A History of News

By Mitchell Stephens

Book Overview

What is news? Why are we so eager to exchange it? Why does it so often seem sensational? How does the way news is gathered and presented affect our politics and our lives? A History of News, Third Edition, provides an extended, international history of journalism that ranges from preliterate societies to the digital age. It examines the strengths and weaknesses of news and provides unique insights into contemporary journalism. Author Mitchell Stephens, an accomplished writer and media critic, analyzes news in all of its manifestations--spoken, written, visual and digital--from an international perspective.
For the third edition, Stephens has broadened the scope of the book's international coverage, expanded the section on television news, increased coverage of women and minorities and added new material on the Internet and the digital revolution. The book also features an updated timeline, questions at the end of each chapter and new boxes, many of which underline connections between older news systems and issues in contemporary journalism.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195189914
• ISBN13: 9780195189919
• Release Date: August 2006
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 1.51 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 7.5" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

All Becomes Clear

Once you read this book, everything that the news media do will become clear to you. It turns out that, other than minor differences in grammar and presentation, the actual writing and distribution of news hasn't changed since the earliest days of news.Telling example, from the book: arguably, the very first newspaper dates back to ancient Rome, where scribes copied it onto the back of the minutes of Senate meetings that were going to the various officals outside the city. Other than the mandatory government notices, what were the three "departments" of "Annals of the City of Rome"? Crime, sports, and celebrities.Stephens gives example after example from over two thousand years of journalism to demonstrate what we mean when we call something "news," and why journalists write it up the way they do. The writing is a bit dry, and there were times when I was ready to concede his point but he kept hammering us with more examples, but it is seriously worth it to read this book.If you want to understand the news that you read, and understand why and how it got to you looking like it does, you must read _A History of News_. (And then, while you're at it, go on to Noam Chomsky's _Manufacturing Consent_.)

No news is good news.

But not in this case. This book is a fabulous journalistic quamire of slow witted old English types wondering why the news has been covering nothing but Joe Dimaggio and nothing about Stanley Kubrick's recent death.

He was a god.

My dog is named Coco. He likes to run away from home all the time. I keep a journal of his behavior. It is filled with instances of when I have given him dog biscuits and he ate them on my bed leaving crumbs all over the sheets.