The Sociology of Journalism

Journalism is a privileged cultural form. It can bring down governments,
influence wars, shift stock markets and destroy industries. It is the
main source of our knowledge about the world and our place in it, and
the point at which the individual and the social worlds meet.



Referring
to cases drawn from both the US and the UK, including the White House
sex scandals and the death of Diana, this book examines the various
factors involved in the making of contemporary journalism, including
economic and political pressures, changes in the technology of news
gathering and production, and the growing role of sources and 'source
strategies'. The text analyses how such factors come to exert influence
on the form, content and style of journalism, and reviews current
approaches to the sociology impact of journalism on individuals, groups
and organisations.



The Sociology of Journalism combines
a comprehensive survey of the elements of journalistic production with
critical analysis of traditional liberal pluralist and materialist
perspectives on the subject. It calls for an approach which recognises
the chaotic unpredictability and discursive instability of contemporary
cultural production, and of journalism in particular.