This highly-esteemed text follows the evolution of the news, both as a social and economic product, and as a key to understanding the American political process. Analyzing how the press, public, and politicians interact in a not always functional political system, the new Fourth Edition continues to offer the features that made the previous editions so successful: the best overview of research on media and politics available, in-depth "Case Studies" in every chapter, and unique views from the press. The Fourth Edition is also a sweeping revision and several broad new themes have been woven throughout the book to reflect important changes in recent years: 1. the decline of mass media and the fragmentation of the mass news audience; 2. the rise of strategic communication and new technologies of audience targeting; 3. the rise of news negativity; and 4. the news reform movement. These themes, along with relevant new examples to illustrate them, not only bring this new edition up-to-date, but reflect theoretical and empirical developments in the political communication field as well.