Explores ways in which crises highlight the problematic issues of media performance in democratic states. The book examines the relationship between communication and civil society through cases of media responses to "crises", ranging from the Gulf War of 1991 to recent events in Eastern Europe.

Introduction - Marc Raboy and Bernard Dagenais Media and the Politics of Crisis The Crisis of the Sovereign State - John Keane Media and the State in Periods of Crisis - Mustapha Masmoudi Television, the Crisis of Democracy and the Persian Gulf War - Douglas Kellner Framing the Crisis in Eastern Europe - Julian Halliday, Sue Curry Jansen and James Schneider Media and the Terminal Crisis of Communism in Poland - Karol Jakubowicz Violence and Terror in and by the Media - George Gerbner Crisis as Spectacle - Peter A Bruck Tabloid News and the Politics of Outrage Media in Crises - Bernard Dagenais Observers, Actors or Scapegoats? Media and the Invisible Crisis of Everyday Life - Marc Raboy Media and the Commodification of Crisis - Lorna Roth On New Uses of Media in Time of Crisis - Armand Mattelart and Mich[gr]ele Mattelart

`[A] very useful collection of essays.... More thematically coherent than many such volumes.... The book is quite topical and readable, considering its depth; most of the authors avoid turgid jargon or intellectual dandyism.... Not just required reading for academic specialists - it is also accessible to motivated journalists and senior undergraduates. It definitely has a place as a supplementary text in courses on media/ideology, socio-political conflict, and social movements′ - Canadian Journal of Communication `Required reading for anyone with an eye on the future of government... the volume breathes new life into the debate emerging in the wake of events in France in May 1968′ - Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management `Gives the reader a wealth of thought-provoking analyses of the concept of crisis and the relationship of the concept to society, to the governing of the body politic and to the mass media.... This book will help all students of crises, politics and the media gain greater insights′ - Canadian Journal of Political Science `An interesting and, on occasion, important discussion of the crucial relationship between media and democracy′ - Political Studies