Investigative Journalism


Book Description

At a time of hyper-partisanship, media fragmentation and "fake news", the work of investigative journalism has never been more important. This book explores the history and art of investigative journalism, and explains how to deal with legal bullies, crooked politicians, media bosses, big business and intelligence agencies; how to withstand conspiracy theories; and how to work collaboratively across borders in the new age of data journalism. It also provides a fascinating first-hand account of the work that went into breaking major news stories including WikiLeaks and the Edward Snowden affair. Drawing on over 40 years of experience with world-leading investigative teams at newspapers including the Guardian and The Washington Post, award-winning journalist David Leigh provides an illuminating insight into some of the biggest news events of the 20th and 21st centuries. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in the behind-the-scenes work of journalists and news organizations. It also acts as an essential practical toolkit for both aspiring and established investigative journalists.




Saving Community Journalism


Book Description

America's community newspapers have entered an age of disruption. Towns and cities continue to need the journalism and advertising so essential to nurturing local identity and connection among citizens. But as the business of newspaper publishing collides with the digital revolution, and as technology redefines consumer habits and the very notion of community, how can newspapers survive and thrive? In Saving Community Journalism, veteran media executive Penelope Muse Abernathy draws on cutting-edge research and analysis to reveal pathways to transformation and long-term profitability. Offering practical guidance for editors and publishers, Abernathy shows how newspapers can build community online and identify new opportunities to generate revenue. Examining experiences at a wide variety of community papers--from a 7,000-circulation weekly in West Virginia to a 50,000-circulation daily in California and a 150,000-circulation Spanish-language weekly in the heart of Chicago--Saving Community Journalism is designed to help journalists and media-industry managers create and implement new strategies that will allow them to prosper in the twenty-first century. Abernathy's findings will interest everyone with a stake in the health and survival of local media.




The Online Journalism Handbook


Book Description

How do we practice journalism in a digital world, in which the old 'rules' no longer apply? This text offers comprehensive, instructive coverage of the techniques and secrets of being a successful online journalist, both from a theoretical and practical point of view. Reflecting the vitality of the web, it will inspire you to acquire new skills and make sense of a transforming industry. Key Features: How to investigate and break stories online Learn to broadcast to millions using video and podcast How to blog like a pro Learn to manage and stimulate user-generated content Include and use social media in your toolkit How to dig out stories using data journalism Rise to the challenge of citizen journalism Make your journalism more interactive at every stage of the process Dedicated chapter for Law and Online Communication The Online Journalism Handbook is essential reading for all journalism students and professionals and of key interest to media, communication studies and more broadly the social sciences.




Data for Journalists


Book Description

This straightforward and effective how-to guide provides the basics for any reporter or journalism student beginning to use data for news stories. It has step-by-step instructions on how to do basic data analysis in journalism while addressing why these digital tools should be an integral part of reporting in the 21st century. In an ideal core text for courses on data-driven journalism or computer-assisted reporting, Houston emphasizes that journalists are accountable for the accuracy and relevance of the data they acquire and share. With a refreshed design, this updated new edition includes expanded coverage on social media, scraping data from the web, and text-mining, and provides journalists with the tips and tools they need for working with data.




A NewsHound's Guide to Student Journalism


Book Description

Covering the basics of media arts values and practice, this graphic textbook offers cub reporters a primer on the drama, adventure and ethical conundrums that make journalism rewarding and fun. Using ripped-from-the-headlines examples, the authors challenge students to engage with the big issues. The stories revolve around a diverse newspaper staff at an urban high school who find themselves in a series of teachable moments. Packed with reporting exercises and fundamentals of the craft, woven into engaging narratives, each comic also gives readers a look at the real-life event that inspired the tale.




The Complete Idiot's Guide to Journalism


Book Description

Never has the world of journalism been so explosive, so global, and so competitive. Forget hourly news flashes; we live in a world of 24-hour breaking news with radio and TV stations and Internet sites updating stories by the minute and newspapers adjusting to stay fresh, in-depth, and relevant. While the number of newspapers and TV and radio stations has dropped over the last half century in the United States, instant, free-access Internet news portals have grown precipitously to not only fill any gaps in coverage but to force Big Media to change its game plans or risk losing readership. But in no way does this suggest any aspect of journalism is heading for the garbage heap-especially newspapers. Never before have Americans been so engaged in their world, and many mediums are needed to satiate that collective appetite for knowledge.




School Newspaper Adviser's Survival Guide


Book Description

Patricia Osborn earned a B.A. in journalism and her teaching credentials from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. She has taught English, journalism and composition in the Toledo, Ohio, Public Schools where she also served as adviser to several school newspapers and as English Department chair. Before becoming a teacher, Ms. Osborn was a general news reporter on the Marion Star.




Spreadable Media


Book Description

"Spreadable Media" maps fundamental changes taking place in the contemporary media environment, a space where corporations no longer tightly control media distribution. This book challenges some of the prevailing frameworks used to describe contemporary media.




Among the Woo People


Book Description

In the mid-nineties, Russell Frank left a peaceful life in rural California to raise three kids in a town saturated with fraternities, late-night undergrad fast food haunts, and rowdy football crowds. Among the Woo People recounts his two decades living—and surviving—in State College, Pennsylvania, the often-chaotic home of Penn State University. This humorous peek at life in a college town smack-dab in the middle of rural Pennsylvania chronicles a changing community over the course of two eventful decades. A professor of journalism, former columnist for the Centre Daily Times, and contributor to StateCollege.com, Frank has a unique perspective on living in the shadow of a university—especially on the tribe of nomadic young adults known as the “Woo people,” so named for their signature mode of celebratory communication. He invites readers into the routines of his hectic household as they embrace their new home, skewers the culture of intercollegiate sports, relates the challenges and peculiarities of teaching at one of the nation’s largest universities, and, most important, teaches us to be amused at college-kid antics and to appreciate their academic and real-world accomplishments, even as we anxiously tick off the days until semester’s end. From tales of missing porch furniture and red plastic cups in the bushes to a “Nude Year’s Eve” run by an octet of forty-somethings to the sweet relief of summer, Frank’s hilarious, insightful essays are indispensable for anyone who wants to survive, appreciate, and enjoy college-town life.




Public Journalism 2.0


Book Description

Where does journalism fit in the media landscape of blogs, tweets, Facebook postings, YouTube videos, and literally billions of Web pages? Public Journalism 2.0 examines the ways that civic or public journalism is evolving, especially as audience-created content—sometimes referred to as citizen journalism or participatory journalism—becomes increasingly prominent in contemporary media. As the contributors to this edited volume demonstrate, the mere use of digital technologies is not the fundamental challenge of a new citizen-engaged journalism; rather, a depper understanding of how civic/public journalism can inform citizen-propelled initiatives is required. Through a mix of original research, essays, interviews, and case studies, this collection establishes how public journalism principles and practices offer journalists, scholars, and citizens insights into how digital technology and other contemporary practices can increase civic engagement and improve public life. Each chapter concludes with pedagogical features including: * Theoretical Implications highlighting the main theoretical lessons from each chapter, * Practical Implications applying the chapter's theoretical findings to the practice of citizen-engaged jouranlis, *Reflection Questions prompting the reader to consider how to extend the theory and application of the chapter. blogging and other participatory journalism practices enabled by digital technology are not always in line with the original vision of public journalism, which strives to report news in such a way as to promote civic engagement by its audience. Public Journalism 2.0 seeks to reinvent public journalism for the 21st century and to offer visions of how digital technology can be enlisted to promote civic involvement in the news.