Mightier than the sword : how the news media have shaped American history / Rodger Streitmatter.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Sowing the seeds of Revolution -- Abolition: turning America's conscience against the sins of slavery -- Slowing the momentum for women's rights -- Attacking municipal corruption: the Tweed ring -- Journalism as warmonger: the Spanish-American War -- Muckraking: the golden age of journalism -- Defying the Ku Klux Klan -- Father Coughlin: formenting anti-semitism via the radio -- Creating "Rosie the Riveter": propelling the American woman into the workforce -- Exposing Joe McCarthy: television's finest hour -- Pushing the civil rights movement onto the national agenda -- Vietnam War: bringing the battlefield into the American living room -- Watergate forces the president to his knees -- Rush Limbaugh: leading the Republican revolution -- How the news media have shaped history: focusing on the how.