Links & Resources
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Yes, you cannot read them all; but this list may help you acquaint yourself with a diverse array of information sources of different types. From there, you can select a smaller sampling of diverse sources that work for you. |
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Understanding Journalism Committee of Concerned Journalists -- As its website states: "The Committee of Concerned Journalists is a consortium of reporters, editors, producers, publishers, owners and academics from across media worried about the future of the profession." It claims 7,000 members including educators, students and citizens! Check out the "Citizens Corner" on the right side of its home page. Give them input! http://www.concernedjournalists.org/ Jay Rosen's Pressthink: Ghost of Democracy in the Media Machine -- Superb analyses and reflections on the role and performance of the press. http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/ Pew Research Center for the People & The Press -- Excellent source for long-term polling on citizen attitudes toward the press. http://people-press.org/ Project for Excellence in Journalism -- Its stated goal is "to help both the journalists who produce the news and the citizens who consume it develop a better understanding of what the press is delivering. The Project has put special emphasis on content analysis in the belief that quantifying what is occurring in the press, rather than merely offering criticism and analysis, is a better approach to understanding." It describes itself as non partisan, non ideological and non political. In July 2006, it became part of the Pew Research Center. http://www.journalism.org/ Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) -- See especially the SPJ's code of ethics for journalists. Ask your local news media outlets if they follow a code of ethics and how they evaluate their ethical performance on a quarterly basis. http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp? Citizen Journalism -- Here is another example of how technology enables movements that challenge the status quo. "Citizen Journalism" is more than a catchy phrase. Check out the website for OhmyNews, launched in South Korea by Oh Yeon Ho. The site has gone international and claims more than 60,000 citizen journalists operating out of more than 100 countries. Oh Yeon Ho was among "ten outstanding leaders in the field of journalism" recognized by the Missouri School of Journalism in 2007. Be sure to read OhmyNews' code of ethics for citizen journalists. http://english.ohmynews.com/ News Drudge Report -- Drudge is a news aggregator, who tends toward provocative headlines and who occasionally breaks his own stories. http://www.drudgereport.com/ Google News -- Google News is a visually calmer aggregator of headlines plus it offers a search engine of many of the world's news sources. Like many such services, you can personalize it to focus on news topics of interest to you. http://www.google.com/news The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition online -- subscription required, but it is discounted if you already subscribe to the print edition. http://online.wsj.com/home/us The New York Times online edition -- Free but registration required. http://www.nytimes.com/ Blogs & Other Websites Technorati -- Claims to track more than 100 million blogs (and the number continues to rise). Describes itself as "the recognized authority on what's happening on the World Live Web, right now." http://www.technorati.com/ Mickey Kaus -- the online opinion journal section of the WSJ describes Kaus as "the most tough-minded liberal we know." Left-of-center Kaus writes for Slate magazine. http://www.kausfiles.com Power Line [John Hinderaker, Scott Johnson, Paul Mirengoff] -- right-of-center opinion and analysis. http://www.powerlineblog.com/ Books -- Still Good Resources! The Elements of Journalism -- What Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect, by Bill Kovach & Tom Rosenstiel (© 2001, Three Rivers Press) -- This slim book is densely packed with introspective insights on journalism by journalists. It includes a Citizen's Bill of Rights. Among the excellent highlights, read the section on "Independence To Isolation" (pp. 54-57): "Even some journalists had become concerned that too many of their colleagues had crossed a line from skepticism to cynicism, or even a kind of journalistic nihilism, the philosophy of believing in nothing. ... This cynical focus, however, tended to further disconnect journalists from citizens." See also their discussion on "Transparency" (pp. 80-82), which they consider "the most important single element" in creating better discipline around the journalism of verification vs. the journalism of assertion. Watching the Watchdog -- Bloggers as the Fifth Estate, by Stephen D. Cooper (© 2006, Marquette Books) -- Cooper's thesis is that the "blogosphere is in the process of maturing into a full-fledged social institution, albeit a non-traditional one ...." thus he sees blogs as "a constructive addition to the media mix." And he notes: "If the poeple need a watchdog to make sure the institution of government does not abuse the power they have granted it, would there not be a need for a comparable check on the press, as a social institution with power in its own right?" We the Media -- Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People, by Dan Gillmor (© 2006, O'Reilly Media, Inc. -- this is the updated paperback edition). Former columnist for the San Jose Mercury News, Gillmor is founder of the Center for Citizen Media, and director of the Knight Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship at Arizona State University. He is optimistic that journalism will transform "to something profoundly more grassroots and democratic" and that blogs are gaining a place at the table. He is cautious: "However, I'm still not convinced that Big Media is doing the most important thing: listening. We are still in a top-down mode and don't realize that the conversation is more important than our pronouncements. I see progress, but not enough." Here is the link to his website: http://citmedia.org/ Embedded -- The Media at War in Iraq -- an oral history, Bill Katovsky and Timothy Carlson (© 2003, Lyons Press) -- This is a book that one samples rather than reads from cover to cover, though it has some fascinating and diverse nuggets in it. Check out "The Moral Compass of Iraq," in the words of NYT Baghdad Bureau Chief John Burns (p. 155) who has some sobering reflections on the news media, particularly TV journalists. Then read 69-year-old San Francisco Chronicle reporter Carl Nolte's section titled, "Boys in the Bradley" (p. 165). His description of seeing Ted Koppel on the battlefield is a hoot! Press Watch -- A Provocative Look At How Newspapers Report the News, David Shaw (© 1984, MacMillan) -- David Shaw, legendary press reporter for the Los Angeles Times, reported on the press; and he had the temerity to write decades ago that the press was not doing a good job of holding itself "morally accountable for its actions." Many of his colleagues shunned him for daring to apply the principles and practices of good journalism to the press itself. Shaw has proved prescient years later. |