This book, the seventh in a series surveying broadcast journalism, provides behind-the-scenes details of news coverage during 1978-79, evaluating the growth and sophistication of the news media. The first section of the book discusses the treatment of major issues and news events, including the "odd couple" of politics and broadcasting, the "impossible necessity" of expanding network news coverage, the advent of the ABC television network's news department, the local news scene, foreign news (particularly the United States-Iran crisis), and the interactions between democratic government and information dissemination. The second section of the book focuses on three particular topics: the continuing energy crisis, how the news media reported the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island, and the technological advances marking the beginning of a communications revolution. The third section contains essays on Three Mile Island, recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings on broadcasting issues, and the changes that have occurred in network foreign news coverage. (RL)