Speed concerns Seib. So does accuracy. A former TV and print journalist, now an educator at Marquette University (Milwaukee, Wisconsin), Seib writes about standards of excellence in journalism. Using true examples, he expresses concern about those standards in a world where media corporations have other concerns, but where people still need what good journalism delivers: accurate information and a way to understand the world.

"Journalism is not an esoteric enterprise isolated from the rest of society. Even the strongest commitment to detached objectivity does not alter the fact that people react to news. ... Live coverage affects people much the way other journalism does, except the speed of public reaction may match the timeliness of the reporting" (page 55).

After Seib discusses TV coverage of the 1963 Kennedy assassination, the Vietnam War and the Gulf War, he transitions smoothly to the Web and its own version of "going live." Describing CBS News's online coverage of a shooting incident in the Iraqi no-fly zone, he raises questions about what a link to the "official story" (in this case, from the Pentagon) implies.

This book says little about writing and nothing about online story structure, but it says quite a lot about editorial decision-making in a high-speed world. The unusual lack of emphasis on print media makes this a refreshing read (although newspapers are not ignored; see Chapter 4, "Newspapers' New World"). Seib offers broad coverage of most of the standard online journalism issues in a skillful combination of good real-world cases and thoughtful (but not lengthy) analysis.

Bottom line: A very readable book for a survey course, with excellent fuel for discussions; very short (only seven chapters). A good second text for an ethics course.