This is a compilation of English-language books and articles, briefly summarized, commenting on the phenomenon of sensationalism in news reporting. Coverage includes the historical penny and yellow presses; Britain's Fleet Street publications; and supermarket tabloids, spanning the eras of Northcliffe, Pulitzer, Hearst, and Murdoch. This is a unique compilation of 819 English-language monographs, journal articles, theses, and conference papers-each briefly summarized-commenting on the phenomenon of sensationalism in journalism. Separate chapters address the practice in newspapers and television, the legal issues raised, and international manifestations. An historical overview of the subject, as well as of current practice, is provided. Entries feature both popular and scholarly contributors. Tabloid journalism is alternately praised and excoriated by the commentators, whose backgrounds are as divergent as their opinions. While sensationalism's excessiveness provides an easy target for critics, scholars' more analytical investigations draw parallels between today's tabloid headlines and more traditional folk narratives. The sociological role played by tabloid journalism is also discussed.

This volume is a compilation of the U.S. federal special prosecutor/independent counsel investigations spanning the complete twenty-one year tenure from 1978-1999 of the independent counsel statute. The entries include individuals who have served as investigators; those who have been targets of investigations; all attorney generals who have called for appointment of special prosecutors; all presidents during whose terms of office such prosecutors served; and all legal cases that served to argue for or against the constitutionality of the independent counsel statute. These historical precedents are traced from Ulysses Grant's appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the St. Louis Whiskey Scandal in 1875. More contemporary cases include Watergate, precipitated by Richard Nixon's Saturday Night Massacre dismissal of Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox in 1973; Independent Counsel Lawrence Walsh's Iran-Contra Investigation; and Special Prosecutor Ken Starr's Whitewater investigation of the Clintons and the ensuing permutations which brought individuals like Linda Tripp and Monica Lewinsky to prominence and also brought the statute calling for such investigations into constitutional debate.

The book is fully cross-referenced and contains a comprehensive bibliography and index. It will be of interest to scholars and students of American History and Constitutional History.