In Free for All, longtime scholar of digital media Elliot King begins with a brief history of the technological development of news media from the appearance of newspapers in the sixteenth century to the rise of broadcasting and the Internet.

Within that context, King demystifies the emergence of online communication and social media as the third major technological platform for news, making the current pace of change appear less vertiginous. Free for All provides anyone with an interest in the future of journalism the grounding necessary for an informed discussion.

Elliot King, a veteran technology reporter, has been on the cutting edge of communication technology since he opened his first e-mail account in 1984. He is professor of communication at Loyola University in Maryland, founder of his school’s digital media lab, coauthor of The Online Journalist (2000), and special editor of three volumes of the Electronic Journal of Communication about journalism and the Internet.