Power Without Responsibility: Press, Broadcasting and the Internet in Britain

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.

Table of Contents:
PART I Press history JAMES CURRAN 1. Press history as political mythology 2. The struggle for a free press 3. Janus face of reform 4. Industrialisation of the press 5. Era of the press barons 6. Press under public regulation 7. Post-war press: fable of progress 8. Press and the remaking of Britain 9. Moral decline of the press PART II Broadcasting history JEAN SEATON 10. Reith and the denial of politics 11. Broadcasting and the Blitz 12. Public service commerce: ITV, new audiences and new revenue 13. Foreign affairs: the BBC, the world and the government 14. Class, taste and profit 15. Managers, regulators and broadcasters 16. Public service under attack 17. Broadcasting roller-coaster PART III Rise of new media 18. New media in Britain JAMES CURRAN 19. History of the internet JAMES CURRAN 20. Sociology of the internet JAMES CURRAN 21. Social media: making new societies or polarisation merchants? JEAN SEATON PART IV Theories of the media JEAN SEATON 22. Metabolising Britishness 23. Public service understanding: moonshot time for the BBC and public service broadcasting 24. Broadcasting and the theory of public service PART V Politics of the media 25. Industrial folklore and press reform JAMES CURRAN 26. Contradictions in media policy JAMES CURRAN AND JEAN SEATON 27. Media reform: democratic choices JAMES CURRAN

About the Author :
James Curran is Professor of Communications at Goldsmiths, University of London. Jean Seaton is Professor of Media History at the University of Westminster, Director of the Orwell Foundation and Co-Director of the Chevening South Asia Journalism Fellowship programme.

Review :
Praise for previous editions '. . . the best guide to the British media.' Nick Cohen, New Statesman 'A classic of media history and analysis.' Michael Foley, Irish Times 'Many students and young people in and around the British media will make Power Without Responsibility into a new orthodoxy.' Jeremy Tunstall, Encounter 'Excellent new study of the press and broadcasting.' Tribune 'A classic text.' Stage and Television Today 'An invaluable general textbook for the specialist student of communications as well as a guide into a complex area for social scientists.' Teaching Politics 'Curran and Seaton’s writing, scholarly but not academicist, manages that rare and difficult task of rendering complex information and different theoretical approaches in a style open to teachers and post-16 students alike. No reading list for courses in media or the social sciences should be without Power Without Responsibility. It not only fuels the mind, it liberates it.' David Lusted, Journal of Educational Television 'Every media studies student should be expected to read it [Power Without Responsibility].’ Peter Golding, Times Higher Education Supplement ‘Magisterial ... it provides a model’ Graeme Turner, British Cultural Studies ‘Invaluable . . . Even the most casual reader with no professional interest in the subject would find it interesting. For the teacher of the media it is essential.’ Media Educational Journal ‘A sacred text of media studies.’ Fred Inglis, Times Higher Educational Supplement ‘A readable and reliable guide to the history of the press and broadcasting, and the politics of the media in Britain. It is a book that anybody interested or involved in the debates about the future of democratic communications in these islands should study.’ Robert Hutchison, Times Educational Supplement ‘James Curran and Jean Seaton have cracked the canon.’ Harriet Swain, Times Higher Educational Supplement ‘Seminal media studies text.’ Huw Richards, Times Higher Educational Supplement ‘Students of politics, sociology, history and communications will find this [book] as thought-provoking and stimulating as anything that has appeared in print.’ Eric Hiscock, The Bookseller Praise for this book ‘This is the book that changed everything in media studies.’ Sally Young, Associate Dean Research, University of Melbourne ‘This is a brilliant seminal history of broadcasting, press and the new media, vividly and insightfully told, with sharp vignettes of political interference and policy challenges. It is a powerful reminder of why public service broadcasting and truthful communication is vital to our democracy.’ Baroness Helena Kennedy, President of Mansfield College, Oxford ‘This skillfully revised and updated edition of Curran and Seaton’s magnificent history is just as fresh and relevant now as it has been over the decades.’ David Hesmondhalgh, Professor of Media, Music and Culture, Leeds University ‘The pleasure of a classic that just keeps redelivering. Power Without Responsibility proves itself yet again as the go-to source for analysis of the British media at their best and worst.’ Barbie Zelizer, Annenberg School of Communication, University of Pennsylvania ‘If I was able to suggest one book about the history of journalism – whether to a student, a journalist or someone who simply wanted to know more about the role of the news media in our democracy – it would be Power Without Responsibility. Much of our understanding of the past is altered by the present, so we are all indebted to James Curran and Jean Seaton for this excellent new edition. There has been no shortage of controversies and debates about the news media in recent years: this book guides us through them with a sharp eye, a clear head, and the wisdom that comes from a formidable sense of history. Packed with eloquently delivered information, it is analytical but jargon-free, critical without ever being doctrinaire.’ Justin Lewis, Professor of Communication and Creative Industries, Cardiff University