And That's the Way It Will Be : News and Information in a Digital World

by Harper, Christopher

• ISBN13: 9780814736081
• ISBN10: 0814736084
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-09-01
• Publisher: New York University Press

Summary

The news media in the late twentieth century has become increasingly sensational and irrelevant to the lives of the American public. Network news shows frequently resemble entertainment programs, and major newspapers often fail to serve the interests of their communities. Young people in particular are casting aside newspapers and television news for computerized information and entertainment. In the wake of this shift, the convergence of digital technology, computing, and telecommunications has given rise to a new form of journalism: digital news.And That's The Way It Will Beargues convincingly that digital journalism has the potential to reverse the decline in prestige of the mainstream media. Focusing on the public's dissatisfaction with traditional communication sources, seasoned journalist Christopher Harper evaluates computers as a means of providing and receiving news and information.Harper profiles some of the key players in the world of digital journalism including Microsoft, America Online,The New York Times,The Chicago Tribune, and Time Warner. He assesses the impact of digital news in poor neighborhoods and the developing world and explores the issues of pornography, privacy, and government regulation of the Internet's news and information system. The volume closes with predictions about the future by presidents of communications organizations, computer experts, network news anchors, software developers, columnists, on-line editors, and Web designers.The first book to focus exclusively on the nature and future of journalism in an electronic age,And That's The Way It Will Beprovides a comprehensive look at the emergence, challenges, and promise of digital news.

Author Biography

Formerly a journalist with ABC, Newsweek, and the Associated Press, Christopher Harper is Roy H. Park Distinguished Professor of Communications at Ithaca College.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
A Road Map to the Information Superhighway	p. 1
The Audience: Who Wants News and Information in a Digital World and Why?	p. 11
The Movers and the Shakers in Digital Journalism	p. 31
Immediacy, Interactivity, and Intimacy	p. 55
Doing Digital Journalism: The Chicago Tribune and TWA 800	p. 71
All News, All the Time: The Internet and Television	p. 89
Paying for the Digital Age: Advertising, Subscriptions, and Business	p. 105
The Upside of the Internet	p. 117
The Downside of the Internet	p. 133
The Dark Side of the Internet: Pornography and Privacy	p. 147
The Government and the Internet: Freedom of the Press, Copyright, Advertising, and Fraud	p. 171
The Future of the Internet	p. 183
News and Information on the Internet: A Short History	p. 201
Talking Geek: Terms of Internet Endearment	p. 209
Notes	p. 215
A Guide to News about the Internet, the World Wide Web, and Digital News and Information	p. 225
Index	p. 249
About the Author	p. 256
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