This comprehensive, trusted core text on media's impact on attitudes, behavior, elections, politics, and policymaking is known for its readable introduction to the literature and theory of the field. is thoroughly updated to reflect major structural changes that have shaken the world of political news, including the impact of the changing media landscape. It includes timely examples of the significance of these changes pulled from the 2020 election cycle, the press-president relations of Trump and Biden Administrations, and the effects of COVID-19 on the media world.  Written by the late —a scholar who has played an enormous role in establishing and shaping the field of mass media and American politics—and , this book sets the standard.