Customer Reviews

The Business of Journalism: Ten Leading Reporters and Editors on the Perils and Pitfalls of the Press

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This book contains some very inspiring stories about journalists who have fought to uphold the ideals of their profession in the face of corporatization, advertising, public outcry, etc. For those of you who like me still believe in journalism that's objective, or at least as objective as possible, this will help restore your faith. Read it from the journalists themselves who have won the battle, and some who have not. The first chapter, "We still scream" by two small-town journalists is especially inspiring.

It is what it is and that's all that it is.

But what it is is terrific!

You may purchase or borrow many books about biases in the news. However, most such books will be polemics that exude more bias than the medium or media that they attack.

This book, in contrast, does not pretend to find the one, great bias that is ruining the press. Rather, ten journalists provide their experiences in the increasingly commercialized business of news.

You may read about small weeklies and about Washington bureaus.

You may read about racial integration in the newsroom and why it has fallen short.

You may read about social, political, and commercial influences obvious and insidious that shape what you read, hear, and/or see, but -- more important -- that select what you cannot read, hear, and/or see. This book uncovers much that is uncovered or at least undercovered because the economic interests of the medium or media make such coverage baneful or suicidal.

Each essay is calm and reasoned, a welcome respite from charges of a "liberal press" or "corporate lapdogs." Each essayist builds on his or her personal experiences, so you read what genuine journalists rather than cunning politicos have seen and lived.

I enjoyed every page.