David Halberstam, reporter. David Halberstam represented many things to the profession of journalism. Most of all, I think, he demonstrated that a reporter who does his job can make a difference. Halberstam was one of the first people to say that we were wrong to be in Vietnam in the early 1960s. He did this not out of ideological bent -- he had been a supporter of our efforts there -- but because he had been in country and had seen how much the situation there differed with the official version that the U.S. government was trying to propogate. Halberstam's reporting and information led him to his opinions (not the other way around). He laid all of this out in his best-selling 1973 book, The Best and Brightest. Even after Vietnam, Halberstam continued to be reporter. He wrote about the media, the generations, the auto industry and sports. To each of those subjects he devoted the dogged determination of a reporter trying to get the facts and understand the people involved in a story. He was doing just that when he was killed in a car accident in California earlier this week. He was on his way to interview a source for his latest book. He was 73 years old. Here are tributes and other information about Halberstam:

• Fresh Air interviews with Halberstam
  
• Roy Peter Clark, David Halberstam: Witness to War, Poynter Institute
  
• Jon Meacham, The Best and the Brightest, Newsweek
  
• Henry Allen, A Journalist for Whom There Were Not Enough Words, Washington Post
  

(Posted April 25, 2007)

Web Journalism -- in Chinese. The long-awaited Chinese edition of Web Journalism is finally out. I posted something about that a couple of years ago, and copies of the book arrived in the mail last week.

This is the first time any book of mine has ever been translated into a language that I couldn't proofread, and that's probably a good thing. I am certainly not tempted to proofread this one, and neither are any of my proof-reading friends, of which there are several.

Seriously, my hope is that this book will do the folks on the other side of the world some good.

(Posted March 5, 2007)


Discussion notes: Editing for the web. Do you need to talk with your editing students about the special considerations of editing for the web? Do you need to get your online journalism students up to speed as editors? JPROF.com has put together some discussion notes that you can use to introduce your editors to some of the things they will need to thing about in editing for the web, things such as linking, wordiness, chunking, pull quotes and other devices. More. (Posted Feb. 7, 2007)

Short videos on broadcast writing. For those interested in teaching or learning to write in broadcast style, you should listen to or watch four short video clips about broadcast writing produced by my friend and colleague Mark Harmon, a professor of journalism and electronic media here at UT. They can be found at this Volcasting link. The four clips concern news judgment, attribution, broadcast style and active voice. (All four videos will take less than 10 minutes to watch.) They are well worth the short amount of time it takes to view them. (Posted Oct. 31, 2006)

Today's Word on Journalism. "In order to enjoy the inestimable benefits that the liberty of the press ensures, it is necessary to submit to the inevitable evils that it creates."
--Alexis de Tocqueville, French commentator on the American experiment, 1835

That quotation comes from Ted Pease's Today's Word on Journalism, a daily email that contains a quotation about some aspect of journalism. Ted is a professor at Utah State and has a world-class sense of humor, particularly when he directs it at himself. His email is always a delight to read. You can subscribe by sending a "subscribe" message to Ted at tpease@cc.usu.edu. (The drawing to the right is de Tocqueville, not Ted.) More quotations about journalism -- many of them coming from Ted -- can be found at this page on JPROF. (Posted Sept. 7, 2006)

BOOKS for the journalist
and the journalism educator

Journalism: Who, What, When, Where, Why and How

James Glen Stovall. Allyn and Bacon, 2005
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.
Learn more.
Go to the book's web site at Allyn and Bacon.
Order the book from Amazon, Barnes and Noble.
Nice review of JN5W (and full disclosure). My good friend and colleague (that's the full disclosure part) Herb Thompson has written a very kind and complimentary review of the book for SecondaryEnglish.com. Along with it is an interview that Herb conducted with me.

Writing for the Mass Media (6th edition)

James Glen Stovall. Allyn and Bacon, 2006
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 witing for public relations. Used by more than 350 colleges and universities, this book gives students an excellent introduction to media writing and teachers the convenience of a clear, concise text with ample writing exercises at the end of each chapter.
Learn more.
Go to the book's web site at Allyn and Bacon.
Order the book from Amazon, Barnes and Noble.

Web Journalism: Practice and Promise of a New Medium

James Glen Stovall. Allyn and Bacon, 2004
How will the web change journalism? And what should you be teaching your students about the future of journalism in this digital age? This book explores those questions and offers some practical answers based on years of experience in the field of journalism. The web bring to journalism qualities present in no other medium: the combination of capacity, immediacy, flexibility, permanence and interactivity. These qualities will have a profound effect on the journalism of the future. Give your students some real insight as to the future of journalism and the way it will be practiced.
Learn more.
Order the book from Amazon (where it is incorrectedly titled Journalism on the Web), Barnes and Noble.

The Complete Editor (2nd edition)

James Glen Stovall and Edward Mullins. Allyn and Bacon, 2006
This basic editing text began its life in the early 1980s as Online Editing, the first text to teach editing from the persepctive of the computer technology that was taking over the field of journalism. Today it has been completely revised to cover not just the developing technology but also to deal with what it means to be an editor in a digital world. The book contains tightly written chapters and exercise material designed to get students into the mindset of being editors.
Learn more on this web site; go to the book's page on the Allyn and Bacon web site.
Order the current edition from Barnes and Noble.

Infographics: A Journalist's Guide

James Glen Stovall. Allyn and Bacon, 1997
This practical guide teaches students what infographics are and how they can be created. It is the only text that delves specifically into the forms of graphics and the kind of information that is appropriate for those forms. The book also discusses the modern development of graphics and the issues that surround them, such as the difficulty in creating them and the ways for journalists to avoid errors in graphics.
Learn more.
Order the book from Amazon, Barnes and Noble.

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