My Trade: A Short History of British Journalism

A detailed look at British journalism going back to the emergence of the earliest newspapers, the origins of today s broadsheets and tabloids and taking us up to the industry today Mostly interesting and written with humour and a good dollop of industry gossip albeit dated now It could, ironically, have done with some editing at times it was overlong and repetitive.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable personal history of journalism, written by the then BBC Political Editor, and former editor of the Independent, Andrew Marr.My Trade certainly delivers on its promise to provide A Short History of British Journalism , but rather than delivering a dry journalistic history, Marr injects copious amounts of humour and panache He provides many personal anecdotes some longer and developed than others, but all entertaining and passes judgement on developments in the medi [...]

Andrew Marr s book which is anything but short with 385 pages of dense text is a surprisingly enjoyable journey into not just the history of British Journalism but also a good treatise of what makes the British Press tick.The book suffers from bizarrely long paragraphs considering his occupation where writing one sentence paragraphs which try to encapsulate immensely complex news information is a standard daily chore and the chapters would benefit from much breaking down into subheadings I say [...]

Andrew Marr has been everything open to a journalist from junior sub editor to reporter to columnist to editor, except serving as a foreign corespondent In My Trade, he traces the history of journalism, describes the functions of its various parts and people, and muses upon the ethics and morality of both print and broadcast media.Readers of or daily papers will do well to heed Marr s advice about how to recognise exaggeration which he suggests is common or plain invention which he claims is no [...]

As a journalist, I found this to be a fair, insightful and interesting look at my trade For anyone outside of the media, you ll most likely find this a little hard going Unless you re a historian But for insiders, it s fascinating Marr s comments on today s journalism are particularly enlightening, although since it was published back in 2004, it could do with some updating to take into account the political and technological changes since Yes, it s a bit long But overall I thought it was a grea [...]

As one of the country s most famous and well loved journalists, Andrew Marr is perfectly positioned to provide us with a detailed, interesting and humorous look at the inner workings of the British newspaper industry And that s exactly what he s done My Trade A Short History of British Journalism mixes Marr s detailed knowledge of the industry s history with witty personal anecdotes, and together they create an interesting and entertaining read that is as informative as it is enjoyable.

After the Scottish Independence referendum in September I felt devastated by the state of the UK media and the bias of the BBC Having been brought up to be proud of our national broadcaster, I wanted to find out what had gone wrong and when and how This book was informative and funny and although it s now ten years out of date I d recommend it to anyone He s a snappy writer If only there was

Considering that Andrew Marr is a journalist, this book is very long and wordy It gives interesting insight into the British news scene, but it would probably be interesting to someone familiar with all the famous British news casters It s thoroughly researched and very detailed, but I did not enjoy reading this book and I would not recommend it to anyone.

I have been fascinated for a long time about the history of journalism Andrew Marr starts from early journalism in this country, from Danial Defoe 17th c to modern day He gives an account of what makes a good story and what goes wrong when journalism is at it s worst.The account seems quite comprehensive, but poses questions than answered.

Mostly very interesting account of Marr s life in journalism It gets a little less interesting with his move to the BBC and his growing celebrity, with the sense being given that there is now at stake and consequently to hide or mask Sometimes a little repetitive, the book still makes fascinating reading in our age of the eclipse of newspaper culture I would recommend it.

Nice primer, but being from 2004 showing its age a new edition would now need to cover hacking, blogging, social media, RT Press TV disinformation, fragmented viewing and listening, etc Oh, and seems Fisk and Pilger were always controversial Marr s diplomatic term for the other variety of c word.

I got this book as a present from my UK Mom and Dad Lynn and Peter when they visited us in Nepal This book introduced me to the journalism of Britain Loved it from the moment i got it Thank you so much present ever

I thought I d love this as the subject matter is really interesting, but after battling through several chapters, I gave up, bored Surprising given he is a celebrated journalist, it was overly long and took too long to get to the point A shame.

Andrew Marr, a well known BBC journalist, digs into history of journalism with both interest and wit It s a fascinating book which tells you the story behind the scenes when it comes to UK current affairs and political life.

A very entertaining and informative read, particularly good on his first interview at The Scotsman Candid and very funny about his brief tenure as editor of The Independent and a perfectly carved cameo of arch bully, Kelvin MacKenzie Should be read as a companion piece to Evelyn Waugh s Scoop

Unfamiliar with certain aspects of British journalism s history, I found large chunks of details in the second half of the book, boring to an extent one would feel that entire chapters went unedited.

A great writer on his pet subject should produce magic it is rather boring in places and doesn t engage

Great insight into the world of journalism Good overview on the history of journalism etc Well worth a read

I don t usually like Andrew Marr theres something about his voice but I loved this book Informative and witty at times, it didn t bore me like I thought it would.

Fantastic insight into the world of British journalism This book inspired me to go out and look for stories A real page turner, very difficult to put down.