Whether it's the rule-defying lifer, the sharp-witted female newshound,
or the irascible editor in chief, journalists in popular culture have
shaped our views of the press and its role in a free society since mass
culture arose over a century ago.
Drawing on portrayals of journalists in television, film, radio, novels,
comics, plays, and other media, Matthew C. Ehrlich and Joe Saltzman
survey how popular media has depicted the profession across time. Their
creative use of media artifacts provides thought-provoking forays into
such fundamental issues as how pop culture mythologizes and
demythologizes key events in journalism history and how it confronts
issues of race, gender, and sexual orientation on the job.
From Network to The Wire, from Lois Lane to Mikael Blomkvist,
Heroes and Scoundrels reveals how portrayals of journalism's
relationship to history, professionalism, power, image, and war
influence our thinking and the very practice of democracy.