Due to a passing in the family a few years ago and my subsequent health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for years after the bereavement. Thank you for the opportunity.

NO LONGER NEWSWORTHY by Christopher R. Martin and published by Cornell University Press is clearly written by an academic who comments, "My concern in this book is about journalism's future as an inclusive social practice." Martin, Professor of Digital Journalism and Communication Studies at the University of Northern Iowa, writes, "this book is about what happened to the US workers or, more specifically, what happened to the stories of those workers in the news media." He goes on to outline the substance of each chapter from historical changes in the labor beat at US newspapers (Chapter 2) to the shift to focusing on upscale audience (Chapters 3 and 4) to the relationship to politics, especially the concept of "job killers" (Chapters 5 through 7). Along the way, Martin asks a central question, "How could it be that in a matter of a few decades, labor unions and the concerns of the working class went from being a normal, regular, respected part of journalism's coverage to an abnormal, misunderstood, and mostly invisible topic in the news media?"

Martin is addressing an extremely important and timely topic; unfortunately, his frequent use of casual, snide comments (like "too-long red tie" and those about national news outlets being "in the bag for Trump" or "the (White, Male) working class boards the Fox News Trump Train") contributes to an air of bias. He does support his work with roughly twenty percent of the text being devoted to notes and sources. Consider pairing Martin's with that from a practicing journalist like Jim Acosta's The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America or with Storm Lake by Martin's fellow Iowan and local newspaper publisher named Art Cullen. An engaged citizenry, capable of information retrieval and evaluation, is key. As Martin notes, "if 'Did Not Vote' was a presidential candidate in 2016, its 90 million ballots would have easily beaten Clinton's 65.85 million votes and Trump's 62.98 million votes and swept the Electoral College."

Christopher Martin provides a thought provoking study of how the news media’s shift in business strategy has, over time, altered the scope of news coverage. By aggressively soliciting subscribers attractive to big advertisers with new features, the media inadvertently sacrificed its’ commitment to balanced, verified coverage for a mass audience.

Martin looks back over the past 60 years to illustrate the effects of this evolution. Using specific examples, Martin shows how this development affected the way the media covers the working class. The cases he cites are well-documented and the points he makes are strong and insightful.

No Longer Newsworthy provides an enlightened view of how unintended consequences of business decisions often undermine the essence of the enterprise.

I was awakened by reading this book, it's not something profound as such because the author focuses on America and the role the media played in the shift of what kind and how they tell stories. What resonated with me is how influential a narrative is and more so if it's told over and over- and while reading this book I could not help but question the shift that's taken place in my country too and more so how technology and the internet has reinforced certain beliefs about the working class and now what we call the middle class.
This book is not something you read in one sitting, but rather one that calls for serious reflection and it makes you question your role as the audience in every story you hear and tell.
Thanks Netgalley for the eARC.