The Idea of Public Journalism / Edition 1

by Theodore L. Glasser

Overview

This volume offers a critical and constructive examination of the claims of public journalism, the controversial movement aimed at getting the press to promote and indeed improve—not merely report on—the quality of public life. From leading contributors, original essays refine the terms of the debate by situating it within a broad cultural, historical, and philosophical framework. Exploring the movement's promise as well as its problems, the book sheds light on vital issues of political power, freedom of expression, democratic participation, and press responsibility.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781572304604
Publisher:	Guilford Publications, Inc.
Publication date:	05/14/1999
Series:	The Guilford Communication Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	229
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Theodore L. Glasser is professor of communication and director of the Graduate Program in Journalism at Stanford University. His work has appeared in a variety of publications, including Critical Studies in Mass Communication, Journal of Communication, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, Nieman Reports, The Quill, and The New York Times Book Review. Custodians of Conscience: Investigative Journalism and Public Virtue, written with James Ettema, was published in 1998 by Columbia University Press.

PREVIOUS GUILFORD BOOK:
His previous publications include Public Opinion and the Communication of Consent, coedited with Charles T. Salmon.

Table of Contents

THE IDEA OF PUBLIC JOURNALISM
Contents
Foreword: Journalism as a Democratic Art, Cole C. Campbell
Introduction: The Idea of Public Journalism, Theodore L. Glasser
I. The Challenge of Public Journalism
2. The Action of the Idea: Public Journalism in Built Form, Jay Rosen
3. In Defense of Public Journalism, James W. Carey
4. The Common Good as First Principle, Clifford G. Christians
5. Making Readers Into Citizens—The Old Fashioned Way, Thomas C. Leonard
II. The Challenge for Public Journalism
6. Public Journalism and Democratic Theory: Four Challenges, John Durham Peters
7. What Public Journalism Knows about Journalism But Doesn't Know about "Public," Michael Schudson
8. Journalism and the Sociology of Public Life, John Pauly
9. Making the Neighborhood Work: The Improbabilities of Public Journalism, Barbie Zelitzer
Appendix A: On Evaluating Public Journalism, Steven H. Chaffee and Michael McDevitt
Appendix B: Reinventing the Press for the Age of Commercial Appeals: A Critical Review of Selected Books and Monographs, Hanno Hardt

What People are Saying About This

David Merritt

Glasser assembles major figures in academia to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of public journalism.... Anyone interested [in public journalism] will find much here to contemplate.

Interviews

Teachers and students of journalism and communication; working journalists; other readers interested in the media and its role in civic life. Serves as a text in advanced undergraduate and graduate-level courses on media and society, newswriting and reporting, and politics and the press.

Editorial Reviews

"Glasser assembles major figures in academia to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of public journalism and to advance the ongoing discussion of the movement. Contributors mix insight and historical background in their superbly written chapters. Anyone interested in public journalism will find much here to contemplate." —Davis "Buzz" Merritt, Senior Editor, The Wichita Eagle, author of Public Journalism and Public Life

"In this book, Glasser draws together voices that cut through the muddy rhetoric that has so marred discussion of public journalism. The authors provide historical perspective and offer diverse lenses through which to view this movement. With wisdom and elegance, they help us engage the truly profound questions that public journalism raises for the future of our democracy." —Frances Moore Lappe, editor-in-chief, The American News Service and co-author, The Quickening of America: Rebuilding our Nation, Remaking our Lives

From the Publisher

Discusses questions surrounding what citizens can expect from journalists and academicians, and how academicians can collaborate more effectively with journalists in dealing with challenges facing democracy, culture, community, and craft. An introduction proposes that journalism can be seen as problem solving, as contributing to understanding, and as a philosophy of attentiveness. Topics include making readers into citizens, and journalism and the sociology of public life. Includes a bibliographic essay, and an annotated bibliography. Almost all contributors are academics. The editor is a professor of communication and journalism at Stanford University. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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