Videotex Journalism: Teletext, Viewdata, and the News

Originally published in 1983. Videotex technology (the capacity to deliver computer-stored textual information and graphics electronically to the home television screen) was becoming widespread in the 1980s. This book looks at how this affected journalists and other news media and how the flow of news existed in society at the time.

Based on observations and interviews with journalists, the book addresses technological, political and economic questions as well as provides a concise description of teletext and viewdata systems in various countries. The findings presented offer a fascinating view of the opinions and actions of journalists working in the 1980s, not only on teletext systems. For example questionnaire results are presented on how journalists saw the role of their job and what actions they felt appropriate, such as hidden cameras and phone taps. These issues of greater Comparisons with news in printed newspapers are also made and the book ends with recommendations for changes in reporting practices, finances and regulation at the time.