Can Journalism Be Saved?: Rediscovering America's Appetite for News [Hardcover]

Rachel Davis Mersey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 6, 2010 | ISBN-10: 0313392080 | ISBN-13: 978-0313392085

By some measures, it would seem that print journalism is dying. Journalism recently suffered one of its worst circulation declines in years: a drop of more than ten percent in the a six month period ending September 30, 2009. The Rocky Mountain NewS≪/i> in Denver, CO, closed its doors in 2009—after it dominated the AP awards in 2008, and was lauded for an investigative expose on unfair treatment of former nuclear workers. Even the New York TimeS≪/i> and the Washington Post are experiencing financial trouble. But print advertising revenue still trumps online advertising revenue ten-fold. Is there hope yet for traditional journalism?

This book reviews the complicated challenge facing journalism, tracing its 19th-century community-oriented origins and documenting the vast expansion of the news business via blogs and other Internet-enabled outlets, user-generated content, and news-like alternatives. The author argues that a radical shift in mindset—striving to meet each individual's demands for what he wants to know—will be necessary to save journalism.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Well documented and researched, this is required reading for anyone interested in journalism and media analysis, including policy wonks, whose work is criticism. … Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers."

-

Choice

Review

"This straight-talking book places the audience -- indeed, the individual -- at the center, and bids journalists to do the same. We'd be well advised to listen."

(

Geneva Overholser, Director, USC Annenberg School of Journalism

)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 167 pages
• Publisher: Praeger (August 6, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0313392080
• ISBN-13: 978-0313392085
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,310,643 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars I might be biased, but I keep this at my desk in the newsroom January 4, 2013

By Beth

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Yes, I had to buy this book for Rachel's class. Yes, I think she's an excellent professor. Those disclaimers out of the way, I have used and referenced the concepts, quotes and theories espoused in this book at both jobs I've had since I left the graduate journalism program at Northwestern's Medill School. As a digital strategist who works on audience development, this has been an invaluable tool (combined with having taken the class, of course). Buy this book and keep it at your office when you're done with school. It's not light, fun beach reading, but it's not supposed to be (which might be a shock if you've sat in Rachel's class and heard her hysterical stories.) This is the stark reality of journalism's downward spiral and the directive on how to keep journalism alive that you'll need to convince your ink-stained wretch coworkers to stop complaining and start making audience-based decisions to save this profession.