Since the beginning of the media age, there have been thinkers who have reacted against the increasing power of the mass media and perceived its ever-more-pervasive role in historical development. This book examines those early mass media critics and their controversial writings, and it links them with their contemporaries to demonstrate the relevance of their legacy for today's debates on media power and media ethics. Included in this book is a look at the work of Karl Kraus and his devastating critiques of the role of corrupt journalism in the First World War; at Ferdinand Tnnies'...

While the huge impact of the mass media on everyday social life is acknowledged, it has generally been assigned a peripheral role in the historical process. This intriguing book demonstrates that, far from being a footnote, media discourse has been a critical factor in recent European history, and indeed one that distinguishes the twentieth century from all previous ones. John Theobald looks back to the First World War, analyzing the use and abuse of journalistic discourse in the portrayal of events to the public and to decision-makers. He goes on to present a series of case studies...