cloud Computing

Today, one in eight Americans--32 million people--are aged sixty-five or older. That proportion will rise to one in five by 2020. The number of elderly Americans is growing faster than the U.S. population at large, with those aged eighty-five or older representing the most rapidly increasing segment of all. Because most of the elderly are no longer in the workforce, and because they are especially vulnerable to chronic illness, disability, and social isolation, the projected explosion in their numbers has enormous ramifications for American society and public policy. This collection of essays, cosponsored by The Century Foundation/ Twentieth Century Fund and the International Longevity Center, explores the wide-ranging economic and social consequences of the aging of America. Compiled under the supervision of Pulitzer Prize-winning author and gerontologist Dr. Robert N. Butler, the volume presents essays by some of the nation's foremost experts on economics, demography, public policy, health care, and the media. The authors include Marilyn Moon of the Urban Institute; Robert H. Binstock, professor of aging, health, and society at Case Western Reserve University; economist James Schulz of Brandeis University; former NBC News president Lawrence K. Grossman; William Gale of the Brookings Institution; and Sara Rix of the American Association of Retired Persons.

Many policymakers, journalists, and members of the public at large are intimidated and mystified by the discipline of economics. The efforts of economists to make sense of interrelated, dynamic markets have lead to theoretical models and an analytic methodology that few outside the profession can begin to understand. Unfortunately, a pervasive economic illiteracy contributes to public confusion in public debates and confounds attempts to develop good policy. Policymakers and journalists who misunderstand economic concepts or are unaware of economic uncertainties make good decisions by accident rather than design. In this volume, edited by Jeffrey Madrick, many leading economists debunk conventional wisdom while clarifying distinctions between concrete evidence and theory that often fits poorly with real-world realities. Authors and topics include New York University's Edward N. Wolff on wealth inequality, Anthony Carnevale and Stephen Rose of the Education Testing Service on inequality and the new high-skilled service economy, Cornell University's Robert H. Frank on rational choice theory, Ohio State's Richard H. Steckel on indicators of health and quality of life, and James Crotty of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst on international capital controls.

Unconventional Wisdom : Alternative Perspectives on the New Economy

Raising Standards or Raising Barriers?: Inequality and High Stakes Testing in Public Education

More and more states require students to pass large-scale tests as a condition of promotion or graduation. What are the forces that have pushed high-stakes testing to the forefront of K-12 educational policy? Are such tests the best way to gauge educational attainment? This volume, commissioned by the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University, examines the economic and educational assumptions underlying the call for high-stakes tests.

Education & Teaching

Orfield, Gary

Kornhaber, Mindy

Schools & Teaching

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the The Century Foundation publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by The Century Foundation

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the The Century Foundation publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Warp Speed: America in the Age of Mixed Media

The Great Deficit Scare: The Federal Budget, Trade, and Social Security

The Way We Were?: The Myths and Realities of America's Student Achievement (Century Foundation/Twentieth Century Fund Report)

Life in an Older America

The Guide to the Federal Budget: Fiscal 2000

Civil Rights in a New Era: Religion, Race and Justice in a Changing America

Warp Speed: America in the Age of Mixed Media

Life in an Older America

Unconventional Wisdom : Alternative Perspectives on the New Economy

Raising Standards or Raising Barriers?: Inequality and High Stakes Testing in Public Education