There have never been so many new ways of producing news as those available to us in the digital age. From online journalism, podcasts, SMS alerts and RSS feeds, to the vast possibilities of user-generated content in millions of blogs and the phenomenal popularity of sites like YouTube, and Twitter, seismic shifts are underway in the traditional global media models of broadcasting and publishing. Journalists must now more than ever be better equipped to work across a broader framework of news production in the digital age. News 2.0 bridges the gap between theory and practice to present an integrated approach to journalism that defines the profession as distinct from the generalities of cultural studies. Key elements of journalism theory - political economy, sociological and ethnographic tools of investigation, news values and framing - are explored, and a brief history of the modern Fourth Estate model of journalism is outlined, situating the current realities of the profession in an historical context. Hirst shows how the new digital faultiness in this changing media landscape have resulted in the fragmentation of the mass audience for news products, and explains how the parallel development of 'digital commerce' has created disconnected consumers which threaten an active and participatory democracy. As the nature of journalism and journalists changes rapidly in response to this technological and commercial convergence in the media industry, Hirst argues that journalism requires a restatement of the role of journalists as public intellectuals with a commitment to truth, trust and the public interest. News 2.0 is an essential text for students of journalism seeking the intellectual skills to understand, investigate and communicate aspects of our world.
