I finally got the book for our class and started catching up on the readings. I agree with the professor that the book is not as bad as students say it is.
I like the book because most of it is written as a historical narrative. When we took Journalism 108, The History of the American Press, our textbook was written similarly. Learning about journalism is learning about history because journalists write our future history. I started Chapter 5 and I like the way that each person has their own section. It is easy to take notes while reading because it is so factual.
I understand why students could be bored by the text. You definitely need to have an interest in history and hard news or business to stay engaged. I think the reason that a lot of students dislike historical serious journalism texts is because that’s not what they want to do in the future, and the J-School is forcing them to learn it.
Many kids in our class are more interested in entertainment than hard news or business. They feel that entertainment isn’t valued here and I think it would be nice if they had a little section or place where they could do, and talk about what they like. I wouldn’t suggest reading The News About The News before bed to these students.
The book serves its purpose and is very factual!! I’m probably one of the few people who will actually read it.
