When News Was New

by Terhi Rantanen

Overview

When News was New investigates how news has re-invented itself at different historical moments—from medieval storytellers to 19th century telegraph news agencies to 21st century bloggers.

• Tracks the evolution of news through history
• Explores the regular reconstruction of news, the salability of news, and whether objectivity matters
• Provides an innovative approach to the history of news; clear, succinct writing; and effective use of photographs, maps, and tables which have strong appeal to the student reader
• Offers a new way of understanding news in our history and culture

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781405175517
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	04/27/2009
Pages:	168
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Terhi Rantanen is Professor and Director of the Master's Proframme in Global Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She has published extensively on global news and is the author of six books and more than fifty chapters and articles published in the UK, the USA, Austria, Finland, Russia, Sweden and Taiwan.

Read an Excerpt

Click to read or download

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables viii

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction: When News Was New x

1 Temporalization: How News Became New 1

2 Cosmopolitanization: An Older Phenomenon Than We Think 19

3 Globalization: When News Became Global 42

4 Commodification: How To Sell News 58

5 Localization: Places in News 76

6 Nationalization: News and the Nation-states 92

7 Epilogue: Today Was Yesterday 112

Bibliography 133

Index 146

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"This is a work of exemplary scholarship that cannot be missed by students of communication, and will become indispensable reading for journalists and media executives struggling to grasp the new digital world." Manuel Castells, Wallis Annenberg Chair of Communication Technology and Society, University of Southern California, Los Angeles

"Terhi Rantanen's thoughtful, eloquent and seminal study of the shifting historical understandings of news, unravels and challenges existing scholarly orthodoxy. When News Was New is a significant book which makes compelling and essential reading for everyone interested in journalism studies." Bob Franklin, Professor of Journalism Studies, Cardiff University

"Terhi Rantanen has given us a brilliant archeology of the variable meanings of news." Saskia Sassen, Columbia University, author of A Sociology of Globalization

Editorial Reviews

"A well structured analysis of journalism and what actually entails news, this is both an educational and thought provoking exploration into the purity of news. (M/C Reviews, March 2010)

"Terhi Rantanen's When News Was New is much more than a narrative of journalism history. This is an investigation into the very nature of journalism as it changes through the centuries." (Polis Journalism and Society, April 2009)

From the Publisher