Power Without Responsibility

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.

Power Without Responsibility 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 book that has ‘cracked the canon’ by the Times Higher, it has been translated into five languages. In 2019, the text gained the International Communication Fellows’ ‘classic 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.