The Integrated News Spectacle examines the rational organization of control of popular news forms. It uses spectacular media events such as the mourning of Princess Diana, the Monica Lewinsky presidential scandal, and the Gulf wars of 1991 and 2003 as entry points into a discussion of the broader context surrounding an integrated system of commodity production, distribution and exchange.
James R. Compton critiques the generally accepted notion of tabloidization associated with media spectacles, and situates these dramatic narratives within a broad historical context. Drawing on the...