Book excerpt: What are ‘global crises' and how do they differ from earlier crises? What do recent studies of global crises reporting tell us about the role of the news media in the global age? What are the current trends in the fields of journalism and civil society that are now re-shaping the public communication of crises? From climate change to the global war on terror, from forced migration to humanitarian disasters - these are just some of the global crises addressed in this accessible, ground-breaking book. For the first time, the author situates diverse threats to humanity in a global context and examines how, why and to what extent they are conveyed in today's news media. Global crises are conceived as the dark side of a globalizing world, but how they become reported and constituted in the news media can also help sustain emergent forms of global awareness, global citizenship and global civil society. The book: Draws on original research and scholarship in the field of media and communications Deliberately moves beyond nationally confined research studies Examines diverse global crises and their communicative politics Recognizes global crises and their constitution within global news reporting as defining characteristics of the global age Global Crisis Reporting is key reading for students in media, communications, globalization and journalism studies.