Product Description

How do you decide what is a 'story' and what isn't? What does a newspaper editor actually do all day? How do hacks get their scoops? How do the TV stations choose their news bulletins? How do you persuade people to say those awful, embarrassing things? Who earns what? How do journalists manage to look in the mirror after the way they sometimes behave? The purpose of this insider's account is to provide an answer to all these questions and more. Andrew Marr's brilliant, and brilliantly funny, book is a guide to those of us who read newspapers, or who listen to and watch news bulletins but want to know more. Andrew Marr tells the story of modern journalism through his own experience. This is an extremely readable and utterly unique modern social history of British journalism, with all its odd glamour, smashed hopes and future possibility.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14255 in Books
• Published on: 2005-07-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 300 pages

About the Author
Andrew Marr was born in Glasgow. He graduated from Cambridge University and has enjoyed a long career in political journalism, working for the Scotsman, the Independent , the Economist, the Express , and the Observer before being appointed as the BBC's political editor in May 2000. He is also the presenter of Start the Week. Andrew Marr's broadcasting includes series on contemporary thinkers for BBC 2 and Radio 4, and political documentaries for Channel 4 and BBC Panorama. He has had major prizes from the British Press Awards, the Royal Television Society and Bafta, among others. He lives in London.

Customer Reviews

Most readable history of journalism in print
Andrew Marr has achieved something that is oddly rare - he has written an entertaining history of journalism. I say "oddly rare" because you would think that journalists - people who write for a living - would write interesting books about their trade. The truth is that they can be weighed down with endless stories involving names that no one has heard of and another opportunity gets missed. Marr's book is very refreshing - he is certainly not above self-criticism and most importantly, the book does what all the best books of its kind do - it imparts a lot of information without you realising it.
The book is funny, informative, opinionated and most of all a fine read (which is more than can be said for some of our national press these days).
Buy it.

Excellent
This is a detailed, informed, sceptical and sometimes very funny account of British journalism, from its 17th century origins to the present day. Marr, who is the BBC's political correspondent and used to edit The Independent, has had a varied journalistic career and, in carefully planned chapters, offers excellent insights into such questions as what editors do, the underlying truths and untruths of political journalism, the way papers and our perceptions of news have changed down the years, the personalities of journalists, the roles of columnists and specialist correspondents, broadcast news and its politics and spirit, plus much more. Along the way we meet a range of memorable characters from Daniel Defoe to Kelvin MacKenzie of The Sun, and from Rupert Murdoch to the Dimbleby clan. Marr sheds some really valuable light on the nature of British media, and this feels above all like a truthful account as well as a detailed and enjoyable one. This book is indispensable for journalists and would-be journalists, and for anyone interested in the news and how it gets made.

A 'Must-Read' book for those interested in current affairs
This is a jewel of a book by someone who has inside knowledge of politics over the last two decades but has the capacity to stand back and analyse the influence of the media in our thinking - does the media lead and the reading public follow? or do the public set the agenda for the media? The answer, according to Andrew Marr, is that both are true. Two clear messages for me showed why the 'Today' programme has to be as it is although I am part of the one-third of the population who turn it off in fury or ring the BBC to complain, and I need to get out more (around the world) to have a greater understanding of international issues rather than settling for the comfort zone that much of life in the UK has become. I have bored everyone I have met in the last 3 weeks about the importance of the insights in this book.