Schroeder, Alan 1954-

PERSONAL: Born 1954. Education: Graduated from Wichita State University and Harvard University.

ADDRESSES: Office— School of Journalism, Northeastern University, 102 Lake Hall, Boston, MA 02115. E-mail— a.schroeder@neu.edu

CAREER: Northeastern University School of Journalism, Boston, MA, associate professor. Has also worked as a newspaper reporter, and as a television producer in Denver, CO, Wichita, KS, and Boston, MA. Guest commentator on television news shows.

WRITINGS

Presidential Debates: Forty Years of High-Risk TV, Columbia University Press (New York, NY), 2000.

Celebrity-in-Chief: How Show Business Took Over the White House, Westview Press (Boulder, CO), 2004.

SIDELIGHTS: Alan Schroeder worked as a newspaper reporter and television producer before accepting a professorship at Northeastern University teaching general and television journalism. He is particularly interested in how television and the entertainment industry commingle with and impact politics. In Presidential Debates: Forty Years of High-Risk TV, Schroeder traces the history of the presidential debate from the first televised debate in 1960 to the highly choreographed events of the 1990s. In an article for Variety, Paula Bernstein wrote: “Presidential contenders... would be wise to study this comprehensive history of televised presidential debates before facing off in front of the American public.” Bernstein further described the book as “thoroughly researched and concisely reported.” A Publishers Weekly contributor commented: “Schroeder’s ‘tour’ is a good one, sparked by lively writing and an eye for telling details.” And Library Journal reviewer Michael A. Genovese concluded that the “very readable and highly informative work should be widely read.”

Celebrity-in-Chief: How Show Business Took Over the White House is a study of the relationship between politicians and entertainers, and how each has both benefited and negatively impacted the other. Rich Martin described Celebrity-in-Chief in Variety as “a fun ride, full of great anecdotes.”Hollywood Reporter contributor Gregory Mc-Namee wrote that the book is “entertaining and thoughtful” and “makes for provocative reading,” while a Publishers Weekly reviewer commended the book’s “insightful analyses.” The critic added that “Schroeder collects the most telling anecdotes from a century’s worth of cultural cross-pollination.”

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES

PERIODICALS

Hollywood Reporter, March 31, 2004, Gregory McNamee, review of Celebrity-in-Chief: How Show Business Took Over the White House, p. 10.

Kirkus Reviews, January 15, 2004, review of Celebrity-in-Chief, p. 75.

Library Journal, July, 2000, Michael A. Genovese, review of Presidential Debates: Forty Years of High-Risk TV, p. 111.

Publishers Weekly, August 7, 2000, review of Presidential Debates, p. 84; January 19, 2004, review of Celebrity-in-Chief, p. 62.

Variety, September 25, 2000, Paula Bernstein, review of Presidential Debates, p. 76; April 26, 2004, Rich Martin, review of Celebrity-in-Chief, p. 58.

ONLINE

Northeastern University School of Journalism Web site, http://www.journalism.neu.edu/ (December 2, 2006), faculty profile on Alan Schroeder.