At 11:57 AM 9/12/97 -0600, you wrote:
>Next spring I'll be teaching an undergraduate, introductory, course in
>Documentary and U.S. Television
>for the first time. I'd really appreciate any suggestions regarding books,
>articles and other resources.
 
*Representing Reality* by Bill Nichols is really useful in surveying many
of the representational strategies in nonfiction film.  His other books
(with the exception of the *Movies and Methods* anthologies) also give
ample coverage to documentary.  *Ideology and the Image*, for example, has
a chapter that discusses the ideological implications of representation in
*The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite*.
 
Erik Barnouw gives some attention to news in his broadcast history, *Tube
of Plenty*, and also in his book *The Sponsor*, the latter examining the
economic determinations of televisual representation.  His book on
documentary film (titled something like *Documentary Film*) is a historical
survey of documentary both in theaters and on television.  It may make a
good complement to Nichols' book, though their reliance on different formal
taxonomies will need to be carefully explained to students.
 
I know nothing about the book *Confronting Reality*.
 
Allan Campbell
 
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