In recent years, scholars have argued that the ability of people to choose which channel they want to watch means that television news is just preaching to the choir, and doesn't change any minds. This book shows that media coverage has large direct effects on campaign contributions, candidate's poll numbers, presidential approval, and that exposure to some media sources can serve to actually make Americans less knowledgeable about current affairs, and more likely to buy into conspiracy theories. The quality of journalism is more than an academic question: when coverage focuses on questionable topics, or political bias, there are consequences.