The public often views television investigative reporting as a watchdog on the government. In fact, some of the centerpiece moments of TV muckraking relied heavily on official sources for inspiration, information, and regulatory protection from critics. At the same time, criticism by government officials and overt threats to regulate the television industry influenced the decision-making and content that went into some of broadcast news's iconic moments.

Chad Raphael's looks at the relationship between journalism and regulation during the celebrated period of muckraking that took place on American television between 1960 and 1975. Raphael offers new insights into the economic, political, and industrial forces that shaped documentaries like Harvest of Shame, Hunger in America, and Banks and the Poor while placing the investigative television documentary into its institutional, regulatory, and cultural context. Throughout, Raphael exposes the complex strands of influence used by government officials to shape--and attack--investigative reporting, and highlights how these tactics created a troubling legacy for the regulation of television news today.

Chad Raphael is a professor of communication at Santa Clara University. He is coeditor of Deliberation, Democracy, and Civic Forums: Improving Equality and Publicity.

Contents
 Acknowledgments
 Abbreviations
 Introduction
 Part 1. Politics
 1. Investigating Poverty and Welfare
 2. Investigating the Cold War
 3. Investigating Business and Consumerism
 Part 2. Representation
 4. Dividing and Distracting the Media
 5. The Ethics of Representation
 Part 3. Regulation
 6. The Politics of Regulation
 7. The Privatization of Regulation
 8. Media, State, and Investigative Reporting
 Notes
 Index