News stories are like collective memories, encapsulating the most iconic moments in recent history around the world. But to those who work in journalism, up-close involvement with these stories can also be life-changing. In That’s Why I’m a Journalist, veteran broadcaster Mark Bulgutch interviews 44 prominent Canadian journalists, who each share their behind-the-scenes accounts of some of the most memorable stories of their careers and describe the moment that made them say to themselves, “That’s why I’m a journalist.” Although many of the contributors’ stories are related to their roles in the most high-profile events of the 20th and 21st centuries, from the fall of the Berlin Wall to 9/11, here too are reflections on quieter and more intimate moments that had a deep personal impact. Peter Mansbridge talks about a trip to Vimy Ridge on the hundredth anniversary of World War I, Adrienne Arsenault recalls bringing together old friends separated by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Terence McKenna recounts what it’s like to worry about being kidnapped as part of the job and Wendy Mesley reflects on the satisfaction of asking tough questions—and uncovering the truth. Together, these enthralling and varied accounts provide an intimate understanding of the people we see on camera and hear on the radio. As Bulgutch argues, modern journalism is undergoing existential threats. News has never been more accessible yet, paradoxically, important news has become harder to find, often buried by pseudo-news of celebrity, lifestyle tips and the latest viral video of a water-skiing squirrel. The stories in this book serve as reminders of the importance of real journalists and real journalism.

"Despite the looming crisis in journalism, a research-practice gap plagues the news industry. This volume seeks to change the research-practice gap, with timely scholarly research on the most pressing problems facing the news industry today translated for a non-specialist audience. Contributions from academics and journalists are brought together in order to push a conversation about how to do the kind of journalism research that matters, meaning research that changes journalism for the better for the public and helps make journalism more financially sustainable. The book covers important concerns such as the financial survival of quality news and information, how news audiences consume (or don't consume) journalism, and how issues such as race, inequality, and diversity must be addressed by journalists and researchers alike. The book addresses needed interventions in policy research, and provides a guide to understanding buzzwords like "news literacy," "data literacy," and "data scraping" that are more complicated than they might initially seem. Practitioners provide suggestions for working together with scholars- from focusing on product and human-centered design to understanding the different priorities that media professionals and scholars can have even when approaching collaborative projects. This book provides valuable insights for media professionals and scholars about news business models, audience research, misinformation, diversity and inclusivity, and news philanthropy. It offers journalists a guide on what they need to know and a call to action for what kind of research journalism scholars can do to best help the news industry reckon with disruption"--

This book takes a holistic approach by capturing the various perspectives and viewpoints concerning the theory and practice of Human Rights Journalism. Firstly, this book helps fill the epistemological vacuum present in Human Rights Journalism by proposing ‘pragmatic objectivity’ within the critical constructivist epistemology. Secondly, it defines the Human Rights Journalism-Responsibility to Protect nexus by identifying five key elements. Thirdly, it proposes a Human Rights Journalism-Responsibility to Protect conceptual model, which illustrates how an embedded human rights focussed media strategy can be designed. Fourthly, this book proposes two novel quantitative analysis tools called the ‘Framing Matrix’ and the ‘Multimodal Discourse Analysis Matrix’ that are equipped to deal with a big sample size over a long period of time. These tools are used to examine the practice of Human Rights Journalism and the typology of news stories of distant sufferings. Finally, it provides a scientific explanation for those in search of the answer to why one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, which took place in Sri Lanka in 2009, did not create any global compassion or garner attention.

The Year that Defined American Journalism explores the succession of remarkable and decisive moments in American journalism during 1897 – a year of significant transition that helped redefine the profession and shape its modern contours. This defining year featured a momentous clash of paradigms pitting the activism of William Randolph Hearst's participatory 'journalism of action' against the detached, fact-based antithesis of activist journalism, as represented by Adolph Ochs of the New York Times, and an eccentric experiment in literary journalism pursued by Lincoln Steffens at the New York Commercial-Advertiser. Resolution of the three-sided clash of paradigms would take years and result ultimately in the ascendancy of the Times' counter-activist model, which remains the defining standard for mainstream American journalism. The Year That Defined American Journalism introduces the year-study methodology to mass communications research and enriches our understanding of a pivotal moment in media history.

Remaking Media is a unique and timely reading of the contemporary struggle to democratize communication. With a focus on activism directed towards challenging and changing media content, practices and structures, the book explores the burning question: What is the political significance and potential of democratic media activism in the western world today? Taking an innovative approach, Robert Hackett and William Carroll pay attention to an emerging social movement that appears at the cutting edge of cultural and political contention, and ground their work in three scholarly traditions that provide interpretive resources for the study of democratic media activism: political theories of democracy critical media scholarship the sociology of social movements. Remaking Media examines the democratization of the media and the efforts to transform the machinery of representation. Such an examination will prove invaluable not only to media and communication studies students, but also to students of political science.