JOURNALISM: Critical Issues

Over the years it has been frequently remarked that journalism is at a crossroads – indeed so often that it risks sounding somewhat cliched – yet there is every indication that its very forms, practices and institutions are being decisively transformed, with startling implications. Accordingly, the principal aim of this book is to help provide the basis for new dialogues to emerge regarding journalism today, as well as about where it may be heading tomorrow.

Journalism: Critical Issues poses a series of important questions afresh, questions deserving of much greater attention than they have typically received to date. Each of the contributors seeks to challenge conventional ways of thinking about the ‘critical issue’ at stake in their respective chapter. In so doing, it is their intention to further our understanding, but also to encourage future explorations with the potential to revitalise journalism studies. In adopting this approach, it is hoped that this book will make for a lively, argumentative (in the best sense of the word) and engaging intervention. It is an essential reading for students and researchers in the fields of news and journalism, media studies, cultural studies, sociology and communication studies.

Stuart Allan is Reader in the School of Cultural Studies, University of the West of England, Bristol. He is the author of News Culture (2004), “Reporting War: Journalism in Wartime” (2004), “Media, Risk and Science” (2002) and “Journalism After September 11” (2002).