Books in the Columbia Journalism Review Books series

For a century and a half, journalists made a good business out of selling the latest news or selling ads next to that news. Now that news pours out of the Internet and our mobile devices-fast, abundant, and mostly free-that era is ending. Our best journalists, Mitchell Stephens argues, instead must offer original, challenging perspectives-not just slightly more thorough accounts of widely reported events. His book proposes a new standard: "e;wisdom journalism,"e; an amalgam of the more rarified forms of reporting-exclusive, enterprising, investigative-and informed, insightful, interpretive, explanatory, even opinionated takes on current events.This book features an original, sometimes critical examination of contemporary journalism, both on- and offline, and it finds inspiration for a more ambitious and effective understanding of journalism in examples from twenty-first-century articles and blogs, as well as in a selection of outstanding twentieth-century journalism and Benjamin Franklin's eighteenth-century writings. Most attempts to deal with journalism's current crisis emphasize technology. Stephens emphasizes mindsets and the need to rethink what journalism has been and might become.

Bill Grueskin, Ava Seave, and Lucas Graves spent close to a year tracking the reporting of on-site news organizations some of which were founded over a century ago and others established only in the past year or two and found in their traffic and audience engagement patterns, allocation of resources, and revenue streams ways to increase the profits of digital journalism. In chapters covering a range of concerns, from advertising models and alternative platforms to the success of paywalls, the benefits and drawbacks to aggregation, and the character of emerging news platforms, this volume identifies which digital media strategies make money, which do not, and which new approaches look promising. The most comprehensive analysis to date of digital journalism's financial outlook, this text confronts business challenges both old and new, large and small, suggesting news organizations embrace the unique opportunities of the internet rather than adapt web offerings to legacy business models. The authors ultimately argue that news organizations and their audiences must learn to accept digital platforms and their constant transformation, which demand faster and more consistent innovation and investment.

This book analyzes the implications of the Snowden affair for journalism and the role of the profession as a watchdog for the public good. Integrating discussions of media, law, surveillance, technology, and national security, Journalism After Snowden offers a much-needed assessment of the promises and perils for journalism in the digital age.

This book analyzes the implications of the Snowden affair for journalism and the role of the profession as a watchdog for the public good. Integrating discussions of media, law, surveillance, technology, and national security, Journalism After Snowden offers a much-needed assessment of the promises and perils for journalism in the digital age.

In this entertaining anthology, editors, writers, art directors, and publishers from such magazines as Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, The New Republic, Elle, and Harper's draw on their varied, colorful experiences to explore a range of issues concerning their profession. Combining anecdotes with expert analysis, these leading industry insiders speak on writing and editing articles, developing great talent, effectively incorporating art and design, and the critical relationship between advertising dollars and content. They emphasize the importance of fact checking and copyediting; share insight into managing the interests (and potential conflicts) of various departments; explain how to parlay an entry-level position into a masthead title; and weigh the increasing influence of business interests on editorial decisions. In addition to providing a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the making of successful and influential magazines, these contributors address the future of magazines in a digital environment and the ongoing importance of magazine journalism. Full of intimate reflections and surprising revelations, The Art of Making Magazines is both a how-to and a how-to-be guide for editors, journalists, students, and anyone hoping for a rare peek between the lines of their favorite magazines. The chapters are based on talks delivered as part of the George Delacorte Lecture Series at the Columbia School of Journalism.Essays include: "e;Talking About Writing for Magazines (Which One Shouldn't Do)"e; by John Gregory Dunne; "e;Magazine Editing Then and Now"e; by Ruth Reichl; "e;How to Become the Editor in Chief of Your Favorite Women's Magazine"e; by Roberta Myers; "e;Editing a Thought-Leader Magazine"e; by Michael Kelly; "e;Fact-Checking at The New Yorker"e; by Peter Canby; "e;A Magazine Needs Copyeditors Because...."e; by Barbara Walraff; "e;How to Talk to the Art Director"e; by Chris Dixon; "e;Three Weddings and a Funeral"e; by Tina Brown; "e;The Simpler the Idea, the Better"e; by Peter W. Kaplan; "e;The Publisher's Role: Crusading Defender of the First Amendment or Advertising Salesman?"e; by John R. MacArthur; "e;Editing Books Versus Editing Magazines"e; by Robert Gottlieb; and "e;The Reader Is King"e; by Felix Dennis

How mainstream business news failed its readers and what it means for the future of the profession.

Journalists are being imprisoned and killed in record numbers. Online surveillance is annihilating privacy, and the Internet can be brought under government control at any time. Joel Simon, the executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, warns that we can no longer assume that our global information ecosystem is stable, protected, and robust. Journalists are increasingly vulnerable to attack by authoritarian governments, militants, criminals, and terrorists, who all seek to use technology, political pressure, and violence to set the global information agenda.Reporting from Pakistan, Russia, Turkey, Egypt, and Mexico, among other hotspots, Simon finds journalists under threat from all sides. The result is a growing crisis in information-a shortage of the news we need to make sense of our globalized world and fight human rights abuses, manage conflict, and promote accountability. Drawing on his experience defending journalists on the front lines, he calls on "e;global citizens,"e; U.S. policy makers, international law advocates, and human rights groups to create a global freedom-of-expression agenda tied to trade, climate, and other major negotiations. He proposes ten key priorities, including combating the murder of journalists, ending censorship, and developing a global free-expression charter to challenge the criminal and corrupt forces that seek to manipulate the world's news.

Engaged Journalism explores the changing relationship between news producers and audiences and the methods journalists can use to secure the attention of news consumers. Based on Jake Batsell's extensive experience and interaction with more than twenty innovative newsrooms, this book shows that, even as news organizations are losing their agenda-setting power, journalists can still thrive by connecting with audiences through online technology and personal interaction.Batsell conducts interviews with and observes more than two dozen traditional and startup newsrooms across the United States and the United Kingdom. Traveling to Seattle, London, New York City, and Kalamazoo, Michigan, among other locales, he attends newsroom meetings, combs through internal documents, and talks with loyal readers and online users to document the successes and failures of the industry's experiments with paywalls, subscriptions, nonprofit news, live events, and digital tools including social media, data-driven interactives, news games, and comment forums. He ultimately concludes that, for news providers to survive, they must constantly listen to, interact with, and fulfill the specific needs of their audiences, whose attention can no longer be taken for granted. Toward that end, Batsell proposes a set of best practices based on effective, sustainable journalistic engagement.

The year's most compelling and informative writing on Wall Street corruption, business rebranding, economics, finance, and Silicon Valley values-all in one volume.

Launched at a time of major economic change and an uncommon era in business, this new annual series presents the most intriguing and rigorous coverage of the year's well-known and crucial-to-know developments in business and finance. Divided into thematic sections, such as bad business behavior; the financial system and its discontents; trends in global markets; the relationship between politics and money; big-picture practices; and news from the corporate world, the anthology fills a longstanding gap for those seeking diverse, enriching, yet entertaining perspectives on the business of business. This year's selections include Rolling Stone's profile of Don Blankenship and his corrupt tenure as CEO of Massey Energy; the London Guardian's original, unprecedented investigation into the News of the World phone-hacking scandal and its indictment of the Rupert Murdoch media empire; and the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's poignant account of the fatal consequences of federal deregulation in health and medicine. Two searing pieces on the ongoing mortgage scandal, one a hard look at the role of hedge fund Magnetar in perpetuating the housing bubble for financial gain, and the other a detailed breakdown of Countrywide's malfeasance, provide critical context and background; while articles on recoveries in Ireland, Germany, and elsewhere suggest a way foreword from recession. Additional articles tackle bank fees and bailouts, the Buffet Rule, the corporate lobby's reach, the Greenspan legacy, the rise of a global business elite, the future of the American auto industry, and the meaning of recent shakeups at Pfizer, Gucci, IKEA, and other corporate institutions.

Stephen Gillers proposes a bold set of legal and policy changes to strengthen the freedom of the press and support the free press as a public good, including protecting news gathering and confidential sources. Journalism Under Fire weaves together practice, law, and policy into a program that can ensure a future for investigative reporting.