The ensuing disorder vitiated some of the boost in US credibility that was won on the battlefield, and it opened the way for deeper and more organized resistance during the following weeks.

vitiate (v) 1: corrupt morally or by intemperance or sensuality [syn: corrupt, pervert, subvert, demoralize, demoralise, debauch, debase, profane, deprave, misdirect] 2: make imperfect [syn: mar, impair, spoil, deflower] 3: take away the legal force of or render ineffective [syn: invalidate, void] [ant: validate] – source: Iraq: What Went Wrong

At the big event, in the glaring lights of ESPN cameras, the contestants take turns stepping up to a microphone and listening as a stentorian voice assigns them a word to spell – complete with definition and, if they ask for it, language of origin and derivation.

stentorian (adj) : of or pertaining to a stentor; extremely loud; powerful; used of the voice [syn: booming] – source: Attack of the spelling bees

After all, supermodels make particularly bad all-purpose celebrities. They tend to be a bit blank, the better to serve as universal projection screens for male desire; and as a result, their post-modeling careers in showbiz end in early, if gentle, ignominy.

ignominy (n) : a state of dishonor [syn: shame, disgrace] – source: Last Year’s Model

Still, in 1896, in the bawdiest days of yellow journalism, the New York Times began to climb to its premier position by stressing an ’information’ model, rather than a ’story’ model, of reporting.

bawdy (adj) : humorously vulgar [syn: off-color, ribald] – source: News: A Reader, p. 292

Concomitantly, the knowledge available in the front regions is subject to degrees of closure.

concomitantly (adv) : in company with others; unitedly; concurrently – source: News: A Reader, p. 280

Top media managers bridled at the normal results of hegemonic routines; therefore, from 1968 to 1973, and especially (but not only) under pressure from the Nixon White House, they interfered more directly in the news-gathering process.

bridle (v) 1: put a bridle on 2: respond to the reins, as of horses – source: News: A Reader, p. 277

Even so, journalists almost always have more available information than they can use; consequently, they must also make suitability judgements, through which they winnow available information to select what they can cover with limited staffs and time, and what they can report in the equally limited amount of air time or magazine space.

winnow (v) 1: separate from chaff [syn: fan] 2: blow on 3: treat by exposure to a current of air so that waste matter is eliminated 4: remove by a current of air – source: News: A Reader, p. 238

Some reify the organization at the expense of events, as if story selection were not affected by them; others forget that journalists, being professionals, also shape the organization and the news.

reify (v) : consider an abstract concept to be real – source: News: A Reader, p. 236

The answer is as complex as any attempt to assay a social institution and its resident occupations.

assay (v) 1: analyze (chemical substances) 2: make an effort or attempt [syn: try, seek, attempt, essay] – source: News: A Reader, p. 218

Associated Press and Reuters bestride the news agendas and news flows of the world.

bestride (v) : get on the back of [syn: hop on, mount, mount up, get on, jump on, climb on] [ant: hop out] – source: News: A Reader, p. 199