Randall is the author of The Universal Journalist. In a review of the book in the British Journalism Review, Ann Leslie stated "How I wish this book had been around when I was a young reporter."[3] In the book Journalism, Ethics and Society, David Berry labels Randall a "prominent critic of the debate" concerning journalistic ethics and quotes Randall as arguing in The Universal Journalist that "the objectives and resolutions of ethical debates are unrealistic in the real world of practice [of journalism]."[2]