Democracy under Attack: How the Media Distort Policy and Politics

The ongoing News International phone-hacking scandal has made abundantly clear that the media’s influence over politics is both immense and largely hidden from public scrutiny. As the scandal grows, a question arises: even when they stay on the right side of the law, to what extent does the media influence the political process? In Democracy under Attack, one of the media’s own—Malcolm Dean, theGuardian’s longstanding chief monitor of social policy—expertly indicts his fellow journalists, revealing the ways their distorted coverage undermines democracy.

            Based on four decades of upper-level UK government briefings and interviews with over one hundred senior policymakers,Democracy under Attack overflows with incisive observations and colorful stories, culminating in a damning list of the seven deadly sins of modern journalists. Dean’s long experience and insider status inform his detailed and disturbing account of news production in Britain, revealing the connections between what goes on in newsrooms, lobbyists’ offices, and Parliament as well as how those connections decisively shape government policy.

Malcolm Dean worked for the Guardian newspaper as roving reporter, social affairs leader writer, editorial writer, and editor of the society section for over forty years. He is also an associate member of the politics group at Nuffield College, Oxford University.