Prying game

the long version

"In this timely book, Fleet Street journalist Christopher Browne analyses the powerful influence exerted on the public by newspapers, television and radio. Be it a royal affair, a leaked political document, corrupt practice in business or the performance of a football manager, fewer and fewer events and personalities are spared the media's unrelenting gaze." "Browne shows how the news media has outgrown its role as Britain's fourth estate, how its standards have fallen in the pursuit of higher profits, circulation and air-time figures. He analyses the power-broking tactics of the media moguls as they strive to outwit each other in a fiercely competitive global village, and how the British news media has become a power unto itself, sometimes more influential than the government Opposition." "The news media revolution started in the 1960s when tabloid newspapers used five main themes to attract readers - sex, royalty, animals, sport and crime. Then another theme emerged: the private lives and misdemeanours of politicians and public personalities. Since then, the tabloids have become the most sensational and dangerous media group - often manufacturing stories to gain more readers in the ever-growing circulation war, at the expense of the true facts of an issue." "The Prying Game also delves into the murky world of cheque book journalism and how newspapers pay people to give away intimate secrets; how the rich, famous and infamous can manipulate the media to their own advantage; and how sensational tittle-tattle has replaced democratic and fair reporting."--BOOK JACKET.