There's No Good News

There’s No Good News: Journalism, Crisis, and Philosophy of Praxis is a searing critique of contemporary journalism and its complicity in sustaining capitalist hegemony. Drawing on a rich tapestry of political philosophy, media theory and historical analysis, the book reworks the classic ‘propaganda model’ of Herman and Chomsky through a Marxist lens, introducing the dialectical potential of Gramscian ‘common sense’ as a tool of critique and renewal. At its core, this book argues that journalism, far from being a neutral arbiter of truth, functions as a powerful ideological apparatus—manufacturing consent, distorting reality and reinforcing dominant class interests.

Set against the backdrop of the Gaza conflict and the global crisis of capitalism, the book dissects the failures of Western media to report truthfully on war, politics and resistance. It exposes how propaganda, failures of logic and the illusion of objectivity shape public discourse, while journalists—sometimes unwittingly—serve as ‘quotidian intellectuals’ of the ruling class. The text challenges the foundational myths of journalism, including the Fourth Estate and the marketplace of ideas, and critiques the normative philosophical frameworks that underpin journalistic practice. In a time when the ‘moral algebra’ that animates freedom of speech is weaponised to silence dissent, the book interrogates the limits and contradictions of liberal democratic ideals. It explores how speech, protest and journalism are policed under the guise of combating extremism, revealing a chilling erosion of civil liberties.

Through a dialectical and materialist approach, the book redefines truth as historically contingent, socially constructed and inseparable from class struggle. Drawing on Antonio Gramsci’s ‘philosophy of praxis’, the text insists that truth must be more than an intellectual exercise—it must be a guide to action. Journalism, reimagined through a materialist and dialectical lens, becomes a tool for informing the public and empowering the oppressed. This vision of ‘integral journalism’ demands that reporters commit to truth as a weapon in the struggle for justice. With philosophical rigour and political urgency, There’s No Good News offers a bold vision for journalism beyond the confines of propaganda, towards a future where truth serves liberation, not power.

Martin Hirst is a freelance scholar, writer and artist living in Melbourne/Naarm, Australia. He is a former political correspondent and news editor who began a lifelong commitment to journalism in 1975. After completing a PhD in 2000, Martin had a distinguished career in journalism studies. Martin has written several books for Routledge: News 2.0 (2011), Navigating Social Journalism (2018) and now There’s No Good News (2026). He is a founding editor of the journal Political Economy of Communication and a founding member of the Centre for Journalism, Media & Democracy at AUT University in Auckland.

In collaboration with his colleague and friend of 35 years, Roger Patching, Martin is the co-author of Routledge titles on journalism ethics: Journalism Ethics: Arguments and Cases for the 21st Century (2014) and Journalism Ethics at the Crossroads in 2021. Martin is also the co-author with various colleagues of titles for the Oxford, Cambridge and AUT university presses. Martin estimates that he’s written in excess of seven million words of journalism, commentary and scholarship over the last 60 years.

Martin is a long-term union activist and socialist. He now divides his time between writing and wielding a paintbrush in an attempt to reinvent himself as a struggling artist. Martin collects tattoos, books and outsider art.