The aim of this book of readings is to provide college students with a wide variety of articles on the rapid changes and problems of today's mass media. The problems of access, control, protection of sources, and relevance are considered crucial to the changing role of the media. Changes in the structure of both traditional media and new alternatives are described. Debates and controversies over objectivity, the power of the press, and coverage of minorities also receive attention. In addition, an appendix contains three national reports on press performance and the proposal for a "National Center for the Study of Media." (RH)