Books That All Journalists Should Read, With a Disclaimer

Zoo Story: Life in the Garden of Captives  by Thomas French

This is on the list of books recommended by members of the CMA listserv as a book that all journalists should read. For its depth of reporting, I would agree, but I find the writing style to be a bit over the top in places, really reaching to be clever or make a point.

Yes, I realize who Thomas French is. He’s a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who won his Pulitzer for feature writing. Yes, I understand that he’s the perfect person to basically write an extended feature story. But just because he’s a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist doesn’t make what I’ve said about over the top writing less true. To me, that makes it even more important to point this out.

When I teach reporting, especially when covering disasters, fires, and the like, one of the first things I tell reporters is to watch for overwriting. With disasters and new reporters, that’s the tendency—to make it the worst disaster of all time. At times, French slips into the line of writing with hyperbole, exaggeration and just plain over-the-top analysis of the setting, the animals and the people, anathropomorphizing his way through the zoo. While this should probably be expected in a book about a zoo and its animals, it’s very difficult to explain to the students who will be reading this book why it’s okay to do the things they’ve been taught not to do.

French is great at story flow. This story moves pretty seamlessly from Africa to Tampa, but then it stops. While the elephants start the story, the only ones we learn more about are the ones in Tampa. 

I wanted to hear about the other elephants headed for San Diego. How did they fare? French spent so much time getting me concerned about all of these elephants flying to the United States that I was disappointed when I didn’t get the whole story.

As a piece of non-fiction writing, I’d say this book has some things to teach beginning students of journalism—the importance of storytelling to enfold your reader in your writing, the importance of reporting to get details and color. But I’d say young journalists should read this book with a word of caution from professors of journalism: Simple writing is best.

Up next, Truman Capote's In Cold Blood.

Must Read for Journalism Students, No; Cultural Must-Read, Yes

Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

This is on the list of books recommended by members of the CMA listserv as a book that all journalists should read.

A memoir of her life as a Somali refugee, Muslim, former Muslim, political activist, Dutch politician and advocate for freedom from oppression for Muslim women, this book tells the story of a woman who went through radical changes in her life. While I value this book for the cultural richness it provides, I don’t see this as a must-read for its superior reporting or writing. Memoirs rarely provide great examples for aspiring journalists who are studying reporting and writing skills. However, this book does provide Westerners with a view of the Muslim world that we rarely, if ever read about.

Ali’s upbringing in a Muslim society alone provides the reader some insights into life as a Muslim woman as seen through the eyes of someone who grew up Muslim, then questioned her faith and turned away from it. While that doesn’t provide for an objective look at Muslim life, it does provide some food for thought that runs counter to what many in the West see, hear and read.

An especially interesting and eye-opening aspect of the book for me is Ali’s illumination of two countries—Somalia, her country of birth, and the Netherlands, her adopted country. These two countries figure prominently in Ali’s story, but along the way she also describes other countries, in particular the religious aspects of Saudi Arabia and Kenya. For anyone unfamiliar with these countries, their histories and beliefs in terms of tolerance, especially Somalia and the Netherlands, give a wonderfully personal view of how history and tolerance play out in religion, politics and war.

People who are interested in the Muslim religion would also find this book interesting. Formerly a devout Muslim, Ali became an atheist after fleeing to the Netherlands. Now, she actively speaks against the Muslim religion, thus sealing her position as an Infidel.

Infidel may not provide the depth of reporting of other books I’ve reviewed, but I would say it is a definite must-read for all people who want to learn more about the world around them. So you probably want to read Infidel for its illumination of Somalia and the Netherlands and to give you another perspective on what it’s like to be a woman in a Muslim country.

Up next, Thomas French’s Zoo Story: Life in the Garden of Captives.

Books That Journalists Should Read, Absolutely

Slouching Towards Bethlehem  by Joan Didion

This book is on the list of books recommended by members of the CMA listserv as a book that all journalists should read, and I would agree.

I’ve read some of Joan Didion’s most recent books, including the previously reviewed The Year of Magical Thinking, but this is the first one of Didion’s early books that I’ve read. This book is a compilation of essays Didion wrote, mostly about 1960s California.

For those who were children, or rather teens and young adults of the 1960s, this book will remind them of life during the days of drugs, alcohol, rock ‘n roll and free love. Since I don’t really remember those days, this collection of essays gave me another view of the counterculture movement, but what this really gave me was an indication of the lyrical writing style that Didion developed.

While her latest books display a fully developed writer undertaking some of the most difficult subjects anyone has to deal with such as death, dying and the grief process, this book shows Didion in the early stages of her craft but with talent to spare.

Didion’s use of language and style to display tone and mood are superior. Her finely tuned reporting ability gives you the feeling that you are there with her as she interviews Joan Baez, John Wayne and “average” people with the hopes of getting to the heart of life in 1960s America.

This collection gives a great perspective on the history of the United States and the history of a great writer and reporter. Didion shows a keen eye for detail, facts and lyrical voice, providing some of the best narrative writing you will ever read.

A must read for journalists—I’d say absolutely. Unlike the crazy antics and writing of Hunter Thompson, who also wrote about this time period, Joan Didion provides facts and truth, describing the world as it exists and dissecting its meaning, something that all journalism students would be advised to learn.

Up next, Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring.

Books Communicators, Not Just Journalists, Should Read, Absolutely

The Old Man and the Sea by Earnest Hemingway


On the College Media Advisers list of books journalists should read, this book falls under the category, "Anything by Earnest Hemingway."

A short tale of bad luck, good luck and love, this story is too long to be a short story, but too short to be a true novel, yet it is perfectly told. Young and not so young journalists will see the importance of good storytelling, tight writing and clear direction when they read this novella.

Critics and literature professors have picked this story apart, much like the sharks pick the meat off the Old Man's monstrously large catch. One theory is that the story of the Old Man and his wondrous catch is about Jesus Christ, a parable of sorts written by Hemingway. An interpretation easy to see as Hemingway alludes to crucifiction in the tale as the old man's hands become torn and bloody as if hammered with nails.

Another theory is that in the story, Hemingway is the fish, being torn apart by critics, who were literally picking apart every piece of writing he produced.

There may be other theories as well, but Hemingway himself said the story was about an old Cuban fisherman and the giant fish he caught then lost to scavengers as he was adrift at sea.

No matter what the true intent, The Old Man and the Sea is a wonderful story, in and of itself. This little book sealed Hemingway's fame as a master storyteller and writer. I would agree even though I have never been a real Hemingway fan.

The Old Man and the Sea is a must-read book for aspiring communicators, not just journalists. It shows how clarity of thought, focus, tight writing and superb storytelling can be accomplished with limited adornment. And how a story, well told, stands the test of time. The Old Man and the Sea is as fresh today as it was the day Hemingway finished it.

Next up, a veer from the CMA list as I review Michael Lewis' Moneyball on Friday.

Narrow Definitions of Objectivity Kill Media, Reduce Minority Community Coverage

As the adviser to a college student newspaper, part of my job is to teach students how to cover stories for the mass media. As you might guess, that can become quite a daunting task, especially when you throw in ethics.

Recently, an adviser colleague found ethics to be even more daunting than usual as she contemplated hiring a student who was part of the gay community. This student was active in the gay community, and the adviser was concerned about the student's ability to objectively cover issues related to the gay community.

A variety of other advisers chimed in saying how involvement in an organization means that a person cannot be objective in covering the organization.

My response was immediate.

As a journalist and a professor who teaches journalism, I have had the philosophy that wrapping yourself in the flag of objectivity is ridiculous if you are a journalist. Objectivity is an ideal, not a reality.

It's better to understand your biases and work to maintain fairness and balance. The ideal of objectivity just leads to biased coverage and lack of context, which is what most people complain about when they roast the media. This is the context in which my response began, but it is also based on my belief that the white, male view of news is just plain biased. And the white, male view of journalism is what my colleague got from the variety of other advisers who offered their advice.

The reality of covering news is that gay journalists have a better understanding of the gay community; Hispanic journalists have a better understanding of the Hispanic community, African-American journalists have a better understanding of the African-American community, etc., etc. You get the point. People from the community are also more likely to speech to folks who understand them--people who are like them. We use this understanding of people in research by trying to match subjects and researchers based on gender, age, ethnicity and race. It just makes sense.

Today's media would benefit from looking at things differently. Embrace the different points of view of groups who could expand coverage, expand thinking and expand the media market. Seems like something today's media really need--expanded markets. After all, narrow thinking has left the media grappling to stay alive. Isn't it time they were maybe a little more relevant?