Out of Print Ii

i Out of Print ii THIS PAGE IS INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK iii Out of Print Newspapers, journalism and the business of news in the digital age George Brock KoganPage iv Publisher’s note Every possible effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in this book is accurate at the time of going to press, and the publisher and author cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions, however caused. No responsibility for loss or damage occasioned to any person acting, or refraining from action, as a result of the ma- terial in this publication can be accepted by the editor, the publisher or the author. First published in Great Britain and the United States in 2013 by Kogan Page Limited Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licences issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned addresses: 2nd Floor, 45 Gee Street 1518 Walnut Street, Suite 1100 4737/23 Ansari Road London EC1V 3RS Philadelphia PA 19102 Daryaganj United Kingdom USA New Delhi 110002 www.koganpage.com India © George Brock, 2013 The right of George Brock to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. ISBN 978 0 7494 6651 0 E-ISBN 978 0 7494 6652 7 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Brock, George, 1951- Out of print : newspapers, journalism and the business of news in the digital age / George Brock. pages cm ISBN 978-0-7494-6651-0 (pbk.) – ISBN 978-0-7494-6652-7 (ebook) 1. Newspaper publishing– Great Britain–Finance. 2. Newspaper publishing–United States–Finance. 3. Newspaper publishing–Economic aspects–Great Britain. 4. Newspaper publishing–Economic aspects– United States. 5. Online journalism–Economic aspects–Great Britain. 6. Online journalism– Economic aspects–United States. 7. Press–Economic aspects–Great Britain. 8. Press– Economic aspects–United States. 9. Digital media–Economic aspects–Great Britain. 10. Digital media–Economic aspects–United States. I. Title. PN5114.F5B76 2013 070.50942–dc23 2013020898 Typeset by Graphicraft Limited, Hong Kong Print production managed by Jellyfish Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY v To my father vi THIS PAGE IS INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK Contents Contents vii I n t r o d u c t i o n : from ink to link 1 Communicating whatever we please 6 Messy, unethical and opinionated origins 9 Select and noteworthy happenings 11 An explosion of opinion 14 Playing with fire 16 ‘Bible, ax and newspapers’ 21 A brief flowering 23 vii The world’s great informer 25 Every species of intelligence 27 Notes 29 Furnishing the world with a new set of nerves 31 A great moral organ 32 CONTENTS The true Church of England 34 The Steam Intellect Society 36 We are all learning to move together 37 A vast agora 41 I order five virgins 43 The few dozen lines of drivel 45 A press typhoon 48 The waning power of the harlot 50 Notes 52 About the author x The gilded age 55 A fluid mass 56 Acknowledgements xi The brute force of monopoly 57 Sorrow, sorrow, ever more 60 A well-conducted press 61 ‘So will it be goodbye to Fleet Street?’ 64 Introduction: from ink to link 1 I really loathe people with power 67 Deregulation 69 Boom and decline 73 Owners, news and celebrity 77 Notes 80 01 Communicating whatever we please 6 The engine of opportunity 83 Chain reaction 85 9 Utopia or dystopia? 88 Messy, unethical and opinionated origins What the internet does to the business of news 91 11 Notes 104 Select and noteworthy happenings Rethinking journalism again 106 14 Complexity 108 An explosion of opinion Frontiers fade and vanish 109 16 Ink marks on squashed trees 110 Playing with fire Comparison and choice 111 21 The downside risks of choice 113 ‘Bible, ax and newspapers’ Authority 115 23 Manipulation 117 A brief flowering Objectivity under strain 120 25 The advantages and drawbacks of institutions 122 The world’s great informer The management of abundance 124 27 New media and change: a case study 128 Every species of intelligence Conclusion 131 Notes 133 The business model crumbles 137 02 Furnishing the world with a new set of nerves 31 Over a cliff 138 Print is not dead 142 Palliative care for print 145 A great moral organ 32 Flipping to digital 148 Making people pay: walls and meters 151 The true Church of England 34 The demand for news 158 What we don’t know about online news 160 The Steam Intellect Society 36 Notes 161 Credibility crumbles 164 We are all learning to move together 37 Newsroom culture 165 Operation Motorman 169 A vast agora 41 Phone hacking 171 ‘Quality’ and ‘seriousness’ 172 I order five virgins 43 Trust and authority 177 A spell is broken 179 The few dozen lines of drivel 45 Notes 181 The Leveson judgement 183 A press typhoon 48 Diagnosis 184 Prescription 188 The waning power of the harlot 50 A third way 190 Regulation’s future 193 Plurality 194 Notes 198 03 The gilded age 55 T h r o w i n g s p a g h e t t i at the wall 200 A fluid mass 56 Four core tasks 201 We were having journalistic moments! 204 The brute force of monopoly 57 Error is useful 219 Notes 221 Sorrow, sorrow, ever more 60 Clues to the future 223 A well-conducted press 61 Business models 224 From the ashes of dead trees 229 ‘So will it be goodbye to Fleet Street?’ 64 Notes 235 viii Contents I really loathe people with power 67 Deregulation 69 Boom and decline 73 Owners, news and celebrity 77 04 The engine of opportunity 83 Chain reaction 85 Utopia or dystopia? 88 What the internet does to the business of news 91 05 Rethinking journalism again 106 Complexity 108 Frontiers fade and vanish 109 Ink marks on squashed trees 110 Comparison and choice 111 The downside risks of choice 113 Authority 115 Manipulation 117 Objectivity under strain 120 The advantages and drawbacks of institutions 122 The management of abundance 124 New media and change: a case study 128 Conclusion 131 06 The business model crumbles 137 Over a cliff 138 Print is not dead 142 Palliative care for print 145 Flipping to digital 148 Making people pay: walls and meters 151 The demand for news 158 What we don’t know about online news 160 07 Credibility crumbles 164 Newsroom culture 165 Operation Motorman 169 Phone hacking 171 Contents ix ‘Quality’ and ‘seriousness’ 172 Trust and authority 177 A spell is broken 179 08 The Leveson judgement 183 Diagnosis 184 Prescription 188 A third way 190 Regulation’s future 193 Plurality 194 09 Throwing spaghetti at the wall 200 Four core tasks 201 We were having journalistic moments! 204 Error is useful 219 10 Clues to the future 223 Business models 224 From the ashes of dead trees 229 Index 237 x ABOUT THE AUTHor George Brock is Professor and Head of Journalism at City University London. He worked at The Times for many years, including as a correspondent, Foreign Editor, Saturday Editor and Managing Editor. Before that he worked as a reporter at The Observer and for the evening paper in York. He was President of the World Editors’ Forum and is a member of the International Press Institute board. He broadcasts frequently and blogs at www.georgebrock.net xi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS owe thanks to countless people with whom I have discussed the business I of news, in the broadest sense of the term, over many years. I am grateful to them all. I could not have found the freedom to write this book without the help of Lis Howell, my esteemed colleague at City University London. I thank Paul Hodges and Darrin Burgess, who read and commented on the manuscript, and Mi Zhang and Charlotte Rettie, who helped with research. None of the above are responsible for any of this book’s judgements or errors. As ever, my greatest debt is to Kay, my most rigorous but most gentle critic. xii THIS PAGE IS INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK 1 Introduction: from ink to link The time is gone when one side of the (news) organization can practise determined ignorance of the other. RicHarD GINgraS, DirECTor of NEWS, GooglE, 2012 “was chairing a lunchtime discussion on the prospects for the news media I in Britain and the United States when the speaker, a business columnist, asked the audience in exasperation: ‘I mean, who on earth would take advice on business from a journalism professor?’ This book does not presume to hand out prescriptive advice to businessmen or women, but it does try to explain what is happening to journalism and the business of news and why it is happening. Many journalists would prefer to live in ignorance of the business inside which they operate and some succeed in doing so. But journalism is entangled with the business of news, like it or not. News and journalism are in the midst of an upheaval.

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