America in the Age of Mixed Media
Co-authored with Bill Kovach
The definitive look at a turning point in politics and culture, Warp Speed dissects how the media enabled rather than covered the impeachment of Bill Clinton and what technological and structural forces drove it. Everything that was about to happen with the Internet was already happening.
“[A] vital analysis of American journalism at the cultural crossroads”
— Benjamin C. Bradlee, Washington Post
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.