Will the Last Reporter Please Turn Out the Lights

March 15, 2011

A well-curated collection of essays on the decline of the newspaper industry and the future of journalism.

Edited by McChesney (Communications/Univ. of Illinois; co-author: The Death and Life of American Journalism, 2010, etc.) and Pickard (Media, Culture, and Communication/New York Univ.), the book addresses topics ranging from content mills and the rise of "citizen journalism" to social justice in the media and conservative investigative journalism. Varying in tone from the breezy and snappy (Clay Shirky's "Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable") to the heavily footnoted and academic (Pickard's "Revisiting the Road Not Taken: A Social Democratic Vision of the Press"), these essays give rise to two general conclusions: 1) though the collapse of paper newspapers does not have to mean the destruction of journalism, it is unlikely that it can survive absent a supporting institution; 2) that government financial support of the newspaper industry, which has a historical basis, may be the answer to the crisis in journalism. Most of the essays are informative and concise, but they often appear with little context. Aside from a brief introduction to the book and three very brief introductions to each section, readers must sort through the sometimes contradictory conclusions drawn by the essays. This spare editorial apparatus suggests that this book, though certainly accessible to the average reader, will most likely be purchased by students assigned to read it for a class, where a professor and classmates can provide a certain amount of guidance. In The Death and Life of American Journalism, McChesney addressed similar questions and offered similar answers.

Current and often enlightening—of particular interest to academic libraries—but not essential.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

April 15, 2011

Is it the end of journalism as we know it? Editors McChesney (communications, Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Rich Media, Poor Democracy) and Pickard (media, culture, & communication, New York Univ.) present a collection of essays that attempt to analyze the American news media and what needs to be done to protect the Fourth Estate. The pieces address the current crisis of journalism, namely, that newspapers are disappearing, new digital media and social networks are fracturing audiences even more than cable TV did, and journalists are falling behind in their job to "fact-check, analyze, and critique information." Written by both liberal and conservative journalists and media scholars, these essays offer a variety of ideas and solutions to the crisis. The collection highlights journalism's role as a crucial component of democracy and as an institution that needs to be reinvigorated in the face of sweeping global technological and economic changes. VERDICT Journalism students and anyone concerned with the state of journalism and the state of the union should read this thought-provoking book.--Donna Marie Smith, Palm Beach Cty. Lib. Syst., FL

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2011
Perhaps destined to go the way of transistor radios and rotary-dial phones, the newspaper is frequently touted as an endangered species in a world full of on-demand information providers. The Internet, its blogosphere, 24/7 cable TV, and talk radio have all contributed to the complex wealth of media that may be heralding its death knell, as citizen journalists vie with seasoned professionals to both report facts and flaunt opinions. Esteemed professors, authors, and media analysts McChesney and Pickard have compiled an incisively textured trove of critical essays by communications cognoscenti that chronicles how the news industry arrived at its precarious state and ponders where it might be headed. Including previously published works as well as new material from sage contributors such as Eric Alterman, Chris Hedges, Thomas Frank, and the venerable C. Edwin Baker, this provocative compilation provides a groundbreaking introduction to, and thought-provoking evaluation of, the uncertain state of contemporary journalism. Bold, meditative, engrossing, this is an indispensable guide for followers of modern media.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)