Jean Seaton

This book attacks the conventional history of the press as a story of progress; offers a critical defence and history of public service broadcasting; provides a myth-busting account of the internet; gives a subtle account of the impact of social media; and explores key debates about the role and politics of the media.Power Without Responsibility has become a standard textbook on media and other courses, but it has also gone beyond an academic audience to reach a wider public. Hailed as a book that has ‘cracked the canon’ by the Times Higher Educational Supplement, it has been translated into five languages. In 2019, it was awarded the International Communication Association's Fellows Book Award. This ninth edition is based on a major overhaul of its content to take account of new developments (such as generative AI) and new scholarship in the field. It also contains a new chapter on the transformed opportunity for a reformed and buccaneering public service broadcasting in the face of automated misinformation and social division, locally, nationally and internationally.This trailblazing text is essential reading for all students and scholars interested in British media and contemporary media and society.

This book attacks the conventional history of the press as a story of progress; offers a critical defence and history of public service broadcasting; provides a myth-busting account of the internet; gives a subtle account of the impact of social media; and explores key debates about the role and politics of the media.Power Without Responsibility has become a standard textbook on media and other courses, but it has also gone beyond an academic audience to reach a wider public. Hailed as a book that has ‘cracked the canon’ by the Times Higher Educational Supplement, it has been translated into five languages. In 2019, it was awarded the International Communication Association's Fellows Book Award. This ninth edition is based on a major overhaul of its content to take account of new developments (such as generative AI) and new scholarship in the field. It also contains a new chapter on the transformed opportunity for a reformed and buccaneering public service broadcasting in the face of automated misinformation and social division, locally, nationally and internationally.This trailblazing text is essential reading for all students and scholars interested in British media and contemporary media and society.

This book attacks the conventional history of the press as a story of progress; offers a critical defence and history of public service broadcasting; provides a myth-busting account of the internet; a subtle account of the impact of social media and explores key debates about the role and politics of the media.It has become a standard book on media and other courses: but it has also gone beyond an academic audience to reach a wider public. Hailed as ‘a classic of media history and analysis’ by the Irish Times and a book that has ‘cracked the canon’ by the Times Higher, it has been translated into five languages.This edition contains six new chapters. These include the press and the remaking of Britain, the rise of the neo-liberal Establishment, the moral decline of journalism, the impact of social media and a history of attempts to reform the press. It contains new research on the relationship between programmes, institutions and society. It places key UK institutions in the wider context of international affairs and their impact. The book has been updated to take account of new developments like Brexit and the rise of Jeremy Corbyn and the shift in authority and legitimacy prompted by social media. It does this with a clear explanation of how policy can shape media outcomes.

This book attacks the conventional history of the press as a story of progress; offers a critical defence and history of public service broadcasting; provides a myth-busting account of the internet; a subtle account of the impact of social media and explores key debates about the role and politics of the media.It has become a standard book on media and other courses: but it has also gone beyond an academic audience to reach a wider public. Hailed as ‘a classic of media history and analysis’ by the Irish Times and a book that has ‘cracked the canon’ by the Times Higher, it has been translated into five languages.This edition contains six new chapters. These include the press and the remaking of Britain, the rise of the neo-liberal Establishment, the moral decline of journalism, the impact of social media and a history of attempts to reform the press. It contains new research on the relationship between programmes, institutions and society. It places key UK institutions in the wider context of international affairs and their impact. The book has been updated to take account of new developments like Brexit and the rise of Jeremy Corbyn and the shift in authority and legitimacy prompted by social media. It does this with a clear explanation of how policy can shape media outcomes.

This compelling account of a turbulent period in the history of the BBC opens at a time of national decline under the Labour governments of Harold Wilson and James Callaghan, and ends during Margaret Thatcher's iconoclastic Conservative premiership. The intervening years saw mass unemployment, trade union strikes and war in Northern Ireland and the Falklands - as well as legendary BBC programmes such as Live Aid, Fawlty Towers and Dad's Army, The Singing Detective and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and David Attenborough's Life on Earth. Comprehensively revised and expanded for this new edition, Jean Seaton's perceptive study presents an absorbing analysis of an institution that both reflects Britain and has helped to define it.