Power Without Responsibility: Press, Broadcasting and the Internet in Britain

By Jean Seaton and James Curran

Book Overview

This book attacks the conventional history of the press as a story of progress; offers a critical defence and history of public service broadcasting; provides a myth-busting account of the internet; gives a subtle account of the impact of social media; and explores key debates about the role and politics of the media.

Power Without Responsibility has become a standard textbook on media and other courses, but it has also gone beyond an academic audience to reach a wider public. Hailed as a book that has 'cracked the canon' by the Times Higher Educational Supplement, it has been translated into five languages. In 2019, it was awarded the International Communication Association's Fellows Book Award. This ninth edition is based on a major overhaul of its content to take account of new developments (such as generative AI) and new scholarship in the field. It also contains a new chapter on the transformed opportunity for a reformed and buccaneering public service broadcasting in the face of automated misinformation and social division, locally, nationally and internationally.

This trailblazing text is essential reading for all students and scholars interested in British media and contemporary media and society.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1032112018
• ISBN13: 9781032112015
• Release Date: September 2024
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 542 Pages
• Weight: 1.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

A thorough and readable analysis of the British media

This book contains a thorough insight into the history of the British press and broadcasting. It's historical review examines the interplay between successive British Governments and the emergence of a free press and broadcasting. It goes on to assess the consequences for the 'new' media in Britain; satellite and cable. Key themes include the BBC, as the world's first 'public service broadcaster' - a unique institution which has suffered many trials at the hands of the Government, in particular, during the '80s administration of Margerat Thatcher. I achieved a degree under the tutoring of the book's co-author Jean Seaton and am now successfully employed at the BBC. A fantastic, level headed critique which renders an enormous topic palatable.