24 Hours in Journalism

Earlier this year, John Dale set out to discover how the first draft of history is written. He decided to explore the hidden reality of the ordinary mortals who are daily entrusted with this extraordinary responsibility. Put simply, were the hacks up to it?


It was the same question being raised by judges, politicians and an increasingly concerned public and so, over one 24-hour period, Dale tracked the intersecting lives of hundreds of working journalists. 


The result is a global journey into love, war, fame, bombings, shame, sex, football, tears and Hollywood ñ in other words, an average news day. 


Dale encountered editors, reporters, paparazzi, war correspondents, feature writers, columnists, agony aunts, fashion gurus, showbiz writers, broadcasters, trainees, unemployed hacks and billionaire moguls - in other words, an average cross-section of media folk.


Ranging from London to Los Angeles, from Kigali to Kabul, from Shanghai to Sydney, Dale asks: ëWhy are some journalists so good - and some journalists so bad?í 


And in an 85,000-word text, he identifies a global superpower - journalism itself - and explains why so many practitioners offer it their allegiance above and beyond their own nation state.


Dale concludes: 'Journalist - it is both a badge of honour and the mark of a worldwide fraternity. We should wear it with pride.'