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

In Breaking News, The Remaking of Journalism and Why It Matters Now Alan Rusbridger tells the story of how the Internet and Social Media has changed The Fourth Estate. Rusbridger was editor of The Guardian News and Media for twenty years and is now a journalism Professor at Oxford University. During his tenure between 1995 and 2015, he transformed the British Daily into the most visited English-language new site in the world. Here he tells of the transformation of journalism to a model that also serves those who prefer consuming it over the Internet.

Many stories are told in this about changing times which saw the influential likes of those like Craig Newmark, Mark Zuckerberg, Julian Assange, Edward Snowden, and others. The Press has had to adapt to changing forces, including a more cynical political landscape and new technologies. With great style, Rusbridger tells of these changing forces using new terminology. One will appreciate the accessibility of the prose which is vital, accurate, and efficient, but not always clear to those who don’t know a lot about the new and old players involved. Some of them are British, but much here is also about America. Rusbridger, despite some self critical views, does remind the reader of the remaining importance of the press and reporters. One sees here that it also evaluates and criticizes itself. We can now more easily interact with it and have more options to choose from.