Journalism entered the twenty-first century caught in a paradox of its own making. We have more news and more influential journalism, across an unprecedented range of media, than at any time since the birth of the free press in the eighteenth century. Yet journalism is also under unprecedented attack, from politicians, philosophers, the general public, anti-globalization radicals, religious groups and even from journalists themselves. This book is an attempt to explain this paradox and to explore the possible implications. The first stage of the paradox, the ascent in journalism?s influence, is easily explained. Its underlying cause is the growth in the cultural, political, and economic value of information, facilitated by the emergence of new, cheap electronic technologies to distribute and display news and the industry of commentary which today surrounds the news. It is now widely understood that without abundant and accessible information we can have neither the democracy in which we believe nor the economic growth and consumer choice we desire
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