A sociological look at the latent structure of news and its social construction of reality, taking into consideration constraints, resources, timing, processes, and territory (of reporters, such as "beats"). Discusses news from a variety of perspectives including how it frames events and social movements (she focuses on the women's movement), how news is disseminated, and how the definition of news has changed historically.
This was written before the internet, but many basic principles still apply. The first part of the book discusses her case studies and the latter part is theoretical (epistemology, sociology, ethnomethodology, and hermeneutics). This included analyzing several other studies about mass media and how it influences perceptions about issues.
One major takeaway for me: The relationship between public/private is blurred because of governmental support and restrictions. Points out that freedom of speech, although much vaunted by the media, is constrained by the Fairness Doctrine, advertisers, accessibility, professional practices, ideology, and cultural training. Government sources are relied upon for "authoritative" information, whereas people involved (in a riot or movement) may not be consulted (partly because of access, but also a perception that an individual actor may not be perceived as authoritative or representative). Plus, the author comments that the news disguises social reality, for example by hiding the state's support of corporate capitalism.