You Want What We've Got
Big Tech v. Big Journalism
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Reaktion Books
Publishing:1st Feb '26
£16.99
This title is due to be published on 1st February, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
In the past three decades, the battle between big tech and big journalism has reshaped how we consume the news. Jason Whittaker delves into how tech giants outmanoeuvred traditional media companies, siphoning off advertising revenue and audience attention. As journalism struggled to adapt, social media platforms evolved from utopian public spaces into breeding grounds for misinformation and fake news, eroding public trust. The influence of billionaires further complicated the digital ecosystem, swaying public opinion and exercising direct political power that previous media moguls could only dream of. More recently, AI has begun to revolutionize content creation, distribution and consumption. Whittaker provides an incisive examination of the frequently combative relations of these two industries and the uncertain future of the news in the digital age.
Whittaker provides a comprehensive yet sharp history of the uneasy relationship between journalism and technology, from the golden age of print to today’s digital monopolies. He shows how the promises of digital media - pluralism, empowerment, and democratisation - have been undermined by the realities of corporate power, disinformation, and surveillance capitalism. This book combines scholarship with urgency, warning that the future of journalism is inextricably linked with the future of democracy itself. A vital and timely book. * Matt Walsh, Head of Cardiff University School of Journalism, Media and Culture, former journalist and Deputy Editor of the ITV News Channel *
We all know what happened: the dumbing down of broadcast news, the collapse of the local press, the proliferation of fake news – and the ruthless dominance of Big Tech. Jason Whittaker offers something new in this brilliant book: a sober dissection of the “why” and, most importantly as we consider AI, an urgent policy-focused exploration of “what next”. * Dave Lee, U.S. technology columnist, Bloomberg Opinion *
ISBN: 9781836391715
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
320 pages