Merchants of Truth: Inside the News Revolution

　　解析指標四大品牌，針對當代媒體版圖，關鍵而深入的幕後報導
　　在新聞、訊息的價值面臨前所未有的挑戰之際， 省思當代人與資訊的關係

　　曾任職於紐約時報總編輯的Jill Abramson，在新聞媒體產業擁有深厚的資歷與重要的地位。在本書，Abramson以四家當前極重要的媒體生產平台，傳統媒體巨頭紐約時報、華盛頓郵報及數位媒體新星BuzzFeed、VICE，帶來針對當代新聞產業的競爭及演變史。寫出傳統媒體巨頭與數位媒體新星在這個科技、經濟、價值觀皆面臨巨變的時代，終將走向何方。

　　過往我們信任新聞媒體所傳遞的訊息，認為背後來自於新聞工作者們盡忠職守的挖掘，為人們整理與找尋真相。但，隨著網路世代的興起，對訊息的渴望使新聞生產的速度必須快速無比，因應網路廣告行銷，訊息散佈的方式也與曾經的電視、報紙、雜誌等傳統媒介，產生了極大的轉變。種種變遷威脅著新聞媒體產業運行的方式，將之推向假訊息及追逐強烈回饋的激進觀點，正漸漸遠離被奉為圭臬的客觀與公正。

　　Abramson以業界的資歷與紮實的資料收集，深入這四大媒體巨頭的興起歷史與管理，帶讀者直入董事會與新聞室的現場，其中有信仰傳統媒體存在價值的擁護者（如華盛頓郵報股東之一Jeff Bezos、總編輯Marty Baron及紐約時報的發行商Arthur Sulzberger、總編輯Dean Baquet），也有狂妄自負的、以謊言及扇動為目的的媒體操弄者，生動的人物與事件報導，他們的角力共同形塑了我們當前的新聞產業面貌，更邀請所有人深思自己如何在當前的訊息洪流中，重新界定我們與新聞應是什麼關係。（文/博客來編譯）

　　Merchants of Truth by Jill Abramson, former editor of The New York Times, is the gripping and definitive in-the-room account of the revolution that has swept the news industry over the last decade and reshaped our world.

　　Drawing on revelatory access, Abramson takes us behind the scenes at four media titans during the most volatile years in news history. Two are maverick upstarts: BuzzFeed, the brain-child of virtuoso clickbait scientist Jonah Perretti, and VICE, led by the booze-fuelled anarcho-hipster Shane Smith. Their viral technology and disregard for the long-established standards of news journalism allow them to build game-changing billion-dollar businesses out of the millennial taste for puppies and nudity.

　　The two others are among the world’s most venerable news institutions: The New York Times, owned and run for generations by the Sulzberger dynasty, and The Washington Post, also family-owned but soon to be bought by the world’s richest merchant of all, Jeff Bezos. Here Abramson reveals first-hand the seismic clashes that take place in the boardrooms and newsrooms as they are forced to choose between their cherished principles – objectivity and impartiality – and survival in a world where online advertising via Facebook and Google seems the only life-raft.

　　We are with the deal-making tycoons, thrusting reporters and hard-bitten editors, the egomaniacs, bullshitters, provocateurs and bullies, as some surf and others drown in the breaking wave of change. And we watch as the survivors confront the horrifying cost of their success: sexual scandal, fake news, the election of President Trump, the shaking of democracy.

　　Exposing the people and decisions that brought us to now, Merchants of Truth is a major book that breaks the ultimate news story of our times.

Review

　　“In the tradition of David Halberstam’s The Powers That Be, Jill Abramson has woven amazing reporting with sharp insights and personal experiences to capture a momentous transformation in journalism. Filled with colorful inside stories, this book is essential for anyone who wants to understand today’s media and how it is affecting our society.”—Walter Isaacson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Steve Jobs and Leonardo da Vinci

　　“Jill Abramson tells the truth about the news business as only she can tell it. Merchants of Truth is a deeply researched, wonderfully written, and filled with fascinating portraits. It is an important book at a crucial time.”—Gay Talese, author of The Kingdom and the Power

　　“Jill Abramson provides this deeply reported insider account of an industry fighting for survival. With a keen eye for detail and a willingness to interrogate her own profession, Abramson takes readers into the newsrooms and boardrooms of the legacy newspapers and the digital upstarts that seek to challenge their dominance.”—Gabriel Sherman, Vanity Fair

　　“Jill Abramson’s superb Merchants of Truth is a deep-dive chronicle of how four different news organizations are handling the rough-water transition to the online universe. The book is an outstanding work of investigative reporting and storytelling. A great work of journalism about journalism that recalls David Halberstam’s classic The Powers That Be, Merchants of Truth is powerfully told with fresh detail and insights.”—Lesley Stahl, award-winning 60 Minutes correspondent

　　“A highly readable combination of significant topic, deep reporting, endlessly fascinating anecdotes, and vivid writing.”—Kirkus, Starred Review

　　“The internet killed off and resurrected journalism in unpredictable, hopeful, but corrupted ways, according to this scintillating insider’s history…Abramson’s shrewd, stylishly written account includes colorful characters…and savvy portraits of newsroom dynamics. The result is one of the best takes yet on journalism’s changing fortunes.”—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

　　“As a former executive editor of the New York Times, Abramson was uniquely situated to observe the changes that are affecting the ways in which media companies develop and distribute news and information… Abramson offers an engrossing ‘behind the curtains’ journey into the demanding business of modern media. High-demand backstory: Abramson’s expert and frank assessment of the struggles of the press in the ‘fake news’ era will attract avid attention.”—Booklist, Starred Review

Author（作者簡介）

Jill Abramson

　　Jill Abramson is a senior lecturer at Harvard University. She also writes a bi-weekly column for The Guardian about US politics. She spent seventeen years in the most senior editorial positions at The New York Times, where she was the first woman to serve as Washington bureau chief, managing editor, and executive editor. Before joining the Times, she spent nine years at The Wall Street Journal. The author of Merchants of Truth, she lives in New York City.