Includes bibliographical references and index.

Pt. 1. Context: history, structure and business of print media -- Ch. 1. The print industry - yesterday, today and tomorrow: An overview / Martin Conboy -- Ch. 2. The structure of the print industry / Peter Cole -- Ch. 3. Profits and the public interest: The business of newspapers and magazines / Iain Stevenson -- Pt. 2. Practice: sourcing, news, features, comment, reviews, production and going online -- Ch. 4. 'Get me a great quote': Sourcing and research / Sharon Wheeler -- Ch. 5. The dos and don'ts of interviewing / Sharon Wheeler -- Ch. 6. Practice and theory: What is news? / Sarah Niblock -- Ch. 7. Beyond the inverted pyramid: Developing news-writing skills / Sharon Wheeler -- Ch. 8. Staying calm under pressure: The role of the news editor / Sarah Niblock -- Ch. 9. News subbing simplified / Sharon Wheeler -- Ch. 10. What makes a good feature: The different genres / Jane Taylor. Ch. 11. The right idea at the right time: Pitching the feature / Tony Harcup -- Ch. 12. Doing it in style: Feature writing / Tony Harcup -- Ch. 13. Facing the challenge of feature editing / Tim Holmes -- Ch. 14. Creating identities, building communities: Why comment? / Tim Holmes -- Ch. 15. Getting personal: How to write comment / Tim Holmes -- Ch. 16. The art of reviewing / Rod Allen -- Ch. 17. Design for print media / Chris Frost -- Ch. 18. From blogrolls and wikis to big business: Going online / Neil Thurman -- Ch. 19. Journalism in a non-linear, screen-based environment: Practical online skills / Neil Thurman -- Ch. 20. From Nexus to newslog: Online journalism from the grassroots / Neil Thurman and Susan Jones -- Pt. 3. More key areas: ethics, law, copyright and politics -- Ch. 21. Is virtuous journalism possible? A critical overview of ethical dilemmas / Richard Keeble -- Ch. 22. Courting controversies: Law and the journalist / Richard Orange -- Ch. 23. Getting it right: Copyright and the journalist / Iain Stevenson -- Ch. 24. Beyond the parish pump: Reporting local and national government / Richard Orange -- Pt. 4. And finally: An education overview -- Ch. 25. Preparing reflective practitioners / Rod Allen.

Print Journalism: A Critical Introduction provides an up-to-date overview of the skills needed to work within the newspaper and magazine industries. Amongst the many highlighted are:
- Sourcing the news
- Interviewing
- Sub-editing
- Feature writing and editing
- Reviewing
- Designing pages pitching features.

In addition separate chapters focus on ethics, reporting courts, covering politics and copyright whilst others look at the history of newspapers and magazines, the structure of the UK print industry (including it financial organization) and the development of journalism education in the UK, helping to place the coverage of skills within a broader, critical context.

All contributors are experienced practicing journalists as well as journalism educators from a broad range of UK universities.