The authors wrote this book in a way that will appeal to the general public. However, librarians, archivists, historians, journalists, and other academics studying the news industry and the preservation of news will greatly benefit from this book. The greatest strength of the book is how the authors logically take the reader through detailed histories of a variety of news outlets, preservation challenges, and who is handling the preservation and access. The authors argue that we cannot allow history to repeat itself when it comes to losing valuable news content, and offer reasons why and strategies we can implement to ensure the longterm preservation of news being created today.
— New England Archivists Newsletter
Preserving primary source information has never been an easy task, and today’s digital environment makes the effort challenging. Hansen and Paul have written an accessible and informative text on the preservation of primary source material from the analog and digital eras. Ten chapters describe the issues relating to newspaper, visual news, radio, and digital source preservation. Two additional chapters discuss the individuals involved and the current and future difficulties and opportunities. Each section includes real-world obstacles and how a variety of institutions (universities, news organizations) continue to address the issue of preserving history. The authors chose to concentrate on American institutions and organizations. Those consulted or discussed include the American Antiquarian Society, UCLA, and the Library of Congress, among others. This is not a 'how-to' manual. Instead, this volume centers on descriptions about the preservation process along with the inherent challenges, past and future. VERDICT This would be a helpful resource for librarians, archivists, administrators, and anyone who wants to learn more about how the materials of today will be available for researchers of tomorrow.
— Library Journal, Starred Review
Journalism and communications professors Hansen and Paul make the case that future generations will want access to today’s news just as we expect access to yesterday’s news. Unfortunately, access isn’t always possible, even in the digital age, due to the factors that they identity and explore. Even when reporting has been preserved, there can be challenges to its usability: limited availability, restricted access, retrieval problems, and format incompatibilities. Hansen and Paul argue that more emphasis must be placed on capturing nascent media and supporting projects that assure older media are transferred to current standards for accessibility. Memory institutions, like museums, universities, and libraries, have largely been the recipients of historical news archives, and their efforts at preservation, restoration, and providing access for historical fact-checking, context, and comprehension are critical for society. Extensively documented with resources, and filled with colorful examples from pre-revolutionary American newspapers to early radio, newsreels, and TV to the cyber world, this is a valuable contribution to the history of journalism.
— Booklist
It is easy to fall into the trap of believing that everything is available on the internet, since so much is online there. Then a book like this comes along and you realize how much is actually missing.... This book provides a fascinating glimpse at some technologies of our past and shows how fragile paper, cellulose tape, and other media really are. Even when an attempt at archiving is made, it is often destroyed by fire, flood, or even self-destruction. If you are at all interested in history and news, this book is well worth the read.
— Online Searcher
Documentation, scope, readability, and structure make this a 'should read' text for media historians as well as those who use these resources for other purposes.
— American Journalism: A Media History Journal
This book is an important intervention in the history of American news media. . . . Future-Proofing the Newsis a compelling call-to-action for all archivists, news producers, librarians, cultural heritage professionals, and users to band together in an effort to future-proof the news.
— The American Archivist
If journalism is anything close to the first draft of history, preserving it is a critical archival task. This important book carefully documents 300 years of such archival efforts, persuasively demonstrating the historical importance and significant challenges of preserving these archives—and the alarming consequences if we fail. Hansen and Paul have issued a call to action for all news producers, archivists, historians, readers, and audiences to work together to future-proof the news.
— Kathy Roberts Forde, Chair, associate professor, Journalism Department, University of Massachusetts Amherst and Author “Literary Journalism on Trial: Masson v. New Yorker and the First Amendment”