Breaking News: The Remaking of Journalism and Why It Matters Now

(Paperback, Main)

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We are living in a modern world where falsehood regularly seems to overwhelm truth. The ability of billions of people to publish has created a vast amount of unreliable and false news which now competes with and sometimes drowns more established forms of journalism. So where can we look for reliable, verifiable sources of news and information What does all this mean for democracy And what will the future hold

Reflecting on his twenty years as editor of the Guardian at a time of unprecedented digital disruption; and his experience of breaking some of the most significant news stories of our time, Alan Rusbridger answers these questions and offers a stirring defence of why quality journalism matters now more than ever.

Reviews

[Rusbridger] has written a book of breathtaking range . . . The brilliant Breaking News is essential - and entertaining - reading -- SIR HAROLD EVANS * * Observer * *
I particularly enjoyed Alan Rusbridger's Breaking News - in places it's as exciting as a thriller (and the good guys win) but it also gave me a new understanding of the difficulties that now confront good journalism -- HENRY MARSH * * New Statesman, Best Books of 2018 * *
Just when we were feeling lost in the dark labyrinth of fake news and journalism in crisis, Alan Rusbridger lights his torch and leads the way. Essential -- STEVE COOGAN
Well written and unskimped, this will be a painful document when we wake up one morning with nothing to read at breakfast except our smartphones -- TOM STOPPARD * * Times Literary Supplement, Best Books of the Year * *
The book [Rusbridger] has written is eloquent in its argument for well-resourced journalism, and never better than in its central narrative of how an old profession struggled to cope with a new technology that threatened it with obsolescence -- IAN JACK * * Guardian * *
It was my good luck - and the world's - that Alan Rusbridger was the Guardian's editor when powerful governments tried to prevent the paper from revealing that they had deceived and disempowered their citizens. Alan is a fearless defender of the public interest who has had a singular career in journalism. His book is an urgent reminder that there is still a place for real journalism - indeed, our democracies depend on it -- EDWARD SNOWDEN
A fascinating book and an important one * * Scotsman * *
Engaging . . . We love a good newspaper yarn, and Rusbridger provides a dandy * * Financial Times * *
Alan Rusbridger is one of the most important journalists of his generation . . . this book needs to be read * * Independent * *
The portrait of Rusbridger that emerges is that of the rarest of newsroom species - someone with genuine bona fides as a journalist and an unassailable commitment to the profession's enduring values, who also possesses the curiosity, nimbleness of mind and openness to change necessary to navigate the relentless, shape-shifting challenges that lie ahead for media companies today. The cascading crises afflicting journalism are now, rightly, understood to be threats to American democracy. It is hardly an overstatement, then, to say that the health of our society depends, in part, on future Rusbridgers emerging to take the reins of our news organisations * * New Yorker * *

Author Bio

Alan Rusbridger was Editor-in-Chief of Guardian News & Media from 1995 to 2015. He launched the Guardian in the US and Australia as well as building a website which today attracts more than 100 million unique browsers a month. The paper's coverage of phone-hacking led to the Leveson Inquiry into press standards and ethics. Guardian US won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for public service for its leading global coverage of the Snowden revelations. He is the author of Play It Again. He lives in London and Oxford, where he is Principal of Lady Margaret Hall and chairs the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. arusbridger.com | @arusbridger