> Author Jean Chalaby
> Title The Invention of Journalism
> Publisher Macmillan
> ISBN 0-333-68282-3
> cost £ 40
>
> 'This book challenges the conventional truth, taught as
long as journalism
> as an
> academic field has existed, that journalism is a post-Gutenbergian
> phenomenon
> which emerged in the 16th century. Chalaby argues that actually journalism
> as
> a specific type of discourse came about as late as the second half of the
> 19th century.
> The thesis is based on a historical examination of the British press, but
> its argument
> is persuasive also for the rest of Europe and North America.
>
> Chalaby does not only contribute to a historical understanding of journalism
> but also to
> two central concepts of media studies: the public sphere and the discourse.
> Thus he
> joins the contemporary debate on the nature of the text - extending the
> latter from
> linguistics to sociology.
>
> The book is provocative and as timely as a book can be. Now that Internet
> shakes all
> our conventional wisdoms about the media, we are paradoxically compelled to
> move
> beyond old technologically determined concepts, aiming at more genuine
> social and
> cultural theories. Chalaby's dose of intellectual stimulation is perfect for
> coping with
> cyberspace.'
>
> Kaarle Nordenstreng, Professor of Journalism and Mass Communication,
> University of Tampere, Finland.
>
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