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Shooting the Messenger

Criminalising Journalism
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Shooting the Messenger explores the impact of post-9/11 anti-terror legislation on press freedom in Western democracies. Author Andrew Fowler investigates how governments in the USA, UK, France and Australia have introduced laws that hinder investigative journalism and criminalise whistle-blowing under the pretext of national security. Featuring interviews with experts including Edward Snowden, the book reveals the questionable effectiveness of mass surveillance while highlighting its chilling effect on democracy and revelatory journalism.
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Format: Hardback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

Ideal for readers interested in contemporary politics, media freedoms, national security, and civil liberties. Suitable for those keen on investigative journalism and the challenges faced by the free press in democracies today.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

If the Al-Qaeda terrorists who attacked the United States in 2001 wanted to weaken the West, they achieved their mission by striking a blow at the heart of democracy.

Since 9/11, governments including those of the USA, the UK, France, and Australia have introduced tough, intimidating legislation to discourage the legitimate activities of a probing press, so greatly needed after the Iraq War proved that executive government could not be trusted.

Often hiding behind arguments about defending national security and fighting the war on terror, governments criminalised legitimate journalistic work, ramping up their attacks on journalists’ sources, and the whistle-blowers who are so essential in keeping governments honest.

Through detailed research and analysis, Shooting the Messenger, which includes interviews with leading figures in the field, including Edward Snowden, explains how mass surveillance and anti-terror laws are of questionable value in defeating terrorism, but have had a β€˜chilling effect’ on one of the foundations of democracy: revelatory journalism.

Series: The Criminalization of Political Dissent

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  • Shooting the Messenger
    If the Al-Qaeda terrorists who attacked the United States in 2001 wanted to weaken the West, they achieved their mission by striking a blow at the heart of democracy. Since 9/11, governments including those of the USA, the UK, France, and Australia have introduced tough, intimidating legislation to discourage the legitimate activities of a probing press, so greatly needed after...
    Hardback
    $36500
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Ironies abound in this disturbing analysis of how western governments are clamping down on media freedoms and using dragnet surveillance to amass data on every one of us. Andrew Fowler neatly summarises, "New laws are now being shaped, both in the US and elsewhere, to make illegal that which had been normal journalistic practice; to make legal the activities of intelligence agencies which had previously been outlawed." Perhaps the biggest irony is the role played by right-wing elements of the media who endorse these draconian invasions of privacy and restrictions on freedom of expression in the name of national security. Fowler convincingly argues that journalism that speaks truth to power and democracy itself could be imperilled if we allow our governments free rein to stifle signs of dissent.

The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, June 2018

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781138296602

Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 27 March 2018

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Routledge

Audience: Tertiary education

DIMENSIONS

Width: 156.0mm

Height: 234.0mm

Weight: 453g

Pages: 244

About the Author

Andrew Fowler is an award-winning investigative journalist and a former reporter with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC) Foreign Correspondent and its premier investigative TV documentary programme, Four Corners. Andrew began his journalism career in the early 1970s, covering the IRA bombing campaign for the London Evening News. He first interviewed Julian Assange for Foreign Correspondent in early 2010 and went on to write the bestselling book, The Most Dangerous Man in the World (Melbourne University Press, 2011) which has been translated and published in countries as diverse as China, South Korea, the USA, Russia, Indonesia, Romania and Taiwan.

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