Outrage, Passion, and Uncommon Sense: How Editorial Writers Have Taken On and Helped Shape the Great American Issues o f the Past 150 Years [Hardcover]

Michael Gartner (Author), Newseum (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 4, 2005

Mining newspaper files and the deep archives and journalistic expertise of the Newseum, an interactive museum of news located in Washington, D.C., Outrage, Passion and Uncommon Sense examines decisive issues and events in U.S. history through the nation's editorial pages. Approximately fifty editorials are reprinted here on topics ranging from suffrage and race to war and politics—even Christmas—with probing analysis by Gartner.

"Editorials are the soul of the newspaper," Gartner says in the book's introduction. "Maybe the heart and the soul. And, on a good newspaper that knows and understands and loves its hometown, or its home country, the editorial is the heart and the soul of the town, or the nation, as well."

Readers will also see a visual account of the era through two-color illustrations, showcasing editorial cartoons, photographs and typographic details from period newspapers. Outrage, Passion and Uncommon Sense is a vital, significant collection that portrays the undeniable influence one editorial can have on this country in some of its most difficult times.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"Today's editorials-and of course there are exceptions-inform but do not inspire," writes Pulitzer Prize winner Gartner. "Sometimes, they lack opinion. Usually, they lack passion." Not so of the many editorials Gartner selected for this book, which focuses on editorials written by four men whom the editor calls "the four greatest editorial writers in the history of this nation": William Allen White of the Daily Gazette of Emporia, Kansas; Horace Greeley of the New York Tribune; Henry Watterson of the Louisville (Ky.) Courier-Journal and Vermont Royster of the Wall Street Journal. Editorials by these writers and others are divided up by subject matter, from controversial, highly opinionated pieces on war and race to those about the business of journalism itself and even a chapter on editorials revolving around Christmas ("'Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus'" remains the most famous line ever to appear in an editorial in an American newspaper," says Gartner). The book is beautifully illustrated with historical photographs and page reproductions, and the editorials alongside them are still relevant today, though readers who haven't recently studied American history may not benefit as much from some of the older pieces. (Editorials from the Civil War era, for example, may be more interesting to Civil War historians than to the casual reader.) An alternative way of looking at history, the book will be a useful volume not only to those interested in the history of journalism, but to history buffs with a more general interest in America. Photos.
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About the Author

Michael Gartner has been a journalist for nearly 50 years. He has been Page One editor of The Wall Street Journal, editor and president of The Des Moines Register, editor of The Courier-Journal of Louisville, general news executive of Gannett Co. and USA TODAY, and president of NBC News. In 1997, he won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing for the Ames (Iowa) Tribune, of which he was editor and co-owner. He also is a lawyer, owner of the Iowa Cubs baseball team, and president of the Board of Regents of the State of Iowa.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: National Geographic (October 4, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0792241975
• ISBN-13: 978-0792241973
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 1 x 8.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,025,014 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and Astonishing, October 20, 2005

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This review is from: Outrage, Passion, and Uncommon Sense: How Editorial Writers Have Taken On and Helped Shape the Great American Issues o f the Past 150 Years (Hardcover)

There are many indelible words and images in this groundbreaking book that looks at how American editorial writers have handled the big issues: race, death, freedoms, politics, and more. Consider the angry screed written in 1961 by segregationist Jimmy Ward, editor of the Jackson (MS) Daily News, calling the freedom riders "puppets" and "riot-inciting professionals." It appears next to a close-up photo of a badly beaten freedom rider, his eyes swollen shut. Or the 122-word verdict on the "worthless" life of murderer Leonard Edwards that ran in the Philadelphia Daily News in 1975, ending with the curt demand: "Fry him." Or the lyrical, heartbreaking editorial that William Allen White of The Emporia (KS) Daily Gazette wrote when his 16-year-old daughter was killed in a riding accident.

"Outrage, Passion & Uncommon Sense" is full of excellent writing, evocative photographs, forgotten history, and well-remembered history, recalled in a fresh way with original editorials that ran within hours or days of the event. It's a wonder that no one has attempted such a book before. What a useful book for journalism students or any student of American history!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A panoramic view of American history, told through editorials, November 23, 2009

By 

Jonathan Groner (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Outrage, Passion, and Uncommon Sense: How Editorial Writers Have Taken On and Helped Shape the Great American Issues o f the Past 150 Years (Hardcover)

This is a panoramic view of American history from the Civil War to the Clinton impeachment, told through the writings of editorialists at newspapers, large and small. Gartner doesn't restrict himself to editorials that he agrees with, nor to the most courageous, although there are plenty of both here. He includes editorials against women's suffrage (from the New York Times!) and in favor of racial segregation. It soon becomes clear that the characteristics of good, persuasive writing haven't changed since the 1850s, nor has the role of the editorial writer as scold and cheerleader. Of course, the dramatic changes in journalism have reduced the power of editorials today, but Gartner reminds us of what it once was.

I wish Gartner had not focused so much on four specific editorial writers, great though they may have been. I would have enjoyed the book more if it had been more diverse in every way.