Books by John Mair

Social media has revolutionised journalism and wider society, for good and bad. Journalists have powerful tools - but are watching the collapse of a newspaper industry failing to compete with social media platforms. Individuals can make their contribution to the global conversation, but at the price of vicious and intimidatory trolling which threatens freedom of expression. Social media has transformed political campaigning but its recent misuse in the UK and US undermines democracy. This book recognises the good and looks at ways to minimise the bad, with contributions from leading experts in journalism, politics and digital media, as well as the latest academic research.Contributors Professor Leighton Andrews, Paul Armstrong, Professor Patrick Barwise, Sir Peter Bazalgette, Amy Binns, Vincent Campbell, Baroness Shami Chakrabati, Jim Chisholm, Alex Connock, Paul Connew, Alex DeGroote, Sean Dodson, Torin Douglas, Bill Dunlop, Dipsy Edmunds, Professor Chris Frost, Professor Christian Fuchs, Professor Ivor Gaber, Alan Geere, Tom George, Faith Gordon, Christopher Graham, Phil Harding, Professor Jeff Jarvis, Gina Miller, Denis Muller, Agnes Nairn, Professor John Naughton, David Nolan, Michelle O'Reilly, John Price, Paul Reilly, Greg Rowett, Alan Rusbridger, Professor Richard Sambrook, Kostas Saltzis, Professor Michael Schrage, Prosper Tatendra, Mark Thompson and Claire Wolfe.Editors John Mair has been the lead editor of all 25 Abramis 'hackademic' texts. He is a former BBC producer and university lecturer.Tor Clark is Associate professor in journalism at the University of Leicester and a former regional newspaper editor.Neil Fowler is the former editor of four UK regional daily newspapers and of Which? magazine. He is an Associate Member of Nuffield College, Oxford.Raymond Snoddy OBE is the former media editor of The Times and media correspondent of the Financial Times.Richard Tait CBE is Professor of Journalism at Cardiff University and former Editor In Chief of ITN.The Abramis 'Hackademic' Series This is the 25th in the Abramis 'Hackademic' series. Titles have ranged from the Arab Spring to Phone Hacking to Brexit and Trump and the futures of the BBC and Channel Four. All are available on Amazon.

Recent years have been pretty dire for the BBC. The Jimmy Savile revelations, the Newsnight/Lord McAlpine debacle, the ignominious fall from grace of Director-General George Entwistle after just 54 days in the hot seat and the scandal of the top executives' pay-offs have all seriously damaged public trust in the Corporation. But as the BBC heads for negotiations on the new licence fee and charter renewal (both due in 2017) and the country prepares for a general election in 2015, the issues confronting the Corporation concern us all. Is the BBC in Crisis? is edited by Professor Richard Tait, former Editor-in-Chief of ITN and BBC Trustee, with academics John Mair and Professor Richard Lance Keeble. It brings together an unprecedented galaxy of movers and shakers (past and present) in British broadcasting - top politicians, experienced broadcasters, academics, PR experts, opinion pollsters and media campaigners - to debate the controversies and offer solutions: Michael Grade (Lord Grade of Yarmouth), former Chairman of both the BBC and ITV, former BBC Director of Television and Chief Executive of Channel 4, contributes an Introduction in which he makes a radical proposal for the future structure of the Corporation. In addition: ¿ Andrew Scadding, BBC Head of Corporate Affairs, on why, despite some tough times, the BBC's best years lie ahead of it. ¿ Sir Peter Bazalgette, Chair of Arts Council England, on the BBC's cultural mission. ¿ David Liddiment, BBC Trustee 2006-2014, former Network Controller ITV 1997-2002, on a revitalised governance system. ¿ Sir Howard Davies, Director of the LSE 2003-2011, on the 'need for clarity at the Corporation'. ¿ David Elstein, Chief Executive of Channel 5 1996-2000, on the licence fee. ¿ Tim Suter, Head of Broadcasting Policy DCMS 2002-2003, on 'A crisis of independence'. ¿ Vin Ray, 23 years with BBC and founding Director of the College of Journalism, on 'Thirteen days in the life of Newsnight'. ¿ Alice Enders, Senior Media Analyst at Enders Analysis, on 'What Britons think of the BBC'. ¿ Peter Preston, media columnist, the Observer, Editor, the Guardian 1975-95, on 'hard thinking ahead for the BBC'. Other contributors Professor Steven Barnett, Fiona Chesterton, Bernard Clark, Tara Conlan, Professor Tim Crook, Farrukh Dhondy, Torin Douglas, Atholl Duncan, David Edwards and David Cromwell, Professor Suzanne Franks, Phil Harding, Nicholas Jones, Professor Justin Lewis, Professor David Lloyd, Richard Peel, Professor Julian Petley, Professor Jean Seaton, Raymond Snoddy, Professor Brian Winston.

The Phone Hacking Scandal: Journalism on Trial Hackgate is the biggest scandal to engulf the mainstream press in decades. What started as a small bush fire News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman and his private detective friend Glenn 'Trigger' Mulcaire being detained at Her Majesty's pleasure in 2007 for hacking illegally into the phones of the royal family and others - has become a forest fire destroying countless reputations (and the NoW itself) in its wake. The few hacked by NI in 2007 became nearly 6,000 in late 2011. Hackgate has also thrown the spotlight on the somewhat excessively close ties between the press, police and political elite - and raised countless questions about media standards and regulation. As Lord Leveson continues his inquiry into the culture, practice and ethics of the press, The Phone Hacking Scandal: Journalism On Trial (edited by Richard Lance Keeble and John Mair) brings together an extraordinary range of academics, journalists and media activists to provide bang-up-to-date, informed and lively commentary on the controversy: ¿ Brian Cathcart on 'The Press, the Leveson Inquiry and the Hacked Off Campaign' ¿ Glenda Cooper on 'Facing up to the Ethical Issues surrounding Facebook Use' ¿ Jackie Newton and Sallyann Duncan on 'Exploring the Ethics of Death Reporting in the Social Media Age' ¿ Richard Peppiatt on 'The Story Factory: Infotainment and the Tabloid Newsroom' ¿ Alan Rusbridger on how Hackgate 'reveals failure of normal checks and balances to hold power to account' ¿ John Tulloch on 'Oiling a Very Special Relationship: Journalists, Bribery and the Detective Police' Other contributors include Chris Atkins, Steven Barnett, Patrick Barrow, Teodora Beleaga, Daniel Bennett, Damian Paul Carney, the Co-ordinating Committee for Media Reform, Tim Crook, Sean Dodson, Chris Frost, Ivor Gaber , Tony Harcup, Phil Harding, Huw L. Hopkins, Mike Jempson, Nicholas Jones, John Lloyd, Tim Luckhurst, Kevin Marsh, Ben McConville, Eamonn O'Neill, Wayne Powell, Stewart Purvis, Justin Schlosberg, Kate Smith, Judith Townend and Barry Turner. This is the sixth in a series of books coming out of the Coventry Conversations Conferences held jointly with the BBC College of Journalism and the School of Journalism at the University of Lincoln. Also available in this series: PLAYING FOOTSIE WITH THE FTSE? THE GREAT CRASH OF 2008 AND THE CRISIS IN JOURNALISM (Arima 2009) AFGHANISTAN, WAR AND MEDIA: DEADLINES AND FRONTLINES (Arima 2010) FACE THE FUTURE: THE INTERNET AND JOURNALISM TODAY (Arima 2011) INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM: DEAD OR ALIVE? (Arima 2011) MIRAGE IN THE DESERT? REPORTING THE 'ARAB SPRING' (Arima 2011)