The work of the Project for Excellence in Journalism and the Committee of Concerned Journalists has served as the basis for Warp Speed: America in the Age of Mixed Media, a Century Foundation book by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel, with a preface by David Halberstam.
Rosenstiel and Kovach examine what they call the new Mixed Media Culture, in which the classic function of journalism to sort out a true and reliable account of the day's events is being undermined and displaced by the continuous news cycle, the growing power of sources over reporters, varying and inconsistent standards of journalism, and a fascination with inexpensive, polarizing argument. The authors explore the implications of these changes for the role of journalism as a cohesive element in our culture and as a forum for public debate and catalyst for problem solving.
The book uses press coverage of the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky scandal as a case study, and looks at how the Mixed Media Culture, after such stories as the O.J. Simpson trials and the death of Princess Diana, handled its first major political story, and how the coverage of the scandal suggests that we are witnessing the rise of a new journalism of assertion, in which facts are less important than speed and ratings success.
Kovach and Rosenstiel suggest ways in which responsible journalists can cope with this new culture and maintain the historic standards of journalism, by deciding what their news values are, articulating them, and adhering to them.