Books
Sydney W. Head, Thomas Spann, and Michael A. McGregor, Broadcasting in America: A Survey of Electronic Media, 9th ed. (paperback) (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001). The grandfather of broadcasting texts, featuring the history, laws, technology, and business aspects of radio, television, and cable, updated every two to three years.
Alex McNeil, Total Television: Book and CD-ROM (New York: Penguin Books, 1997) Program reviews, ratings, Emmy, and Peabody winners. Descriptions of 5,400 series and their major participants from 1948 to 1995. The information is presented in alphabetical order in entries up to several pages long. Special broadcasts are also listed chronologically in an appendix.
Films, Videos, and DVDs
Broadcast News (1987, rated R) is a comedy that presents a realistic picture of the frenetic world of television news. Stars Holly Hunter as the producer, William Hurt as the anchor, and Albert Brooks as the correspondent.
Network (1976 rated R) is a brilliant satire of the television business, especially as the game was played in the mid-1970s. It tells the story of a fourth place network that will do anything for ratings. Directed by Sidney Lumet, starring William Holden, Faye Dunaway, and Peter Finch, written by Paddy Chayefsky.
The Truman Show (1998, rated PG) Starring Jim Carrey in a satire on the reality television phenomenon as it might be played in the near future, with programs featured in 24-hour Webcam type voyeurism and all ads as product placements.
The Front (1976, rated PG) this film was written and directed by, as well as acted in by several artists who were blacklisted during the McCarthy era witch hunts. Featuring Woody Allen as Howard, a cashier and bookie, who becomes a "front" for blacklisted TV writer Alfred, so he can continue to sell his work. The hitch comes when congressional investigators claim to find communist ties in Howard's past.
