Media at war : the Iraq crisis /

Tumber (sociology, City University London) and Palmer (communication, London Metropolitan Univ.) cover the period from late 2002 through October 2003, focusing on British media coverage of the war in Iraq. Divided into three parts--"The Media Go to War," "The Media Coverage," and "The Media Still at War"--the book first describes and assesses rules for coverage and the pros and cons of embedding. The authors apply both quantitative and qualitative methods to the analysis of the coverage itself, and they concentrate on Daily Telegraph, Guardian, Daily Mail, and Daily Mirror. In the last part, Tumber and Palmer analyze coverage after May 2003, including the issue of weapons of mass destruction and the Hutton Inquiry (the British investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Iraq arms expert David Kelly). In considering the latter, the authors offer a particularly good discussion of the role of journalists and the place of objectivity, truth, and accuracy. Though the book does not cover the events of 2004--i.e., the allegations of torture committed by allied troops--it will be a valuable addition to the literature on media and the war, and US readers will benefit from the British perspective. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; professionals. L. J. Roselle Elon University