Overview

In Going Live, veteran journalist Philip Seib warns of the dangers of trivialized news and sloppy ethics in this new news age. Whether you love or hate the news media, this is an indispensable look at where journalism is heading-and how we can sort out what's important and accurate in the news we get in an ever-faster moving stream.

Full Product Details

9780742509009

Table of Contents

Reviews

Philip Seib has produced an important book, one that I hope reaches both general and professional audiences. Every page in this timely book contains something worthwhile for the reader.--Robert Mong

Philip Seib paints a vivid picture of the changing media landscape and the implications for the future. He raises important questions about what role journalists will play and very soundly concludes that, in spite of all the changes wrought by new technology, traditional journalistic values must be relied upon and applied. -- Barbara Cochran, president, Radio-Television News Directors Association At a time when front-page news can't keep up with homepage news, Philip Seib has taken the time to carefully consider the impact of technology, competition, and business pressure on the continuous deadlines that almost all journalists now face. Like an airborne TV camera crew, Seib follows the high-speed chase for real-time news, but with all the perspective and detail that consumers should rightly expect from any editorial coverage they read or watch-in print, on the air, and online. -- Mark Stencel, politics editor for washingtonpost.com Philip Seib has produced an important book, one that I hope reaches both general and professional audiences. Every page in this timely book contains something worthwhile for the reader. -- Robert Mong, president and general manager, The Dallas Morning News The book should be required reading in all college online journalism classes. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly A compelling look at how news gathering is changing, for better and worse. Booklist Cogent and solidly researched... Evolving journalists especially need to ponder the questions Mr. Seib raises about rushing to judgment in an information age where it always seems to be rush hour. The Dallas Morning News Phil Seib has a great new book. Fort Worth Star-Telegram Seib, an experienced newsman ... manages to say a great deal in a very few pages; Going Live is not merely usefully instructive, it also suggests that the future of American journalism is brighter than pessimists tend to believe. -- Jonathan Yardley The Washington Post An urgent and cogent reminder that journalistic ethics must attempt to keep pace with the explosive technological revolution. Kirkus Reviews This thoughtful, readable book covers almost every aspect of what is happening-and Seib expects to happen-to journalism in the 21st century. CHOICE A thoughtful and important book of great value both to reporters and to citizens who read their words and hear their broadcasts. Rarely does an academic writer have such a clear grasp of what it means to work in a newsroom, and rarely can one do as well in making such experiences come alive for a reader. Richmond Times-Dispatch Going Live is a thoughtful examination of recent changes in the news media. What makes this book so thought-provoking is the author's exploration of the relationships between forms of media. ForeWord Reviews The type of audience that might be especially interested in this book would be undergraduates in an introduction to mass communication course. The book has the right blend of high profile examples, behind-the-scenes details, and attention to technological issues to make it a useful addition to an undergraduate's personal library. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly Those in the profession, practitioners and scholars ... as well as the general public, will want to read this book about where the media are headed. Seib's work is excitingly written as well as solidly based. He sees ahead of the curve, and he doggedly defends the tradtional values of journalism. Television Quarterly Seib offers broad coverage of most of the standard online journalism issues in a skillful combination of good real-world cases and thoughtful (but not lengthy) analysis. A very readable book for a survey course, with excellent fuel for discussions... A good second text for an ethics course. -- Mindy McAdams Online Journalism Review Listed in Poynter.org's Journalism Resource Center -- Bruce Garrison Poynter.Org Detailing the history and consequences of the real-time revolution in journalism, Seib provides an engaing overview of ways that live reporting has affected what we get from the news. Focusing on Internet journalism, live broadcasts, and digital convergence in the news industry, the book's lively prose and colorful anecdotes make this a good choice for introducing general readers and undergraduate students to the issues confronting journalists in an age when the shelf life of a story is measured in minutes rather than days. Harvard International Journal Of Press/Politics

Seib ( Campaigns and Conscience , not reviewed) examines the professional, commercial, and ethical pressures on the news media exerted by technologies that make the delivery of information both instantaneous and global..The author worries about the news media's pervasive preference for reporting events as they are happening: Going live, he says, is exciting and dramatic. But is it good journalism? His answer, of course, is primarily negative. Unfolding news is news that by definition has not emerged from an editorial process and thereby makes difficult if not impossible the application of the standards of impartiality that have long been the hallmarks of principled journalism. A number of Seib's questions are patently rhetorical - e.g., Should emphasis on speed of delivery override judgments about relevance and taste? Nonetheless, he raises enough serious questions about the rapidly changing news business to sober anyone but Matt Drudge (who appears throughout as a sort of cyber-bogeyman whose gleeful disregard for traditional journalistic ethics Seib finds most reprehensible). One of the author's principal objectives is to outline the concept of convergence - what he considers the inevitable fusion of print, cable television, and Internet news media. He sketches the obvious advantages to consumers of this imminent merger (improvements in interactivity and in the dissemination - via online links - of vast amounts of supplementary information) but warns that editorial discretion must play a more prominent role than it currently does among electronic news outlets. He also identifies new responsibilities that citizens must assume in the information age. There is an occasional gee-whiz tone in much of Seib's descriptions of the (unquestionably exciting) possibilities of online news. And current events sometimes undercut him, as well: He declares, for instance, that exit polling has become so precise in presidential elections that 1948-like embarrassments (Dewey Defeats Truman!) are no longer much of a worry..An urgent and cogent (if somewhat breathless) reminder that journalistic ethics must attempt to keep pace with the explosive technological revolution.. (Kirkus Reviews)

Author Information

Philip Seib is a professor of Journalism and Public Diplomacy in the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California. He is also a veteran television and newspaper journalist.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available