Last night, we celebrated the publication of Juan Luis Cebrián's new book, THE PIANO PLAYER IN THE BROTHEL: THE FUTURE OF JOURNALISM. We were fortunate to have both him and Harold Evans, the former editor of The Times and The Sunday Times who wrote the book's introduction, say a few words about the state of journalism today.
Two great journalists in one room--Harold Evans (left) introducing Juan Luis Cebrián (right)
and Publishers Weekly editor Jim Milliot
Publishing Trends' Constance Sayre and Overlook's Tracy Carnes“What is the future of journalism? Cebrián (Red Doll), a novelist and one of the original editors of Spain's newspaper of record, El País, analyzes the changes to the traditional newspaper in particular and to the profession in general. In this collection of insightful and instructive essays, he addresses the challenges journalists face in this age of instantaneous electronic media. The illustrious newspaperman brings a sense of history and gravitas to his writing, a result of living and working in a country transitioning from the media-restricted Fascist regime of Francisco Franco to a struggling democracy with a free an0 Comments on A night with Juan Luis Cebrián as of 1/1/1900Add a Comment
By: John Mark Boling,
on 1/27/2011
Blog: The Winged Elephant (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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It's a snowy day here in NYC, but we got some great news this morning when we opened ForeWord's review of The Piano Player in the Brothel: The Future of Journalism, by Juan Luis Cebrian. The review says that the book is "a thoughtful collection of essays exploring the storied past and shifting present of reporting, a call to encourage what is best in journalism as we move into the tumultuous era of online news." It goes on to conclude that Cebrian's work is "a thoughtful collection of essays exploring the storied past and shifting present of reporting, a call to encourage what is best in journalism as we move into the tumultuous era of online news."
The whole review is below. This book goes on sale March 3, so current and aspiring journalists and media-watchers, take note. Happy reading!
The Piano Player in the Brothel: The Future of Journalism
Juan Luis Cebrian
Eduardo Schmid, translator
Overlook Press
Hardcover $24.95 (192pp)
978-1-59020-394-1
Veteran journalist Juan Luis Cebrain finds his occupation embattled on many fronts: Newspapers losing readers to the immediate news available online; the globalizing effects of the world wide web are reshaping languages all over the globe; one hundred million blogs exists, with roughly one thousand added each day. What is the role of journalism, and journalists, in a landscape that changes so rapidly? The Piano Player in the Brothel is Cebrain’s answer, a thoughtful collection of essays exploring the storied past and shifting present of reporting, a call to encourage what is best in journalism as we move into the tumultuous era of online news.
Cebrian’s title is taken from a popular joke: one man admits to another that he is a journalist, but pleads “Don’t tell my mother I’m a journalist. She thinks I play piano at the whorehouse.” A comments on the fluid state of journalism, at times contemptible, other times noble, always changing in relation to the people it serves. No one knows this better than Cebrain. After starting his career under the Franco regime and becoming the director of El Pais, Spain’s largest newspaper, Cebrain is an authority on the democratizing effects of an open press.
Cebrian uses this first-hand knowledge to color his essays, mapping the historically tenuous relationship between journalist, government, and reader. He visits America for his example of maintaining journalistic integrity, noting, “Watergate was a reminder of journalism’s role as a watchdog against corruption and has come to symbolize journalistic independence, a check against political power.” He describes the difficulty of telling the truth under the Franco regime, where journalists were routinely bullied by the government’s Press Agency. Cebrain’s analysis of the role of journalism in the war on terror is nuanced and thoughtful: he applauds the media’s show of respect by not showing the bodies of victims on television, but finds reprehensible the large television networks’ manipulation of viewers while covering the Iraq War..
Some of the most salient questions in modern journalism are raised in this collection. What is the role of traditional journalism in a world of blogs? Can a society retain its unique culture in the face of the globalizing behemoth of the Internet? Is it possible for newspapers to maint