Drawing on his thirty years in newspapers, the former editor-in-chief of The Globe and Mailexamines the crisis of serious journalism in the digital era, and searches for ways the
invaluable tradition can thrive in a radically changed future.
John Stackhouse entered the newspaper business in a golden age: 1980s circulations were huge and wealthy companies lined up for the privilege of advertising in
every city’s best-read pages. Television and radio could never rival newspapers for hard news, analysis and opinion, and the papers’ brand of serious journalism was considered a crucial part of
life in a democratic country. Then came the Internet...
After decades as a Globe journalist, foreign bureau chief and then editor of itsReport on Business (not to mention former Scarborough delivery boy), he
assumed one of the biggest jobs in Canadian journalism:The Globe and Mail’s editor-in-chief. Beginning in 2009, he faced the unthinkable: the possible end of not just Canada’s "national"
newspaper, but the steep and steady financial decline of newspapers everywhere. A non-stop torrent of free digital content stole advertisers and devalued advertising space so quickly that
newspapers struggled to finance the serious journalism that distinguished them in a world ofBuzzfeed, Huffington Post, Yahoo and innumerable bloggers and citizen
journalists. Meanwhile, ambitious online media aspired to the credibility of newspapers. The solution was clear, if the path to arriving at it was less so: the new school needed to meet the old
school, and the future lay in undiscovered ground between them.
Having led the Globe during this period of sudden and radical change, Stackhouse continues to champion the vital role of great reporting and analysis. Filled
with stories from his three decades in the business,Mass Disruption tracks decisions good and bad, examines how some of the world’s major newspapers--theGuardian, New York
Times--are learning to cope, and lays out strategies for the future, of both newspapers and serious journalism, wherever it may live.
From the Hardcover edition.
