'Guaranteed to change the way you consume international news, Fit to Print is one of the most revealing and utterly compelling books about journalism in recent times'

Daniel Herborn (Sun Herald)

'Luyendijk writes damn well and is a very honest journalist. Fit to Print is a very good book that examines the limitations of journalism, especially when it comes to the coverage of complex conflicts and regions. It sets out in clear and dramatic terms the key shortcoming of much reporting: the inability of journalists to express doubt and to admit that they don't know all that much, in many circumstances, about what is really happening in the countries they are covering. There is much in this book we should all be discussing and thinking about.'

Michael Gawenda, former editor of The Age, and director of Centre for Advanced Journalism, University of Melbourne

'Luyendijk's reflections make for uncomfortable and contradictory reading; the best journalism should be nothing less.'

Antony Loewenstein (Sydney Morning Herald)

'Luyendijk describes the secrets, shortcuts and tricks of the trade used by foreign correspondents for print, radio and television. This includes regurgitating wire service reports in a manner that, if done in academe, would almost certainly be considered plagiarism … The role of the correspondent was merely to be the person at the other other end of the news assembly line … As Luyendijk repeatedly reminds us, in the Middle East "good journalism is a contradiction in terms".'

Irfan Yusuf (The Australian)

'Parts one and two of this fascinating book explain why it is almost impossible getting at the truth of any story from this part of the world, as it suffers from being either a dictatorship or an occupied territory, neither situation being conducive to transparency. Part three offers the sobering conclusion that the media is actually perpetuating the conflict in the Middle East with its partisan reportage, its PR machinery and its unsuspecting consumers.'

Cheryl Jorgensen (Courier Mail)

'A major theme running through this candid assessment of the media is that as much as the reporters are called on to sound like experts, many (such as Luyendijk) would prefer to say, "It's hard to know." That sort of honesty might get you the sack.'

Steven Carroll (The Age )

‘Written with great knowledge and humour. One hopes this will be read by everyone who has a fixed opinion or solution of the conflict in the Middle East. Rises high above the average correspondent book.’

Trouw

‘Luyendijk is a great observer, his style is flawless and fortunately he can laugh at himself, which makes this book all the more entertaining and attractive.’

HP/De Tijd

‘For journalists this book is an absolute must read, just as it is for TV-watchers, radio-listeners and newspaper-readers.’

Elsevier

'Joris puts down an honest story (and not what the media wants us to believe) of what he encountered during his time as [a] Middle Eastern correspondent ... the book is well written and entertaining.'

(Holland Focus)

'A book that takes perhaps three hours to read changed the way readers thought about the Middle East and the media.'

Simon Cuper (Financial Times)

'It conveys a disturbing truth that many in the media business refuse to confront: essentially, that they’re complicit in a monumental lie, a fi ction more worthy of Hollywood than the honourable business of digging up the truth, exposing the guilty through fi rst-hand investigation, shaming wrongdoers and presenting accurately the world as it is, warts and all, in all its beauty and misery ... The ordinariness and frequency of what he reveals has become acceptable as the daily norm, whereas it should shock us all as journalists – the fact that reportage has largely given way to expediency, and hard-edged reality to neat, pre-digested, homogenised capsules of sanitised “concern”.'

Tony Maniaty (Australian Journalism Review)

'Fit To Print should be on the reading list of anybody who wants to understand why news is filtered and cares for the direction that international news reporting is heading towards, especially in the Middle East. The experiences that Joris Luyendijk shares with us are presented in a heartfelt manner that correspondents from major networks will do well to learn from. Who knows, networks may one day even remove the bias they tend to possess and air a real, rather than pre-conceived, insight into the Middle East. His language, a mixture of criticism, lament and helplessness, should prompt us to re-think not only what makes the news, but why the headlines are reported in such a manner. Should readers adopt a more sceptical approach towards consuming the international news reporting process, then Luyendijk’s contribution is that journalism can rightfully be regarded as a craft.'

David Calleja (Foreign Policy Journal)