Journalism is in crisis, with traditional sources of news under siege, a sputtering business model, a resurgence of partisanship, and a persistent expectation that information should be free. In Covering America, Christopher B. Daly places the current crisis within historical context, showing how it is only the latest challenge for journalists to overcome.

In this revised and expanded edition, Daly updates his narrative with new stories about legacy media like the New York Times and the Washington Post, and the digital natives like the Huffington Post and Buzzfeed. A new final chapter extends the study of the business crisis facing journalism by examining the "platform revolution" in media, showing how Facebook, Twitter, and other social media are disrupting the traditional systems of delivering journalism to the public. In an era when the factual basis of news is contested and when the government calls journalists "the enemy of the American people" or "the opposition party," Covering America brings history to bear on the vital issues of our times.

​“A carefully researched, beautifully written, and memorable account. . . . Journalism students will leave a class after reading Daly's book with a clear understanding of the methods and values of the field they will soon enter. They will also gain some confidence that journalism will continue even if paper and ink disappear.”—Joseph Bernt, Journalism History

​“[Daly's] combination of the big business picture with the work of individuals makes for an interesting study of the United States through the lens of the mass media, an essential form of communication throughout American history.”—Carol Sue Humphrey, The Historian

“This engrossing, wide-ranging history of American journalism from the colonial era to the present makes a tremendous contribution to mass communication education by being that rarest kind of textbook—one that reads like literature instead of CliffsNotes.”—Giovanna Dell’Orto, Journalism Mass Communication Quarterly

“[This] book is a welcome addition to the journalism history shelf, with crossover appeal to general audiences due to its narrative power and elegant writing.”—John H. Kennedy, Martha's Vineyard Gazette

“Covering America is extremely well written and comprehensive, and I love its focus on the personalities who shaped American journalism, particularly its attention to women and African Americans.”—Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down