the powers that be  <b>a pulitzer prize winner’s in-depth look at four media-business giants: cbs-tv, <i>time </i>magazine, the <i>washington post</i>, and the <i>los angeles times</i>.</b><br /><br /> in this fascinating <i>new york times</i> bestseller, the author of <i>the best and the brightest</i>, <i>the fifties</i>, and other acclaimed histories turns his investigative eye to the rise of the american media in the twentieth century.<br /> <br /> focusing on the successes and failures of cbs television, <i>time</i> magazine, the <i>washington post</i>, and the <i>los angeles times</i>, david halberstam paints a portrait of the era when large, powerful mainstream media sources emerged as a force, showing how they shifted from simply reporting the news to becoming a part of it. by examining landmark events such as franklin d. roosevelt’s masterful use of the radio and the unprecedented coverage of the watergate break-in, halberstam demonstrates how print and broadcast media as a whole became a player in society and helped shape public policy.<br /> <br /> drawn from hundreds of exhaustive interviews with insiders at each company, and hailed by the<i> seattle times</i> as “a monumental x-ray study of power,” <i>the powers that be</i> reveals the tugs-of-war between political ambition and the quest for truth in a page-turning read.<br /> <i>this ebook features an extended biography of david halberstam.</i>