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 work of Guy Debord, David Harvey, and Pierre Bourdieu, this book explains how the power relationships associated with media events can best be comprehended by revealing the practical application of the logic of spectacle – a logic characterized by the transposable circulation and promotion of cultural commodities.

The Author: James R. Compton is Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at the University of Western Ontario. He received his Ph.D. in communication from Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, and is a former reporter and editor with Canadian Press/Broadcast News in Vancouver, B.C. He has published work on the public journalism movement in the journal of Journalism Studies.