The Power and the Story
The Global Battle for News and Information
Published on 17. August 2017
480 pages
978-1-78239-361-0 (ISBN)
Description
In this sweeping global survey, one of Britain's most distinguished journalists and media commentators analyses for the first time the state of journalism worldwide as it enters the post-truth age.
In this sweeping global survey, one of Britain's most distinguished journalists and media commentators analyses for the first time the state of journalism worldwide as it enters the post-truth age.
From the decline of the newspaper in the West and the simultaneous threats posed by fake news and President Trump, to the part that Facebook and Twitter played in the Arab revolts and the radical openness stimulated by WikiLeaks, and from the vast political power of Rupert Murdoch's News International and the merger of television and politics in Italy, to the booming, raucous and sometimes corrupt Indian media and the growing self-confidence of African journalism, John Lloyd examines the technological shifts, the political changes and the market transformations through which journalism is currently passing.
The Power and the Story offers a fascinating insight into a trade that has claimed the right to hold power to account and the duty to make the significant interesting - while making both the first draft of history, and a profit.
'lloyd has a vivid reporting style and his many succinct interviews with victims or justifiers of Putin, or Egyptian of Indian style journalism, make his book a page-turner for those interested in question of who decides and writers the news we are permitted to read.... His masterly book is a lament not an obituary.' - Santigo Gamboa, Tribune
In this sweeping global survey, one of Britain's most distinguished journalists and media commentators analyses for the first time the state of journalism worldwide as it enters the post-truth age.
From the decline of the newspaper in the West and the simultaneous threats posed by fake news and President Trump, to the part that Facebook and Twitter played in the Arab revolts and the radical openness stimulated by WikiLeaks, and from the vast political power of Rupert Murdoch's News International and the merger of television and politics in Italy, to the booming, raucous and sometimes corrupt Indian media and the growing self-confidence of African journalism, John Lloyd examines the technological shifts, the political changes and the market transformations through which journalism is currently passing.
The Power and the Story offers a fascinating insight into a trade that has claimed the right to hold power to account and the duty to make the significant interesting - while making both the first draft of history, and a profit.
'lloyd has a vivid reporting style and his many succinct interviews with victims or justifiers of Putin, or Egyptian of Indian style journalism, make his book a page-turner for those interested in question of who decides and writers the news we are permitted to read.... His masterly book is a lament not an obituary.' - Santigo Gamboa, Tribune
Reviews / Votes
Magisterial... A free press and free broadcasting - off- or online - is not some optional extra. It is vital, but also beset by dangers; and Lloyd, with scholarship and energy, lays many of them bare. -- Observer * Peter Preston * Exceptionally wide-ranging and informative... Lloyd does an impressive job in showing how journalism is vulnerable to the power of the state and the market. -- John Gray * New Statesman * An intelligent, nuanced and well-documented survey of global public interest reporting under pressure from dictatorships, desperate market competition and technological disruption. -- Steve Coll * Financial Times * Superb... Despite the brief opening for liberalism after the Cold War and the promise of digital democracy, journalism finds itself ever more constrained by politicians and their accomplices. In a magisterial sweep Lloyd demonstrates how other pressures, such as violence, secrecy, corruption and commercialisation, are threatening the public purpose of journalism... He has an eye for both detail and the bigger picture and his case studies and analysis reflect the complex and dynamic recent histories of journalism and politics. -- Charlie Beckett * Literary Review * Investigative journalism is the life-blood of democracy. In the digital age, the orthodox press struggles to survive and has to compete with a dazzling variety of websites, many sourced for free. What are the implications for politics? Is truth itself a casualty? This magisterial book offers a nuanced and compelling treatment of these essential issues, setting them in historical context. -- Anthony Giddens, Former director * London School of Economics * John Lloyd is a master journalist with serious insights into the changing dynamics of his field. The Power and the Story illuminates the ways in which governments across the globe cooperate, collude, control and clash with the press. -- Graham Allison * Douglas Dillon Professor of Government and Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs * John Lloyd is not only one of the finest experts on journalism; he is also a practitioner. His unique insight takes us around the world for an illuminating and enlightening voyage through the old and new challenges facing journalists. In an age of rising authoritarianism, technological disruptions and alternative facts, John Lloyd makes a powerful case for the necessity of independent, strong journalism. For anyone concerned about the future of truth, freedom and information, this makes for fascinating and indispensable reading - wherever you live.' -- Sylvie Kauffmann, Editorial Director * Le Monde *More details
Edition
Main
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
File size
1,81 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-78239-361-0 (9781782393610)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
08/2018
Atlantic Books
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08/2017
Atlantic Books
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Person
John Lloyd co-founded the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford, where he is a Senior Research Fellow. Lloyd has written several books, including What the Media Are Doing to Our Politics and Journalism in an Age of Terror. He is also a contributing editor at the Financial Times and a columnist for both Reuters.com and La Repubblica of Rome.
Content
- Cover
- Title
- Copyright
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Part I The Authority of the State
- Introduction: 'I hate your scary truth'
- 1 'We must unwaveringly persist in . politicians running newspapers'
- 2 'Egyptians will not again tolerate dictatorship'
- 3 'You saw it on television? That means they are lying!'
- 4 Three degrees of despotism
- i The New Thing
- ii 'I am having it cut off right away, sir!'
- iii 'We can't criticize our own'
- Part II The Authority of the Market
- Introduction: 'Without reliability, one cannot be a journalist'
- 5 'We are in the advertising business'
- 6 'We need a prime minister, not a Trappist monk'
- 7 'Some of the stories . were more or less true'
- 8 In the market, but free?
- i 'The most important story ... is the one that cannot be covered'
- ii 'We did not grasp what was happening'
- iii 'In East Asia . journalists are part of the power structure'
- iv 'When journalists come to Israel they leave behind their professional tools'
- 9 'There is no model for newspapers'
- 10 'We've got the ability to go directly . to the people'
- Part III Freedom
- Introduction: 'Journalism's first obligation is to the truth'
- 11 Roads to freedom
- i 'Your work has always been essential'
- ii 'The BBC . has a liberal bias'
- iii 'Nous sommes un journal'
- iv 'The Internet is a threat to human civilization'
- Conclusion: This happened
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
