"This book was a pleasurable, gripping, interesting read...It is academically focused with lots of bibliographic notes and references, yet it is clearly written for the general reader too. This skills of a journalist shine through: collect, curate and create a clearly understandable text from a seething mass of ideas."
Darren Ingram Media - Darren Ingram
"[A]rgues that the experimentation and inventiveness of the new news media are cause for greater optimism than the red ink on the balance sheets of media companies.Seeking to reassure the doom-mongers, he delves back into the history of journalism and demonstrates the shaky beginnings and rapid innovation that powered news journalism for three centuries before the maturation and slow decline of the business in the 20th century. His précis of the history is fascinating and elegantly done."
New Statesman - Emily Bell
"The book is optimistic without being sentimental, thought-provoking without being pretentious and realistic without being harsh, which makes it comforting for someone with a keen interest in seeing journalism prevail and hopefully eye-opening for those who wish to better understand it."
Chicago Center for Literature and Photography - Madeleine Maccar
"All journalists and certainly journalism students should read this book. And bloggers and technologists interested in the media biz should, too."
Critical Margins - Hope Leman
"Commendably well written and annotated, this volume will be valuable to anyone interested in journalism, mass communication, or digital media. Summing up : Highly recommended."
"A brief survey of journalism's history and evolution leads toward modern transformations that are forcing people to rethink how journalism can be accomplished, both ethically and profitably...Out of Print is a 'must-read' for anyone in today's journalism or periodical industries, and is worthy of the highest recommendation for public or college library Media Studies shelves."
Midwest Book Review - Library Bookwatch
"[A] hard-hitting examination of the future of news and reporting - and a 'must' for social issues and journalism collections alike."
Midwest Book Review - California Bookwatch
"Seeking to reassure the doom-mongers, [George Brock] delves back into the history of journalism and demonstrates the shaky beginnings and rapid innovation that powered news journalism for three centuries before the maturation and slow decline of the business in the 20th century. His précis of the history is fascinating and elegantly done."
"Brock's stance is refreshing and the book is a pleasure to read."
Word News Publishing Focus
"The great virtue of Brock's book is that it deals comprehensively, intelligently and unsentimentally with the entire range of major questions about journalism now [...] it is the best single source available for context about the situation as a whole."
The Times Literary Supplement Nicholas Lemann
"...optimistic without being sentimental, thought-provoking without being pretentious and realistic without being harsh, which makes it comforting for someone with a keen interest in seeing journalism prevail and hopefully eye-opening for those who wish to better understand it."
Chicago Center for Literature and Photography Madeleine Maccar
"When George Brock talks, in his excellent book, about the "disruption" of the net, the atomisation of news and opinion, he evokes echoes of a different era: an unruly world of vituperation, agitation, even revolution. But this time it may not be the melee of new voices that crowded the pages of centuries past. This time it's a higgledy-piggledy high-tech empowerment that politicians (and editors) can't control."
The Guardian Peter Preston
"...makes a significant contribution in the field of journalism studies work on the future of journalism. Out of Print: Newspapers, Journalism and the Business of News in the Digital Age
"
International Journal of Communication Nikki Usher
"[Brock's] particularly good at analyzing the changes which have taken place, such as digital technology, and showing that they should force a complete rethink of journalism rather than attempts to adapt old ways to fit new technology. The chapter on 'Rethinking Journalism Again' is a thought-provoking look at what is changing and how it should be regarded both within the industry and as a consumer."
"A good overview of the problems—and some of the opportunities—facing those in the world of media. While the book paints a picture of where the newspaper industry has gone wrong, which is a sad story that tends to dominate the media (surprise!), it also makes the oft-overlooked point that print media is just one stage in the evolution of journalism. Therefore, it's possible to come away from this book, which is ostensibly about the death of a great industry, feeling upbeat and even excited about the possibilities for the next stage of media's evolution. What exactly that will be is uncertain, but it's clear—from the book and just by surveying the current media landscape—that it will be a lot less centralized, more democratic and, likely, much less profitable for those in charge than in print media's heyday. Which is probably a good thing."
"Its greatest virtue, by far, is in seeing the changes in journalism throughout history as a ceaseless process. Brock refuses to fall into the trap of technological determinism. He accepts that technological developments lead to change but rightly understands that, even between the inventions which have influenced how news is gathered and transmitted, journalism has always been in a state of flux."
The Guardian - Roy Greenslade
"[P]rovides an insightful and detailed analysis of journalism through history and reviews the effects of the digital age on journalism’s current state, as well as its potential future... By working through the history of journalism starting from its uncertain beginnings with the development of the postal service in the 15th century, Brock emphasizes the fact that journalism has never been fixed, but has continued to develop and evolve in a fluid manner and has undergone radical periods of change before the development of the internet in the 1990s... Although arguably an overly positive analysis of journalism today, Brock’s stance is refreshing and the book is a pleasure to read."
"[A] comprehensive look at the history of the news. getAbstract recommends [Brock's] historical overview to those in and out the news business who believe that a free society prospers when journalism does."
"[A]n unsentimental look at the fall of the 'golden age' of newspapers as much as it is an optimistic take on the future of the news business...Brock’s frank, level headed take on business models, ethics, and other tenets of journalism is approachable and refreshing."
Media Bistro, 1000 Words - Karen Fratti
"Brock’s writing is crisp, concise, and clear and his research extensive. The book is impeccably edited and presented in a very reader-friendly fashion...As reference material, Out of Print is an essential addition to any media-related collection. To members of the journalism field who’ve endured years of angst over the future of their profession, it’s so much more. Brock’s analysis is too well-reasoned and supported to be easily dismissed as blind optimism, lighting a beacon of hope to those interested in seeing journalism right itself from its current state of upheaval."
ForeWord Reviews - Rich Rezler
"The book is essential reading for many journalists today who must prepare themselves for the digital dilemmas of tomorrow."
"Out of Print does what 'think books' about contemporary journalism do best: It addresses a larger public who might not know about the problems facing journalism but also offers an academic discussion rooted in a conversation about the past, present, and future of journalism. Brock's work makes a significant contribution in the field."
International Journal of Communication - Nikki Usher
09/15/2013
