Winner of the 2015 Audie Award for History/Biography and Finalist for Audiobook of the YearAudie Award, History/Biography, 2015After Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln, Doris Kearns Goodwin wields her magic on another larger-than-life president, and another momentous and raucous American time period as she brings Theodore Roosevelt, the muckraking journalists, and the Progressive Era to life. As she focused on the relationships between Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt in No Ordinary Time, and on Lincoln and his team in Team of Rivals, Goodwin describes the broken friendship between Teddy Roosevelt and his chosen successor, William Howard Taft. With the help of the "muckraking" press - including legendary journalists Ida Tarbell, Lincoln Steffens, William Allen White, and editor Sam McClure - Roosevelt had wielded the Bully Pulpit to challenge and triumph over abusive monopolies, political bosses, and corrupting money brokers. Roosevelt led a revolution that he bequeathed to Taft only to see it compromised as Taft surrendered to money men and big business. The rupture between the two led Roosevelt to run against Taft for president, an ultimately futile race that resulted in the election of Democrat Woodrow Wilson and the diminishment of Theodore Roosevelt's progressive wing of the Republican Party. Like Goodwin's chronicles of the Civil War and the Great Depression, The Bully Pulpit describes a time in our history that enlightened and changed the country, ushered in the modern age, and produced some unforgettable men and women. Read more

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A sweeping behind-the-scenes look at the last four turbulent decades of “the paper of record,” The New York Times, as it confronted world-changing events, internal scandals, and faced the existential threat of the internet“An often enthralling chronicle [that] delivers the gossipy goods . . . Like Robert Caro’s biographies, [The Times] should appeal to anyone interested in power.”—Los Angeles TimesA KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST BOOK OF THE YEARFor over a century, The New York Times has been an iconic institution in American journalism, one whose history is intertwined with the events that it chronicles—a newspaper read by millions of people every day to stay informed about events that have taken place across the globe.In The Times, Adam Nagourney, who’s worked at The New York Times since 1996, examines four decades of the newspaper’s history, from the final years of Arthur “Punch” Sulzberger’s reign as publisher to the election of Donald Trump in November 2016. Nagourney recounts the paper’s triumphs—the coverage of September 11, the explosion of the U.S. Challenger, the scandal of a New York governor snared in a prostitution case—as well as failures that threatened the paper’s standing and reputation, including the discredited coverage of the war in Iraq, the resignation of Judith Miller, the plagiarism scandal of Jayson Blair, and the high-profile ouster of two of its executive editors.Drawing on hundreds of interviews and thousands of documents and letters contained in the newspaper’s archives and the private papers of editors and reporters, The Times is an inside look at the essential years that shaped the newspaper. Nagourney paints a vivid picture of a divided newsroom, fraught with tension as it struggled to move into the digital age, while confronting its scandals, shortcomings, and swelling criticism from conservatives and many of its own readers alike. Along the way we meet the memorable personalities—including Abe Rosenthal, Max Frankel, Howell Raines, Joe Lelyveld, Bill Keller, Jill Abramson, Dean Baquet, Punch Sulzberger and Arthur Sulzberger Jr.—who shaped the paper as we know it today. We see the battles between the newsroom and the business operations side, the fight between old and new media, the tension between journalists who tried to hold on to the traditional model of a print newspaper and a new generation of reporters who are eager to embrace the new digital world.Immersive, meticulously researched, and filled with powerful stories of the rise and fall of the men and women who ran the most important newspaper in the nation, The Times is a definitive account of the most pivotal years in New York Times history. Read more

Pulitzer Prize–winning author and presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin’s dynamic history of Theodore Roosevelt, William H. Taft and the first decade of the Progressive era, that tumultuous time when the nation was coming unseamed and reform was in the air. Winner of the Carnegie Medal.Doris Kearns Goodwin’s The Bully Pulpit is a dynamic history of the first decade of the Progressive era, that tumultuous time when the nation was coming unseamed and reform was in the air. The story is told through the intense friendship of Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft—a close relationship that strengthens both men before it ruptures in 1912, when they engage in a brutal fight for the presidential nomination that divides their wives, their children, and their closest friends, while crippling the progressive wing of the Republican Party, causing Democrat Woodrow Wilson to be elected, and changing the country’s history. The Bully Pulpit is also the story of the muckraking press, which arouses the spirit of reform that helps Roosevelt push the government to shed its laissez-faire attitude toward robber barons, corrupt politicians, and corporate exploiters of our natural resources. The muckrakers are portrayed through the greatest group of journalists ever assembled at one magazine—Ida Tarbell, Ray Stannard Baker, Lincoln Steffens, and William Allen White—teamed under the mercurial genius of publisher S.S. McClure. Goodwin’s narrative is founded upon a wealth of primary materials. The correspondence of more than four hundred letters between Roosevelt and Taft begins in their early thirties and ends only months before Roosevelt’s death. Edith Roosevelt and Nellie Taft kept diaries. The muckrakers wrote hundreds of letters to one another, kept journals, and wrote their memoirs. The letters of Captain Archie Butt, who served as a personal aide to both Roosevelt and Taft, provide an intimate view of both men. The Bully Pulpit, like Goodwin’s brilliant chronicles of the Civil War and World War II, exquisitely demonstrates her distinctive ability to combine scholarly rigor with accessibility. It is a major work of history—an examination of leadership in a rare moment of activism and reform that brought the country closer to its founding ideals. Read more

The New York Times bestselling author of How to Read Literature Like a Professor uses the same skills to teach how to access accurate information in a rapidly changing 24/7 news cycle and become better readers, thinkers, and consumers of media.We live in an information age, but it is increasingly difficult to know which information to trust. Fake news is rampant in mass media, stoked by foreign powers wishing to disrupt a democratic society. We need to be more perceptive, more critical, and more judicious readers. The future of our republic may depend on it. How to Read Nonfiction Like a Professor is more careful, more attentive, more aware reading. On bookstore shelves, one book looks as authoritative as the next. Online, posts and memes don’t announce their relative veracity. It is up to readers to establish how accurate, how thorough, how fair material may be. After laying out general principles of reading nonfiction, How to Read Nonfiction Like a Professor offers advice for specific reading strategies in various genres from histories and biographies to science and technology to social media. Throughout, the emphasis will be on understanding writers’ biases, interrogating claims, analyzing arguments, remaining wary of broad assertions and easy answers, and thinking critically about the written and spoken materials readers encounter. We can become better citizens through better reading, and the time for that is now. Read more

Donald Trump might have been the loudest and most powerful voice maligning the integrity of news media in a generation, but his unrelenting attacks draw from a stew of resentment, wariness, cynicism, and even hatred toward the press that has been simmering for years. At one time, journalism's centrality in reporting and interpreting important events was relatively unquestioned when a limited number of channels and voices produced a consensus-based news environment. The collapse of this environment has sparked a moment of reckoning within and outside journalism, particularly as professional news outlets struggle to remain solvent. Alternative voices compete for attention with and criticize the work and motivations of journalists, even as a growing number of journalists question their core norms and practices. News After Trump considers these struggles over journalism to be about the very relevance of journalism as an institutional form of knowledge production. At the heart of this questioning is a struggle to define what truthful accounts look like and who ought to create them or determine them in a rapidly changing media culture. Through an extensive accounting of Trump's relationship with the press, and drawing on in-depth interviews with journalists and textual analysis of news events, editorials, social media, and trade-press discussions, the book rethinks the relevance of journalism by recognizing the limits of objectivity and the way in which journalism positions certain actors as authority figures while rendering the less socially powerful invisible or flawed. This ethos of detachment has staved off vital questions about how journalism connects to its audiences, how it creates enduring value in people's lives (or not), and how diversity needs to be understood jointly at the level of production, reporting, and audience in order to rebuild trust. Read more

As climate change brings devastation to all areas of the world, and U.S. journalists cover these threats more extensively, climate reporting needs to be evaluated. Media representations of the climate crisis are critical because they influence what responses are taken and policies enacted.In Apocalyptic Authoritarianism, media scholar Hanna E. Morris reveals how national anxieties following the 2016 presidential election have shaped American news coverage of climate change in ways that severely limit how it has come to be known, imagined, and contended with. Looking at climate change reporting across prominent and ideologically diverse U.S. newspapers and magazines over the past decade, the book traces how news media create an illusion of control in the present through nostalgic and heroic stories of the past. Morris identifies a new mode of reactionary politics called "apocalyptic authoritarianism" to describe the post-2016 alignment of historically privileged figures united by a common enemy of the "new" New Left and a shared appeal to fears of "total crisis." Their antidemocratic paradigm portends national and planetary disarray if progressive social and climate justice "warriors" are not controlled at home and if "unruly masses" of climate migrants are not contained abroad. Ultimately, Morris calls for a robust and inclusive form of climate journalism and politics to facilitate--and not impede--democratic and equitable responses to climate change. Read more

A Winner of the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa 2023 Bernard Lewis PrizeLandes, a medievalist and historian of apocalyptic movements, takes us through the first years of the third millennium (2000-2003), documenting how a radical inability of Westerners to understand the medieval mentality that drove Global Jihad prompted a series of disastrous misinterpretations and misguided reactions that have shaped our so-far unhappy century. These misinterpretations in 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2005, contributed fundamentally to the ever-worsening moral and empirical disorientations of our information elites (journalists, academics, pundits). So while journalists reported Palestinian war propaganda as news (lethal journalism), they were also reporting Jihadi war propaganda as news (own-goal war journalism). These radical disorientations have created our current dilemma of pervasive information distrust, deep splits within the voting public in most democracies, the politicization of science, and the inability of Western elites to defend their civilization, and instead, to stand down before an invasion. Read more

The Online Journalism Handbook offers a comprehensive guide to the ever-evolving world of digital journalism, showcasing the multiple possibilities in researching, writing, and storytelling provided by new technologies.In this new edition, Paul Bradshaw presents an engaging mix of technological expertise with real-world practical guidance to illustrate how those training and working as journalists can improve the development, presentation, and global reach of their stories through webbased technologies.Thoroughly revised and updated, this third edition features:A new chapter dedicated to writing for email and chat, with updated case studiesNew sections covering online abuse, news avoidance, and trustUpdated coverage of accessibility, inclusivity, and diversity in sourcing, writing for social media, and audio and videoNew formats, including social audio, audiograms, Twitter threads, the “Stories” format, charticles, and “scrollytelling”Expanded international examples throughoutThe Online Journalism Handbook is an essential guide for all journalism students and professional journalists and will also be of interest to digital media practitioners.The companion website for this book further enhances student knowledge through regularly updated case studies, real-time development reports, and in-depth discussion pieces from cutting-edge sources. Read more

High White Notes is the first in-depth analysis of the complete writings of Hunter S. Thompson, one of the most misunderstood authors of the 20th century. His Gonzo journalism was an odd fusion of fact and fiction that garnered widespread adoration but perhaps for all the wrong reasons.In this book, David S. Wills traces the outlaw journalist's life from birth to death, exploring how Thompson developed his unique literary voice and why he used such odd techniques to craft a form of prose that defied categorization. This book not only explores Thompson's meteoric rise to literary superstardom but also charts the rapid decline in the quality of his work that came after his 1972 foray into political reporting.This book dispels a great many myths about Thompson’s life, analyzes his work as never before, and asks difficult questions about his work. By cutting through the legends and exploring Thompson’s deliberate hybridization of fact and fiction, Wills aims to set the Gonzo author in his proper literary context, alongside other greats of the 20th century. Read more

A first-of-its-kind guide for new media times, this book provides practical, step-by-step instructions for writing first-person features, essays, and digital content. Combining journalism techniques with self-exploration and personal storytelling, First-Person Journalism is designedto help writers to develop their personal voice and establish a narrative stance. The book introduces nine elements of first-person journalism―passion, self-reporting, stance, observation, attribution, counterpoints, time travel, the mix, and impact. Two introductory chapters define first-person journalism and its value in building trust with a public now skeptical of traditional news media. The nine practice chapters that follow each focus on one first-person element, presenting a sequence of "voice lessons" with a culminating writing assignment, such as a personal trend story or an open letter. Examples are drawn from diverse nonfiction writers and journalists, including Ta-Nehisi Coates, Joan Didion, Helen Garner, Alex Tizon, and James Baldwin. Together, the book provides a fresh look at the craft of nonfiction, offering much-needed advice on writing with style, authority, and a unique point of view.Written with a knowledge of the rapidly changing digital media environment, First-Person Journalism is a key text for journalism and media students interested in personal nonfiction, as well as for early-career nonfiction writers looking to develop this narrative form. Read more

One of the country’s most powerful families embroiled in sex, lies, bigamy, and blackmail . . . and every new, deliciously humiliating morsel splashed across every newspaper in America Now in paperback, the believe-it-or-not historical true crime behind one of the greatest scandals of the Gilded Age, and the story that gave rise to the sensational tabloid journalism still driving so much of the news cycle in the 21st century.An Alexander Hamilton heir, a beautiful female con artist, an abandoned baby, and the shocking courtroom drama that was splashed across front pages from coast to coast . . . It’s a historical true crime story almost too tawdry to be true—a con woman met the descendant of a Founding Father in a brothel, duped him into marriage using an infant purchased from a baby farm, then went to prison for stabbing the couple’s baby nurse—all while in a common-law marriage with another man. The scandal surrounding Evangeline and Robert Ray Hamilton was one of the sensations of the Gilded Age, a sordid, gripping tale involving bigamy, bribery, sex, and violence. Through personal correspondence, court records, and sensational newspaper accounts, The Scandalous Hamiltons explores not only the full, riveting saga of ill-fated Ray and Eva, but the rise of tabloid journalism—including an exclusive interview conducted by world-famous investigative reporter Nellie Bly—in a story that unfurls as a timeless tale of ambition, greed, and obsession.“Fans of Erik Larson–style histories and anyone who just loves a fun, gossipy read will love The Scandalous Hamiltons.” —Apple Books, Best of the Month Selection"Adultery? Check. Attempted murder? Check. Baby-trafficking? Check. These are just a few of the missteps of the woman who rained humiliation onto the House of Hamilton." —Marlene Wagman-Geller, author of Women of Means: Fascinating Biographies of Royals, Heiresses, Eccentrics and Other Poor Little Rich Girls Read more

From Derek Hunter—one of the most entertaining political writers today—comes an insightful, alarming look at how progressives have taken over academia, pop culture, and journalism in order to declare everything liberal great, and everything great, liberal. Progressives love to attack conservatives as anti-science, wallowing in fake news, and culturally backwards. But who are the real denialists here? There are three institutions in American life run by gatekeepers who have stopped letting in anyone who questions their liberal script: academia, journalism, and pop culture. They use their cult-like groupthink consensus as "proof" that science, reporting, and entertainment will always back up the Democrats. They give their most political members awards, and then say the awards make their liberal beliefs true. Worse, they are using that consensus to pull the country even further to the left, by bullying and silencing dissent from even those they've allowed in. Just a few years ago, the media pretended they were honest brokers. Now a CNN segment is seven liberals versus a sacrificial lamb. MSNBC ate their sacrificial lamb. Well, Chris Matthews did. Tired of being forced to believe or else, Derek Hunter exposes the manufactured truths and unwritten commandments of the Establishment. With research and a biting, sarcastic wit, he explains:The growing role of celebrities in the political world, and movies with a "message" that dominate awards season, but rarely the box office.The unquestioning reporting on "studies" that don’t prove what they say they prove.The hidden bias of "fact-checking," when the media cherry picks which facts they check.Celebrity scientists like Bill Nye and Neil deGrasse Tyson blending liberal activism with pretend expertise outside their fields.Clever, controversial, and convincing, Derek Hunter's book gets to the root of America's biggest cultural war lies. Read more

From an NPR veteran, a “comprehensive and lucid” guide to “the values and practices that yield stellar audio journalism” (Booklist).Maybe you’re thinking about starting a podcast, and want some tips from the pros. Or perhaps storytelling has always been a passion of yours, and you want to learn to do it more effectively. Whatever the case—whether you’re an avid NPR listener or you aspire to create your own audio, or both—Sound Reporting: The NPR Guide to Audio Journalism and Production will give you a rare tour of the world of a professional broadcaster.Jonathan Kern, a former executive producer of All Things Considered who has trained NPR’s on-air staff for years, is a gifted guide, able to narrate a day in the life of a host and lay out the nuts and bolts of production with both wit and warmth. Along the way, he explains the importance of writing the way you speak, reveals how NPR books guests ranging from world leaders to neighborhood newsmakers, and gives sage advice on everything from proposing stories to editors to maintaining balance and objectivity. Best of all—because NPR wouldn’t be NPR without its array of distinctive voices—lively examples from popular shows and colorful anecdotes from favorite personalities animate each chapter.As public radio’s audience of millions can attest, NPR’s unique guiding principles and technical expertise combine to connect with listeners like no other medium can. With today’s technologies allowing more people to turn their home computers into broadcast studios, Sound Reporting is a valuable guide that reveals the secrets behind NPR’s success. Read more

Law of Journalism and Mass Communication, Fourth Edition offers a clear and engaging introduction to media law. Authors Robert Trager, Joseph Russomanno, Susan Dente Ross, and Amy Reynolds present comprehensive coverage and analysis of this essential topic to future journalists and media professionals. The text offers an abundance of photos and feature boxes, as well as a marginal glossary of legal terms and concepts. Readers will explore real-world, landmark cases in context, as well as scenarios from significant cases, to help readers think critically about the concepts learned. Unlike many revisions that simply tack on new content―adding length and undermining clarity―the updates to the Fourth Edition are fully integrated, offering the current state of media law in one comprehensive and understandable discussion. Read more

Graydon Carter: A New EraBy Carpy HarperFrom the glossy pages of Vanity Fair to the bold launch of Air Mail, Graydon Carter has spent decades shaping the conversation around power, culture, politics, and celebrity. In Graydon Carter: A New Era, acclaimed author Carpy Harper delivers a behind-the-scenes look at one of journalism’s most iconic and influential figures.This compelling biography traces Carter’s journey from a Canadian outsider to a legendary editor with an unrivaled eye for storytelling. With insight, wit, and depth, Harper explores Carter’s career milestones, signature flair, and the controversies that made headlines—alongside the personal convictions that drove him to elevate journalism as both an art and a force for truth.Whether you're a longtime admirer or discovering Carter for the first time, this book offers a front-row seat to the evolution of media through the lens of a man who helped define it.Perfect for readers of cultural biography, media history, and anyone fascinated by the intersection of journalism and power. Read more

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High White Notes is the first in-depth analysis of the complete writings of Hunter S. Thompson, one of the most misunderstood authors of the 20th century. His Gonzo journalism was an odd fusion of fact and fiction that garnered widespread adoration but remains profoundly misunderstood.In this book, David S. Wills traces the outlaw journalist's life from birth to death, exploring how Thompson developed his unique literary voice and why he used such odd techniques to craft a form of prose that defied categorization. This book not only explores Thompson's meteoric rise to literary superstardom but also charts the rapid decline in the quality of his work that came after his 1972 foray into political reporting.High White Notes dispels many myths about Thompson’s life, analyzes his work as never before, and asks difficult questions about his work. By cutting through the legends and exploring Thompson’s deliberate hybridization of fact and fiction, Wills aims to set the Gonzo author in his proper literary context, alongside other greats of the 20th century. Read more

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News Writing is a new book written by an experienced journalist with 40 years of expertise in broadcast and newspaper journalism. Drawing on their extensive knowledge, the author provides practical advice and down-to-earth guidance for students and professionals in the field. The book covers essential topics such as understanding the fundamentals of journalism, developing contacts, sourcing news, and crafting compelling stories. It explores the concept of news, delving into the subjective nature of newsworthiness and the importance of human interest, drama, and the "angle" or "hook" in news stories. The author also addresses the influence of celebrity culture on news values and emphasises the significance of individual style and the unique skills of journalists in the face of AI advancements. With a focus on creativity, determination, and ideas, News Writing aims to equip readers with the necessary tools to excel in the dynamic world of news reporting. Read more