From the Blount County Public Library: The second volume of Foothills Voices: Echoes of Southern Appalachia will be unveiled on Thursday, May 9, at 7 p.m. in the Sharon Lawson room of the Blount County Public Library. Twelve writers from the East Tennessee region tell twelve stories – true stories of love, family, joy, and […]

What makes readers buy books?
Why do readers buy books? It’s an ancient question with no definitive answer, but fortunately folks keep searching for one. Maggie Lynch, author of numerous books and articles, has a roundup (Opinion: What Makes Readers Buy Books? | Alliance of Independent Authors: Self-Publishing Advice Center) of some of the latest research on the Alliance of Independent Authors […]

An offer you can’t refuse: The Guardian’s top 10 books about gangsters
If you’re like me, you’re a bit of a sucker for “top 10” or “10 best” lists — especially when it comes to books about topics that interest me. So here’s a good one. Crime novelist Ron Reynolds has written an intelligent and entertaining piece for The Guardian on his top 10 books about gangsters. […]

Library of Congress stands fast against America’s strain of anti-intellectualism
The strain of anti-intellectualism that pervades American culture is always at war with those of us who value learning and believe that life is more than just a set of economic facts. We have many valuable and visible allies. One of the most visible is the Library of Congress.

A pointed, provocative post: Why You Should Stop Reading News by Shane Parrish
Parrish wisely makes the distinction between “news creators” and “journalists.” News creators simply want to gain your attention and hold it for as long as possible. He doesn’t spell it out, but I assume that in his view journalists report information that adds value to your life.

New theories on why we can’t – or don’t – read
Scientists and scholars are taking a closer look at that question these days and are coming up with some interesting, and occasionally surprising, answers.

A journalist needs something to write about: Richard Ben Cramer, Alex Rodriguez and the book that did not get written
In 2006 Cramer sold both his publisher and his subject on a book about Alex Rodriguez, the star of the New York Yankees who was recently banned for a year by Major League Baseball for taking banned substances. The book had the title, The Importance of Being Alex: A Life with the Yankees. He had […]

Tennessee Journalism Series
The Tennessee Journalism Series is a set of texts and instructional material developed by the faculty of the University of Tennessee School of Journalism and Electronic Media for journalism and instructors around the world. The idea behind the series is “multimedia first.” That is, these books are built for the iPad and contain a variety […]

Inforgraphics: A Journalist’s Guide
Infographics is the only book to provide descriptions and examples of the proper use of graphic forms to present information. It presents an in-depth and straightforward approach to explaining the use of information graphics, offering coverage of a form of communication that is as important as writing.
The Complete Editor
The Complete Editor offers a basic, straightforward approach to learning the skills that a modern editor needs and to developing the mindset to be a good editor.

Web Journalism: Practice and Promise of a New Medium
Web Journalism: Practice and Promise of a New Medium explores the current practices and future possibilities of Web journalism and examines the characteristics of the Web that distinguish it from traditional media.

Journalism: Who, What, Where, When, Why and How
This introductory text is covered with lively writing, up-to-date examples and an inviting layout that will have students reading, wondering, asking and practicing. Just published by Allyn and Bacon, this text is a must for any journalist’s shelf and any journalism teacher’s classroom.

Writing for the Mass Media (8th edition)
For more than 20 years, Writing for the Mass Media has been introducing students to all of the basic forms of media writing: the inverted pyramid for print, the drama unity form for broadcasting, summaries and other specialized writing for the web, copy platforms and storyboards for advertising. and news releases and other forms of […]

RecentReads: Subversives: A sad, enraging tale
The story here is that J. Edgar Hoover and Ronald Reagan betrayed the nation. They weren’t agents of a foreign power. Instead, they became what they said they were fighting — subversives. They (and many others with them) actively undermined the laws and values of America to advance their own political agendas and to gain […]

OffTopic: Journalism education books now on the iPad
A series of journalism texts built specifically for the iPad is now available to high school and journalism teachers and students.
Vietnam Voices
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