The Sociology of News offers a brief, but comprehensive account of the origins, structures, operating practices, codes, and cultures of the contemporary news media, analyzing the question of the consequences of news on society—and politics, in particular.Michael Schudson treats soberly and skeptically a great deal of what passes for wisdom about the press in popular opinion, academic research, and journalists’ own self-understanding. The book’s ultimate objective is not to settle controversies involving the press, but to define them and to characterize the role that news institutions play in the formation of modern public consciousness. The Sociology of News is part of the Contemporary Societies series