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Journalism is facing a credibility crisis. Declining faith in government and other institutions and a decades-long assault by conservatives have hurt mainstream news outlets. And President Trump has called journalists "the enemy of the American people." Recent incidents involving public figures, including a Montana congressional candidate's alleged assault on a reporter, have underscored the hostility that journalists face. Some traditional media also have suffered from self-inflicted wounds by blurring the lines between news and commentary and ignoring the interests of rural readers to focus on well-off urbanites. Ad revenue and subscriptions at newspapers have plummeted, in part due to the rise of the internet and changing consumer habits. Meanwhile, social media have fostered "echo chambers" in which people seek out news that affirms their beliefs. Journalists and those studying the news business say mainstream outlets must be more transparent about how they do their jobs and more skillful at explaining events to survive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The annual rankings of America's colleges and universities, such as those published by U.S. News & World Report, have become a significant force in U.S. higher education. The rankings have been increasingly influential in shaping the reputation of colleges and universities and swaying students' choices for admission. Being rated a top-tier school can bring an institution more recognition, donations and qualified applicants, while a low ranking can discourage good students from applying. Some lower-ranked schools have tried to game the system to move up in the rankings by changing admissions policies or distorting spending priorities. Critics question the validity of the criteria used to create the rankings and argue that colleges seeking a higher score have been too quick to shape their policies in ways that hurt students. Supporters counter that the rankings provide consumers useful information in an area with few impartial measures of quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An unprecedented number of Americans view the news media as biased and untrustworthy, with both conservatives and liberals complaining that coverage of political races and important public policy issues is often skewed. Polls show that 80 percent of Americans believe news stories are often influenced by the powerful, and nearly as many say the media tend to favor one side of issues over another. The proliferation of commentary by partisan cable broadcasters, talk-radio hosts and bloggers has blurred the lines between news and opinion in many people's minds, fueling concern that slanted reporting is replacing media objectivity. At the same time, newspapers and broadcasters -- and even some partisan groups -- have launched aggressive fact-checking efforts aimed at verifying statements by newsmakers and exposing exaggerations or outright lies. Experts question the future of U.S. democracy if American voters cannot agree on what constitutes truth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The migration of books to electronic screens has been accelerating with the introduction of mobile reading on Kindles, iPhones and Sony Readers and the growing power of Google's Book Search engine. Even the book's form is mutating as innovators experiment with adding video, sound and computer graphics to text. Some fear a loss of literary writing and reading, others of the world's storehouse of knowledge if it all goes digital. A recent settlement among Google, authors and publishers would make more out-of-print books accessible online, but some worry about putting such a vast trove of literature into the hands of a private company. So far, barely 1 percent of books sold in the United States are electronic. Still, the economically strapped publishing industry is under pressure to do more marketing and publishing online as younger, screen-oriented readers replace today's core buyers — middle-aged women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nation's $59 billion newspaper industry is facing an uncertain future even while its biggest companies are enjoying enviable profits averaging around 20 percent. Newspaper circulation has been declining for many years, especially among young adults. Now, newspapers are losing readers and some advertising to the Internet. In fact, only 52 percent of adults read the paper on a typical weekday. Many newspapers are working on redesigns aimed at making their print editions more readable. Most also have created Web sites to deliver news and information, including special features and interactive options not included in the print product. But newspaper executives are struggling to incorporate their online editions into viable business plans. Meanwhile, slipping profit margins are resulting in layoffs at several of the major newspaper companies and opening up the country's second-largest -- Knight Ridder -- to a possible takeover. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two nationally known reporters face possible jail sentences for refusing to answer grand jury questions about their confidential sources in the criminal probe of the leak of the name of a U.S. intelligence agent. The contempt of court case against Matthew Cooper of Time and Judith Miller of The New York Times is one of several similar conflicts between journalists and prosecutors and private lawyers viewed as less favorable to freedom of the press. Prosecutors say journalists have the same obligation as anyone else to give evidence in legal proceedings. But journalists say that offering confidentiality to sources wishing to remain anonymous is sometimes necessary to get information about government and corporate wrongdoing, such as the Abu Ghraib prison abuses and the Enron accounting-fraud scandal. Meanwhile, media groups are clashing with the Bush administration over restrictions on government information imposed since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The book-publishing industry is all abuzz over electronic books. E-book advocates say they will revolutionize reading, much as Gutenberg's invention of movable type did more than 500 years ago. Electronic books, they say, provide useful computerized features along with portability and durability. Many bibliophiles, however, sneer at the digitized products. They rhapsodize about the feel of ink-on-paper books as well as useful features of print products that they say e-books lack. Consumer acceptance is uncertain. The $200 to $600 price tag for handheld e-book readers is one barrier. In addition, only a small percentage of books are now available in electronic format. But e-book entrepreneurs are working hard to expand the market and say that prices will come down as that happens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The massive publicity surrounding the O.J. Simpson murder trial has renewed an old debate: Can the constitutional rights to a free press and a fair trial be balanced? Nowadays, the clash between the First and Sixth amendments is occurring in televised courtrooms amid saturation media coverage. Some observers fear that the traditional legal tools for assuring impartial juries -- the questioning of jurors for bias and the change of venue -- are no longer effective in cases where the basic facts are widely known. Others say juries can put aside the impressions received from blanket news coverage. Meanwhile, all agree that the issue is far from resolved and that the media will remain a powerful player in the criminal justice system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]