Media coverage of presidential actions can not only serve journalistic purposes, but can also act as a check against unilateral decision making. The book seeks to uncover how the news media has worked to curtail overreaching power within the executive branch, demonstrating how the fourth estate keeps presidential overreach at bay.

Autorentext
Mark Major is the Associate Director of the McCourtney Institute for Democracy and Lecturer in the Department of Political Science at the Pennsylvania State University, USA. He is the editor of Where Do We Go from Here? American Democracy and the Renewal of the Radical Imagination.

Inhalt

1. Introduction: The Unitary Executive and the News Media 2. Headlining Presidential Power: New York Times Front-Page Coverage of Executive Orders from Truman through Clinton 3. Torturing Unilateralism: The Case of Abu Ghraib, the News Media, and a Broken Political System 4. Unilateralism Tortured: Critical Press Coverage of the McCain Amendment and Signing Statements 5. Predator in Chief: Framing Obama's Drone Warfare 6. Going It E-Lone in the 2012 Election: Covering Obama's We Can't Wait in the Traditional and Online Public Spheres 7. Conclusion: The Unilateral Presidency, the News Media, and the Politics of Hiding in Plain Sight