It's A Hack's Life

Episodes

SeriesEpisodeTitleFirst
Broadcast
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01The Primacy of the Instant: CNN and Computers20200608

Michael Goldfarb recounts the history of the big changes in reporting and the business of news in US journalism over the last 40 years.

Journalism is a calling. The "news" is a business. And in the difference between a calling and a business is the tension and destructive force that has marked the four decades Michael Goldfarb has spent working as a reporter, a hack.

June 1 2020 marks the 40th anniversary of the founding of CNN. The 24-hour television news network completely changed first broadcast news and then all news reporting. Six months later, in January 1981, Michael Goldfarb began his career in journalism as a lowly copy aide at the Washington Post. A few weeks later Ronald Reagan was shot a mile away at a DC hotel. He observed the newsroom shift into maximum high gear. But many people stayed in the office and watched the event on CNN, which was reporting all the rumour and chaos as if it were fact.

The primacy of the instant in news was established that day. It has dramatically changed the nature of the news business.

The history of the changes in news reporting in US journalism over the last 40 years.

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

02New Business Models: Debt and Gannett20200609

This essay looks at how in the 1980s one man, Frank Gannett, built America's biggest newspaper chain and founded USA Today

Michael Goldfarb recounts the history of the big changes in reporting and the business of news in US journalism over the last 40 years. Journalism is a calling. The "news" is a business. And in the difference between a calling and a business is the tension and destructive force that has marked the four decades Michael Goldfarb has spent working as a reporter, a hack.

June 1 2020 marks the 40th anniversary of the founding of CNN. The 24-hour television news network completely changed first broadcast news and then all news reporting. Six months later, in January 1981, Michael Goldfarb began his career in journalism as a lowly copy aide at the Washington Post. A few weeks later Ronald Reagan was shot a mile away at a DC hotel. He observed the newsroom shift into maximum high gear. But many people stayed in the office and watched the event on CNN, which was reporting all the rumour and chaos as if it were fact.

The primacy of the instant in news was established that day. It has dramatically changed the nature of the news business.

In the 1980s, one man built America's biggest newspaper chain and founded USA Today.

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

03Foreign Correspondent20200610

Michael Goldfarb recounts the history of the big changes in reporting and the business of news in US journalism over the last 40 years.

In this episode, he talks about building a career reporting as a foreign correspondent and watching as the American news business stopped covering foreign news.

Journalism is a calling. The "news" is a business. And in the difference between a calling and a business is the tension and destructive force that has marked the four decades Michael Goldfarb has spent working as a reporter, a hack.

June 1 2020 marks the 40th anniversary of the founding of CNN. The 24-hour television news network completely changed first broadcast news and then all news reporting. Six months later, in January 1981, Michael Goldfarb began his career in journalism as a lowly copy aide at the Washington Post. A few weeks later Ronald Reagan was shot a mile away at a DC hotel. He observed the newsroom shift into maximum high gear. But many people stayed in the office and watched the event on CNN, which was reporting all the rumour and chaos as if it were fact.

The primacy of the instant in news was established that day. It has dramatically changed the nature of the news business.

Michael Goldfarb talks about building a career reporting as a foreign correspondent.

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

04The Cult of the Presenter20200611

Michael Goldfarb recounts the history of the big changes in reporting and the business of news in US journalism over the last 40 years. In this episode, the influence of news programming based around a studio-based presenter, rather than correspondents reporting from the field.

Journalism is a calling. The "news" is a business. And in the difference between a calling and a business is the tension and destructive force that has marked the four decades Michael Goldfarb has spent working as a reporter, a hack.

June 1 2020 marks the 40th anniversary of the founding of CNN. The 24-hour television news network completely changed first broadcast news and then all news reporting. Six months later, in January 1981, Michael Goldfarb began his career in journalism as a lowly copy aide at the Washington Post. A few weeks later Ronald Reagan was shot a mile away at a DC hotel. He observed the newsroom shift into maximum high gear. But many people stayed in the office and watched the event on CNN, which was reporting all the rumour and chaos as if it were fact.

The primacy of the instant in news was established that day. It has dramatically changed the nature of the news business.

In this episode, the influence of news programming based around a studio presenter.

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

05In my end is my beginning: freelancing in an online world20200612

Michael Goldfarb recounts the history of the big changes in reporting and the business of news in US journalism over the last 40 years. In this episode, he talks about his attempts to start an online, for profit, news organisation, and looks at a model for the news business in the future.

Journalism is a calling. The "news" is a business. And in the difference between a calling and a business is the tension and destructive force that has marked the four decades Michael Goldfarb has spent working as a reporter, a hack.

June 1 2020 marks the 40th anniversary of the founding of CNN. The 24-hour television news network completely changed first broadcast news and then all news reporting. Six months later, in January 1981, Michael Goldfarb began his career in journalism as a lowly copy aide at the Washington Post. A few weeks later Ronald Reagan was shot a mile away at a DC hotel. He observed the newsroom shift into maximum high gear. But many people stayed in the office and watched the event on CNN, which was reporting all the rumour and chaos as if it were fact.

The primacy of the instant in news was established that day. It has dramatically changed the nature of the news business.

Michael Goldfarb looks at a model for the news business in the future.

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.