Welcome

I was fresh out of the newsroom when I started teaching and advising student journalists in the mid-1990s. I relied on my years as a reporter and editor to guide my teaching and advising. Those experiences had taught me much of what students needed to know to become effective journalists and communicators.

Back then, I didn’t spend much time defining what journalism actually was because the students and I were generally on the same page. The media environment they knew was not so different from the one that had shaped and inspired my newspaper career. We all had the same basic understanding of what journalists did — and didn’t — do.

The media landscape has since become more complicated. Viewers and readers are bombarded by streaming channels, social media voices and information from every conceivable perspective. Over time, students started getting their news from Twitter (now X), Facebook, Instagram and TikTok rather than their local newspapers; from CNN and Fox rather than from the big three television networks. On top of that, some political leaders began more loudly denigrating the media as the “enemy of the people.”

As a result, there was a new need to discuss what journalism is, why journalists do what they do and where to find them doing their work. And that need ultimately led to this book.

To me, journalists are integral to their communities. A journalist who shines a light on a hazardous situation can help an entire community with wide-ranging effects. I don’t want to see this aspect of journalism diminished. So, this book is an attempt to help students, practitioners or audience members understand not only the job of the journalist but a true journalist’s motivations. In addition, there’s a growing need to discern fact-based reporting from “fake news” — which is even more difficult when truth is labeled “fake” by people who find certain facts inconvenient.

These pages also break down skills and resources that can help journalists do their jobs the best ways possible through better writing and editing. Notice, there’s nothing here about spreading propaganda or cozying up to powerful people. On the contrary, this book insists that a journalist’s job is to hold powerful people accountable and to empower ordinary citizens.

So, whether you’re telling the story or listening to it, there are strategies here for navigating the sometimes confusing maze of information and misinformation in order to make better decisions on issues — whether it’s how to strengthen democracy or where to find your town’s best pizza.

— Paul Isom