In his latest literary work, author Andrew Pippos turns a keen eye on the seismic shifts reshaping the media landscape and the profound human cost that follows. His new novel, The Transformations, published by Picador at $34.99, uses the backdrop of a faltering newspaper to explore a wider societal phenomenon.
The Broken Pace of Modern Revolution
At the heart of the narrative is a poignant, real-world observation that Pippos weaves into his fiction. A newspaper proprietor in the novel grapples with a line from academic Clay Shirky's blog: "This is what real revolutions are like. The old stuff gets broken faster than the new stuff is put in its place."
For Pippos, this maxim perfectly captures the defining technological ruptures of the early 21st century. He sees its truth extending far beyond the newsroom, impacting the music and film industries through streaming and now confronting creative fields with the advent of artificial intelligence.
The Erosion of Accountability and Community
The contraction of print journalism over the past 15 years forms a critical context for the novel. Pippos, a former subeditor himself, recalls newsrooms as vibrant, well-populated communities—places of shared effort, argument, and knowledge. This environment has dramatically changed.
The decline raises urgent questions about accountability journalism. Pippos references a 2009 estimate by media scholar Alex S. Jones that 85 per cent of such journalism, which holds power to account, originated in newspapers. The novel implicitly asks whether broadcast media or social media citizens have filled this void, and what the democratic consequences are when scrutiny diminishes.
Institutional Weakening and Collective Loss
Pippos's perspective is informed by his dual careers. After years in journalism, he has spent the last twelve years in academia, currently as a lecturer in creative writing. He has witnessed a parallel weakening of public institutions.
Newspapers, universities, public broadcasters, and schools are all being asked to do more with less, while their fundamental role is increasingly contested. Pippos argues these are not niche concerns. They form the essential framework through which a society understands itself. Their faltering represents a deep cultural loss—a erosion of shared reference points, instruments of knowledge, and the democratic scrutiny that keeps power in check.
While The Transformations is not a manifesto for media reform, it uses the microcosm of a fictional newsroom to dramatise the human experience of this institutional erosion. It focuses on the emotional dislocation of characters whose workplace and private worlds are in simultaneous upheaval.
For Pippos, fiction cannot solve the problem of the old breaking faster than the new is built. However, it can powerfully illustrate what it feels like to live through such times and can suggest what values and connections are worth preserving amidst the chaos.
