On Disruption

On Series (Little Books, Big Ideas)

by Katharine Murphy

There is no way to know if the disruption will settle into a new normal, or whether chaos is the new normal.

The internet has shaken the foundations of life: public and private lives are wrought by the 24-hour, seven-day-a-week news cycle that means no one is ever off duty. On Disruption is a report from the coalface of that change: what has happened, will it keep happening, and is there any way out of the chaos?

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, Essays, Australia

Paperback

Published July 2, 2018

About the author

Katharine Murphy has worked in Canberra’s parliamentary press gallery since 1996 for the Australian Financial Review, The Australian and The Age, before joining Guardian Australia, where she is the political editor. She won the Paul Lyneham Award for Excellence in Press Gallery Journalism in 2008 and has been a Walkley Award finalist twice. She was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Canberra in 2019. She is a director of the National Press Club and the author of On Disruption and Quarterly Essay The End of Certainty.

Reviews

[Lyn Elliott · Rating 5 out of 5]

This little book distils years of tough thinking about how the media work and its relationships with politics, government and the world at large.

When Katherine Murphy she wrote it in 2018, she was political editor for Guardian Australia, part of her long stint working in Canberra’s press gallery. She was a highly regarded journalist, so much so, that she was awarded an Honorary doctorate by the University of Canberra in 2019

The title, ‘On Disruption’, refers to the massive technological and structural disruptions that have taken place over the decades since the internet displaced print media, and the more leisurely cycle of the 24 newspaper production was replaced by the immediacy demanded now via the electronic media.

In 2018, Trump was president of the US, Malcolm Turnbull Prime Minister of Australia. The trends she discusses in the book have become more exaggerated; the dialogue more fractured. There is more opinion, invention, speculation and much less of the considered reporting validated by research that Murphy, and reader like me, grew up to expect and, in her case, practice.

My notes

P 55 ‘technological disruption, and our professional response to it, has also produces a febrile, superficial, shouty, shallow, pugnacious cacophony of content, where sensation regularly trumps insight’.

On Trump: p66 ‘We need to consider that politicians like Trump are good at playing us at our own game. We need to be aware that our professional obligation to cover the daily utterances of a political figure can manifest less an institutional check – which is what we think it is – and more straight out amplification. The choppy modern news cycle hands an open microphone to a politician like Trump….
The organising question of the era might b: in this time of disruption, how do journalists cover a political leader who has risen to power in part by understanding, at an intuitive level, the new media norms – give me something new, now, preferably outrageous, preferably unscripted, preferably emotive, so an audience will read it and react and share – and by playing the media adroitly at its own game to sustain himself.
Watching the US media try to do their job and rise to the challenges of the Trump presidency if, honestly, like watching an extended episode of Catch 22’.

P 72 the ‘new, now’ news cycle, where minute developments are reported in real time, means internal processes of consideration and decision-making, as well as the external process of negotiation are disrupted much more frequently.

The disruptions then often materially impact outcomes – governments change course; drop ambitious ides, shape shift to try to avoid an unmanageable stakeholder backlash.

There’s a focus on ‘gotcha’ moments, and endless social media campaigns, the praactivce politics by trolling - all of which militate against carefully considered long-term public policy.

Politics is now driven by conflict – it has become an end in itself, something to ‘fire up’ the voter base, to rally ‘the tribe’ – variable, and always a minority.

‘Tribalism has become a commodity, both for establishment politicians, who want to hold their core support against outsider insurgents, and for media companies, who need to get engaged audiences to survive the disruption that has played out brutally over the last ten years’ and continues to play out (bear in mind this was written in 2018, before COVID, before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, before the nightmare of Gaza).

The internet smashed the business model of news organisations, and journalism has entered new territory -not institutional, as it was, but that of personal relationship with the readers.

99 ‘as someone concerned about the destructive impacts of hyper-polarisation and tribalism, I worry about how engaged media communities then define themselves, and interact with other engaged media communities.
One of the most noxious elements of the web, which was supposed to usher in a more democratic and liberal culture of free ideas and diffuse connections, is the shrieking hostility.

Murphy is a passionate advocate for good journalism – journalism that is committed to the truth, with a belief that citizens come first. It should be independent, vigilant, verifiable and canvass a range of views, allowing that there will always be grey areas and teasing out uncertainties.

After 28 years as a journalist, Katherine Murphy joined the staff of Australian Prime minister Anthony Albanese in January 2024
https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/gu...

https://www.canberra.edu.au/about-uc/...

[Ellen McMahon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This brought back memories from my (now unused) journalism degree, where in my first year we still had to choose whether to major in 'print' or 'broadcast': LOL. That was only 2007, and oh how quickly times have changed. A fascinating essay that holds a candle up to the modern media. I especially love Murphy's brave, albeit brief, exploration into the idea that perhaps our current media habits have led to the rise of hyper ego-driven politics, i.e. Trump: "Right now, we can know this much: Trump has washed up in public life at the end of a disrupted media decade like an emphatic exclamation mark."

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great little examination of how the progress in technology over the past twenty years has led to irreversible disruption in the media landscape. Murphy sums up the repercussions of this expertely, whilst giving her own unique take on what could be a dying art - good journalism.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another terrific little essay from the MUP’s 'Read On' series–little books on big ideas–pairs Australia’s leading thinkers and cultural figures with some of the big themes in life.

Great insights into today's 24 news cycle pros and cons.

[K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not an essay about disruption in general as such, but rather disruption in the media. However, when considered as this topic, it's a really good read and I got through it really quickly and it was all interesting. A good book to sit down at your local library and read in an afternoon.

[Maha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thorough, articulate, challenging and profound. An engaging read, providing food for thought extending past what is written in its pages. Murphy is a brilliant journalist and writer.

[Wide Eyes, Big Ears! · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gosh, I enjoyed this - it was well-written, thoughtful, and thought-provoking! No industry has been more visibly disrupted by the digital age than journalism and Katharine Murphy charts the changes from the daily print news cycle, which was time-rich and space-poor, to the 24/7 digital news cycle, which is time-poor and space-rich. Added to the mix is the change in feedback from letters to the editor, which were hand-written and usually arrived days after article publication, to instant reader commentary and readership analytics and the rise of social media platforms which take content without checking its veracity. Murphy argues that these changes have not only affected the size of the journalistic workforce, article content, and the nature of journalism, they have also impacted how politicians act and how political decisions are made. Murphy examines how human headlines like Trump and Abbott thrive in this new age. 🎧 Katherine Tonkin narrates in a clear and pleasant style.

[schmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

An important discussion on the new modern media.

I enjoy listening to Katharine Murphy and her writing reads as she sounds.
Covering several ideas in every sentence, there is a lot here to unpack.
Her personal view on the history of journalism's transformation is enlightening and her questions in the book's conclusions will make you consider your involvement with media.
Short and punchy, well worth the read.

[Leon Obrenov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and sharp

Overall analysis which isn’t surprising or phenomenally distinguished from other, similar takes about the future of the media, but that is filled with intriguing metaphors and personalised contextualisation which make it an interesting read.

[Afia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good insight into journalism today and in the past

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I stumbled across this book at the library and it was a very short but interesting read. The 'disruption' of the title refers to the disruption wrought on news media by the internet and the symbiotic disruption that has flowed into politics.

Katharine Murphy started working as a journalist in 1996, in what would turn out to be the last decade of the dominance of print media. She insightfully draws the following distinction between print media and online media. Printed newspapers gave journalists a lot of time in which to research, investigate and write stories but had limited space to print the stories, meaning that an editor had to be discerning about which stories made it into print. With online media there is unlimited space for stories but very little time for research or investigation. What becomes of utmost importance in online media is newness and 'breaking' stories, while truth, accuracy and depth all fall by the wayside.

Murphy also argues, quite persuasively, that the decline in political stability around the world is directly linked to the decline in old-fashioned print journalism. This is quite a sobering and depressing thought, as the pace, frenzy and shallowness of online media shows no signs of abating.

This is a very small wee book containing some very important, big ideas. I'm very glad I stumbled across it.

[Matthew Hickey · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this essay, Murphy grapples with many of the issues that give rise to the ennui infecting public (particularly political) life, viewed through the prism of journalism.

While the essay identifies and explains issues rather than solves them (a task impossible in this short form work), Murphy succeeds in sharing her own insights while provoking the reader to reflect upon their own.

Go offline for an hour or so, and read this.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

KM is one of the handful of writers I get the bulk of my political news and analysis from, so very much enjoyed reading her view on the state of media in the late 2010’s.
Definitely got a laugh when I had to put down the book because the itch to check The Guardian’s Politics Live blog got to much to ignore after 20-30mins away.