Going Live

Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly

The type of audience that might be especially interested in this book would be undergraduates in an introduction to mass communication course. The book has the right blend of high profile examples, behind-the-scenes details, and attention to technological issues to make it a useful addition to an undergraduate's personal library.

Booklist

A compelling look at how news gathering is changing, for better and worse.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Phil Seib has a great new book.

CHOICE

This thoughtful, readable book covers almost every aspect of what is happening—and Seib expects to happen—to journalism in the 21st century.

Richmond Times

A thoughtful and important book of great value both to reporters and to citizens who read their words and hear their broadcasts. Rarely does an academic writer have such a clear grasp of what it means to work in a newsroom, and rarely can one do as well in making such experiences come alive for a reader.

Foreword Reviews

Going Live is a thoughtful examination of recent changes in the news media. What makes this book so thought-provoking is the author's exploration of the relationships between forms of media.

Online Journalism Review

Seib offers broad coverage of most of the standard online journalism issues in a skillful combination of good real-world cases and thoughtful (but not lengthy) analysis. A very readable book for a survey course, with excellent fuel for discussions. . . . A good second text for an ethics course.
— Mindy McAdams

Poynter.Org

Listed in Poynter.org's Journalism Resource Center
— Bruce Garrison

Harvard International Journal Of Press/Politics

Detailing the history and consequences of the real-time revolution in journalism, Seib provides an engaing overview of ways that live reporting has affected what we get from the news. Focusing on Internet journalism, live broadcasts, and digital convergence in the news industry, the book's lively prose and colorful anecdotes make this a good choice for introducing general readers and undergraduate students to the issues confronting journalists in an age when the shelf life of a story is measured in minutes rather than days.

ForeWord Reviews

Going Live is a thoughtful examination of recent changes in the news media. What makes this book so thought-provoking is the author's exploration of the relationships between forms of media.

Choice

This thoughtful, readable book covers almost every aspect of what is happening—and Seib expects to happen—to journalism in the 21st century.

Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics

Detailing the history and consequences of the real-time revolution in journalism, Seib provides an engaing overview of ways that live reporting has affected what we get from the news. Focusing on Internet journalism, live broadcasts, and digital convergence in the news industry, the book's lively prose and colorful anecdotes make this a good choice for introducing general readers and undergraduate students to the issues confronting journalists in an age when the shelf life of a story is measured in minutes rather than days.

Barbara Cochran

Philip Seib paints a vivid picture of the changing media landscape and the implications for the future. He raises important questions about what role journalists will play and very soundly concludes that, in spite of all the changes wrought by new technology, traditional journalistic values must be relied upon and applied.

Mark Stencel

At a time when front-page news can't keep up with homepage news, Philip Seib has taken the time to carefully consider the impact of technology, competition, and business pressure on the continuous deadlines that almost all journalists now face. Like an airborne TV camera crew, Seib follows the high-speed chase for real-time news, but with all the perspective and detail that consumers should rightly expect from any editorial coverage they read or watch—in print, on the air, and online.

Robert Mong

Philip Seib has produced an important book, one that I hope reaches both general and professional audiences. Every page in this timely book contains something worthwhile for the reader.

The Washington Post

Seib, an experienced newsman . . . manages to say a great deal in a very few pages; Going Live is not merely usefully instructive, it also suggests that the future of American journalism is brighter than pessimists tend to believe.

Online Journalism Review

Seib offers broad coverage of most of the standard online journalism issues in a skillful combination of good real-world cases and thoughtful (but not lengthy) analysis. A very readable book for a survey course, with excellent fuel for discussions. . . . A good second text for an ethics course.

Poynter.Org

Listed in Poynter.org's Journalism Resource Center

The Dallas Morning News

Cogent and solidly researched. . . . Evolving journalists especially need to ponder the questions Mr. Seib raises about rushing to judgment in an information age where it always seems to be rush hour.

The Washington Post

Seib, an experienced newsman . . . manages to say a great deal in a very few pages; Going Live is not merely usefully instructive, it also suggests that the future of American journalism is brighter than pessimists tend to believe.
— Jonathan Yardley

Television Quarterly

Those in the profession, practitioners and scholars . . . as well as the general public, will want to read this book about where the media are headed. Seib's work is excitingly written as well as solidly based. He sees ahead of the curve, and he doggedly defends the tradtional values of journalism.

Booknews

Seib (journalism, Marquette University) warns of the dangers of trivialized news and shoddy ethics. He assesses the current state of journalism and considers the future of the profession, while offering advice on understanding the news we see. Specific chapters focus on the impact of live coverage, the effect of recent technological changes on print media, and ethics. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Kirkus Reviews

Seib (Campaigns and Conscience, not reviewed) examines the professional, commercial, and ethical pressures on the news media exerted by technologies that make the delivery of information both instantaneous and global. The author worries about the news media's pervasive preference for reporting events as they are happening:"Going live," he says,"is exciting and dramatic. But is it good journalism?" His answer, of course, is primarily negative. Unfolding news is news that by definition has not emerged from an editorial process and thereby makes difficult if not impossible the application of the standards of impartiality that have long been the hallmarks of principled journalism. A number of Seib's questions are patently rhetorical—e.g.,"Should emphasis on speed of delivery override judgments about relevance and taste?" Nonetheless, he raises enough serious questions about the rapidly changing news business to sober anyone but Matt Drudge (who appears throughout as a sort of cyber-bogeyman whose gleeful disregard for traditional journalistic ethics Seib finds most reprehensible). One of the author's principal objectives is to outline the concept of"convergence"—what he considers the inevitable fusion of print, cable television, and Internet news media. He sketches the obvious advantages to consumers of this imminent merger (improvements in"interactivity" and in the dissemination—via online links—of vast amounts of supplementary information) but warns that editorial discretion must play a more prominent role than it currently does among electronic news outlets. He also identifies new responsibilities that citizens must assume in the information age. Thereisanoccasional"gee-whiz" tone in much of Seib's descriptions of the (unquestionably exciting) possibilities of online news. And current events sometimes undercut him, as well: He declares, for instance, that exit polling has become so precise in presidential elections that 1948-like embarrassments (Dewey Defeats Truman!) are no longer much of a worry. An urgent and cogent (if somewhat breathless) reminder that journalistic ethics must attempt to keep pace with the explosive technological revolution.