Sections
Magazine
Latest Issue

Why a referendum on the death penalty might not be as far away as you think, what happens when politicians and judges pass the buck on law-making, why Britain struggles to escape the shadow of hands-off economics and the tricky moral terrain of growing babies outside of the womb. Plus Jacqueline Rose on the violence we ignore a review of Rachel Cusk’s new book

Read Now Or Checkout the archive
Previous
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
Events
Next Event

Watch: Managing global supply chains in a post-Covid world—current challenge or future opportunity?

Previous
What next for pensions? Why the 2020s are the crunch decade—discussion 2
Watch: How do we stop a generation from sleepwalking into retirement?
Watch: Homes for all—what new social and affordable housing can do for Britain
To the archive
Podcast
Latest Episode

The Prospect Podcast #184: The new Conservatives, with Rachel Sylvester

Previous
The Prospect Interview #183: Why Britain is condemned to be liberal
The Prospect Interview #182: The rise of the British shock jock
The Prospect Interview #181: The life and mind of Edward Said
To the archive
Magazine Opinions cnn Empire immigration journalism war

The end of grand narrative

It's quite rational to be less interested in serious news

By Godfrey Hodgson  
August 20, 1999
August/September 1999

This should be a golden age for news. Digital technology has put prodigious tools into the newsroom. People in the west are better educated and travelled than ever before. The only snag is that one by one, and then million by million, the audience for news-especially international news-is drifting away. Newspaper readership is declining in Britain, a fact concealed at the top of the market by a slight shift from tabloids to broadsheets; in the US it is falling more sharply. Within newspapers “serious” news, rather than comment, features or sport, seems least attractive to readers.

It is the same…

Register today to continue reading

You’ve hit your limit of three articles in the last 30 days. To get seven more, simply enter your email address below.

You’ll also receive our free e-book Prospect’s Top Thinkers 2020 and our newsletter with the best new writing on politics, economics, literature and the arts.

Prospect may process your personal information for our legitimate business purposes, to provide you with newsletters, subscription offers and other relevant information.

Click here to learn more about these purposes and how we use your data. You will be able to opt-out of further contact on the next page and in all our communications.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to letters@prospect-magazine.co.uk

Godfrey Hodgson

Godfrey Hodgson is director of Oxford's Reuter Foundation Programme. He presented the BBC Analysis programme, The Last Superpower.

More stories by Godfrey Hodgson

More From Prospect