In a time of uncertainty and change in the newspaper industry, this book provides a concise and thorough overview of the field, looking back at newspapers' history, and forward to their future - and insisting there will be one. The authors, former journalists who now teach the subject, review the practices of the profession - from defining news to examining who owns newspapers, from newspaper readership to the new media environment. Written in an accessible style, this comprehensive text is well suited for a range of courses on newspapers.