Dr Tony Harcup
School of Journalism, Media and Communication
Emeritus Fellow in Journalism Studies
Full contact details
School of Journalism, Media and Communication
- Profile
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Tony Harcup's writing about journalism can be found on university reading lists around the world and has been translated into many languages including Chinese, Korean, Polish, Romanian, and Persian. His book Journalism: Principles and Practice (Sage) is now in its third edition, and his widely-cited research into news values (co-written with Deirdre O'Neill) has been shortlisted for two honours: the Journalism Studies Bob Franklin Journal Article Award, and the International Communication Association's Wolfgang Donsbach Article of the Year Award.
An edited collection of his writings on the theme of alternative media has been published in book form as Alternative Journalism, Alternative Voices (Routledge).
Tony has more than 30 years' personal experience as a staff and freelance journalist on alternative and mainstream media ranging from small local weekly publications to national newspapers, magazines and websites.
This first-hand experience informed his teaching, supervision and research at the University of Sheffield, where he was a senior lecturer in the School of Journalism, Media and Communication from 2005 to 2020. Beyond the university, he has served on the national committee of the Association for Journalism Education (AJE) and on the Professional Training Committee of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ).
Tony has compiled the first Oxford Dictionary of Journalism, which was published by Oxford University Press in 2014, and his expertise has also been drawn on by the editors of the Oxford Encyclopedia of Journalism Studies, the Encyclopedia of Social Movement Media, the ICA International Encyclopedia of Journalism Studies, and the Handbook of Journalism Studies, among other publications.
He is a member of the editorial advisory board of the Journal of Alternative and Community Media, which launched in 2015, and acts as a peer reviewer for many other journals such as Journalism Studies and Journalism: Theory, Practice and Criticism. In 2018 he gave a keynote address at the international conference of the Brussels Institute for Journalism Studies.
In addition to publications and conference presentations, Tony has also submitted evidence to a number of inquiries of relevance to journalism, including the Leveson Inquiry into press ethics and a government commission into freedom of information.
Tony holds a masters degree in cultural studies (Leeds Metropolitan University), a postgraduate diploma in teaching and learning in higher education (Open University), and a PhD by publication awarded by the University of Sheffield.
He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and in 2008 he was awarded the NUJ Gold Badge in recognition of his work for journalists and journalism students.
- Research interests
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Tony's main areas of research are: news values, ethics and journalism, alternative journalism, alternative media, journalism practice, and journalism education. His most recent book is What's the Point of News? A Study in Ethical Journalism, published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2020.
In this video Dr Tony Harcup introduces his 2020 book What's The Point of News?
- Publications
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Books
- Journalism: Principles and Practice (4th edition). London: SAGE.
- What's the Point of News? A study in ethical journalism. Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Journalism: Principles and Practice. London: SAGE Publications.
- A Dictionary of Journalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Alternative Journalism, Alternative Voices. London: Routledge.
- Newspaper Journalism. London: Sage.
- Newspaper journalism. Sage.
- The Ethical Journalist. London: Sage.
- The Ethical Journalist. SAGE Publications Ltd.
- Alternative Journalism, Alternative Voices. Routledge.
Journal articles
- The Struggle for News Value in the Digital Era. Journalism and Media, 3, 902-917.
- Making one or two more calls: teaching journalism students the value of news. Journalism Education, 10(1), 83-89.
- What is news? News values revisited (again). Journalism Studies, 18(12), 1470-1488. View this article in WRRO
- Alternative Journalism as Monitorial Citizenship? A case study of a local news blog. Digital Journalism, 4(5), 639-657. View this article in WRRO
- So many questions: What’s the point of researching and teaching alternative media?. Journal of Alternative and Community Media, 1, 19-20.
- Asking the Readers: Audience research into alternative journalism. Journalism Practice, 10(6), 680-696. View this article in WRRO
- “News With a Kick”: A Model of Oppositional Reporting. Communication, Culture and Critique, 7(4), 559-577. View this article in WRRO
- E is for ethical journalism. Ethical Space: the international journal of communication ethics, 11(4), 51-51.
- Confessions of a hackademic. Journalism Education, 1(1), 87-91.
- Questioning the 'bleeding obvious': what's the point of researching journalism?. Journalism: theory, practice and criticism, 13(1), 21-37.
- RESEARCH AND REFLECTION. Journalism Practice, 5(2), 161-176.
- HACKADEMICS AT THE CHALKFACE. Journalism Practice, 5(1), 34-50.
- Reporting the voices of the voiceless during the miners' strike: an early form of 'citizen journalism'. Journal of Media Practice, 12(1), 27-39.
- Alternative journalism as active citizenship. Journalism: theory, practice and criticism, 12(1), 15-31.
- An insurrection in words: East End voices in the 1970s. Race & Class, 51(2), 3-17.
- Letting light into a dark place: engaging with the ethics of journalism. Ethical Space: the international journal of communication ethics, 3(4), 5-6.
- “I'm Doing this to Change the World”: journalism in alternative and mainstream media. Journalism Studies, 6(3), 361-374.
- Letters. British Journalism Review, 16(2), 78-80.
- 'Citizens in the newsroom: democracy, ethics and journalism'. Ethical Space: the international journal of communication ethics, 2(3), 25-31.
- Political journalism: New challenges, new practices.. MEDIA CULTURE & SOCIETY, 26(1), 150-151.
- `The Unspoken - Said'. Journalism: Theory, Practice & Criticism, 4(3), 356-376.
- Journalists and Ethics: the quest for a collective voice. Journalism Studies, 3(1), 101-114.
- What Is News? Galtung and Ruge revisited. Journalism Studies, 2(2), 261-280.
- What Is News? Galtung and Ruge revisited. Journalism Studies, 2(2), 261-280.
- Re-imaging a post-industrial city: The Leeds St Valentine's Fair as a civic spectacle. City, 4(2), 215-231.
Chapters
- All the news that's fit to report? News values and the “free press”, The Routledge Companion to Freedom of Expression and Censorship (pp. 399-408). Routledge
- Suppressing the news In Harrison J & McKernan L (Ed.), Breaking The News: 500 years of news in Britain (pp. 89-98). London: British Library.
- Slow journalism as ethical journalism?, The Routledge Companion to Journalism Ethics (pp. 77-84). Routledge
- The bad news and the good news about news In Temmerman M & Mast J (Ed.), News Values From An Audience Perspective (pp. 17-35). Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.
- The Bad News and the Good News About News, News Values from an Audience Perspective (pp. 17-35). Springer International Publishing
- Alternative journalism, alternative ethics? In Gulyas A & Baines D (Ed.), The Routledge Companion to Local Media and Journalism (pp. 477-485). Abingdon and New York: Routledge.
- From ElectionWatch92 to now: the dice are still loaded In Williams G (Ed.), It's the Media, Stupid! The media, the 2019 election and the aftermath (pp. 13-21). CPBF (North)
- News Values and News Selection, The Handbook of Journalism Studies (pp. 213-228). Routledge
- Reporting the next battle: lessons from Orgreave In Williams G (Ed.), Settling Scores: the media, the police and the miners' strike (pp. 95-105). Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom
- The 'conscience clause': coming soon to a newsroom near you? In Keeble RL & Mair J (Ed.), The Phone Hacking Scandal Journalism on Trial (pp. 273-284). Abramis
- Standing up for standards: could a 'conscience clause' protect ethical journalism? In Keeble RL & Mair J (Ed.), The Phone Hacking Scandal Journalism on Trial (pp. 240-249). Abramis
- News values and selectivity, The Handbook of Journalism Studies (pp. 161-174).
- It wasn't all about Arthur: alternative media and the miners' strike In Williams G (Ed.), Shafted The Media, the Miner's Strike & the Aftermath (pp. 61-71). Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom
- News Values and Selectivity, HANDBOOK OF JOURNALISM STUDIES (pp. 161-174).
- Fair enough?: Ethics and regulation in broadcast journalism, Broadcast Journalism: A Critical Introduction (pp. 247-256).
- Local Journalism and Local Media Routledge
- The alternative local press In Franklin B (Ed.), Local Journalism and Local Media (pp. 129-139). London: Routledge.
- The Routledge Companion to Alternative and Community Media Routledge View this article in WRRO
Book reviews
- The Universal Journalist. The Journal of International Communication, 23(1), 162-164.
- Book Review: Bob Franklin (ed.) Pulling Newspapers Apart: Analysing Print Journalism, Routledge: Abingdon, 2008, 292 pp: 9780415425568. Journalism: Theory, Practice & Criticism, 11(2), 246-247.
- Anna McKane (2006) News Writing and Angela Phillips (2007) Good Writing For Journalists. Fifth Estate Online: International Journal of Radical Mass Media Criticism.
- Joan Allen and Owen R Ashton (2005) (Eds): Papers For The People: a study of the Chartist press. Fifth Estate Online: International Journal of Radical Mass Media Criticism.
- Book Reviews. Journalism Studies, 7(2), 360-369.
- Howard Good (2003) (Ed): Desperately Seeking Ethics: a guide to media conduct. Journalism Studies, 6(1), 142-142.
- Raymond Kuhn and Erik Neveu (2002) (Eds) Political Journalism. Media, Culture & Society, 26(1), 150-151.
- Journalism After September 11. European Journal of Communication, 18(3), 411-413.
- Philip Seib (2002): The Global Journalist: news and conscience in a world of conflict. Journalism Studies, 4(3), 415-416.
- Hugo de Burgh (2000) (Ed): Investigative Journalism. Journalism Studies, 2(4), 632-633.
- Steven Barnett and Emily Seymour (1999): 'A Shrinking Iceberg Travelling South': changing trends in British television. Journalism Studies, 1(3), 528-529.
Conference proceedings papers
- The ethical newsroom: where the individual and the collective work together. UK View this article in WRRO
- 'Back to the future? "Citizen journalism" and the 1984-5 UK miners' strike'. Conference website, 9 September 2009 - 10 September 2009.
- '"Democracy is dead without them": active citizens and alternative media'. Conference website, 3 July 2008 - 7 July 2008.
- 'What is news? Revisited again' (2015). Conference website, 10 September 2015 - 11 September 2015.
- 'The ethical newsroom: where the individual and the collective work together' (2012). Conference website, 26 September 2012 - 28 September 2012.
Website content
- The value of news values.
- 'New people are always welcome' - Tony Harcup recalls his arrival at Leeds Other Paper.
- FoI reveals that Real Lives row could have 'destroyed' the BBC.
- Alternative journalism: asking the awkward questions.
- The nine best things about journalists and the nine worst - agree?.
- The best and worst things about journalists.
- Why we should celebrate journalism of the past, present and future.
Dictionary/encyclopaedia entries
- News Judgment, News Values, and Newsworthiness. In The International Encyclopedia of Journalism Studies John Wiley & Sons, Inc. View this article in WRRO
- Alternative Local Press (United Kingdom). In Encyclopedia of Social Movement Media. Los Angeles: Sage.
- Leeds Other Paper/Northern Star (United Kingdom). In Encyclopedia of Social Movement Media. Los Angeles: Sage.
- Alternative Journalism Oxford University Press.
- Journalism: Principles and Practice (4th edition). London: SAGE.
- Publications for purchase
Some of Tony's publications are available for purchase: