As the world of politics and public affairs has gradually changed beyond recognition over the past two decades, journalism too has been transformed… yet the study of news and journalism often seems stuck with ideas and debates which have lost much of their critical purchase. Journalism is at a crossroads: it needs to reaffirm core values and rediscover key activities, almost certainly in new forms, or it risks losing its distinctive character as well as its commercial basis.

Journalism Studies is a polemical textbook that rethinks the field of journalism studies for the contemporary era.

Organised around three central themes – ownership, objectivity and the public – Journalism Studies addresses the contexts in which journalism is produced, practised and disseminated. It outlines key issues and debates, reviewing established lines of critique in relation to the state of contemporary journalism, then offering alternative ways of approaching these issues, seeking to reconceptualise them in order to suggest an agenda for change and development in both journalism studies and journalism itself.

Journalism Studies is a concise and accessible introduction to contemporary journalism studies, and will be highly useful to undergraduate and postgraduate students on a range of Journalism, Media and Communications courses.

Reviews

'In a period of upheaval and change for journalism, this is a timely examination of the role and relevance of journalism studies in the academy. Scholarly and knowledgeable, while engaging in its arguments and accessibly written, Calcutt and Hammond have delivered an original and important book, which will be of value to all those who study journalism in the academy.' - Brian McNair, Queensland University of Technology, Australia

'This is a highly original examination of a range of important issues in journalism.' - Richard Lance Keeble, University of Lincoln, UK

Contents

Selected Contents: Acknowts Introduction: Journalism in Question Part I: Ownership Chapter 1. Ownership and the News Industry Chapter 2. Media and Mediating Activity Part II: Objectivity Chapter 3. The Rise and Fall of Objectivity Chapter 4. The Future of Objectivity Part III: The Public Chapter 5. The Fragmenting Public Conclusion: Journalism and Journalism Studies Notes References Index