Remembering Christopher Hitchens, Through his Writing
Watching the current health insurance-contraception hullabaloo, with its admixture of public policy, religion and politics, I found myself wishing that Christopher Hitchens was still around to offer up what would have no doubt been some very provocative views on the subject. His was a singular voice in American letters, one I suspect many of us will miss for years to come.
But a few articles Hitchens penned in his final days are just now being published, including an essay on G.K. Chesterton for the March issue of The Atlantic and a defense of Richard Dawkins for the website of the Council for Secular Humanism. Benjamin Schwarz, The Atlantic's literary and national editor, has written a column to accompany the Chesterton essay, and author Ian McEwan has offered a moving account of his friend's final days that includes some description of Hitch, ever the hard-working craftsman, banging out the Chesterton piece.
Meanwhile, Hitchens' final book, "Mortality," is to be published in the fall.
Also read:
Christopher Hitchens, a Writer's Writer
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Christopher Hitchens photo courtesy Getty Images
As Colleges Grow More Image-Conscious, Student Newspapers Become Less Irreverent
Time was, college newspapers were the place aspiring journos went to learn their craft and have some fun. The fun came when denizens of student newsrooms got to write irreverent articles about things that actually interested them - like sex, for instance.
Nowadays image-conscious colleges are fussier than ever about what appears in student papers, and increasingly eager to muzzle papers that print anything that might prove at all embarrassing. Like irreverent articles about sex.
In the process, some of the fun has been lost.
Want to know more? Read This:
Fussy College Administrators Are Taking All the Joy Out of Student Newspapers
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Photo courtesy Tony Rogers
China's Economy Grows, but the Press Still Faces Censorship
For years, many political theorists assumed that free-market reforms would naturally bring about democratic reforms in the developing world. That hasn't proven to be the case in China.
China, as anyone who hasn't been living in a cave knows, is a financial juggernaut, an economic superpower in the making. Yet the government is as repressive as ever when it comes to basic human rights.
Nowhere is that more apparent than with the press. The government routinely censors and manipulates the media when it doesn't tow the Communist party line. For example, when Chinese journalists dared to question the official version of events after a high-speed train crashed last year, government censors imposed a news blackout that forced many papers to tear up dozens of pages of critical coverage.
Want to learn more? Read this:
How Draconian is China is When it Comes to Censorship?
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Jon Stewart, Media Critic
Jon Stewart is known as a brilliant satirist and comedian, but as host of "The Daily Show" he's also become perhaps the nation's best-known and most savvy media critic. Stewart's critiques of journalism and journalists in particular can be both dead-on and dead-wrong, in my view, but whether you agree with him or not, he's always thought-provoking.
So I've put together a hub of stories I've written over the last few years about Stewart the comedian in the role of Stewart the media critic. You'll find it here:
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Tired of Sensationalism? Become a Selective News Consumer
A lot of people - The Daily Show's Jon Stewart foremost among them - say the the news media are too sensationalist. They look at our tabloid culture and the excesses of cable news and wonder where they can find news delivered in a more sober, serious way.
Well, in a news universe that includes the Internet, newspapers, TV and radio and so on, there are plenty of choices out there. And that's what I think Stewart and others like him miss.
Sure, the cable news shoutfests and the seemingly endless focus on celebrity can be absurd. But there's a solution. Turn off the TV. Pick up a copy of The New York Times. Watch the BBC news on cable.
In other words, be an informed and selective news consumer. It's not that hard. You can start by reading this:
Tired of Sensationalist News Coverage? There are Plenty of Alternatives
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Photo of J. Seward Johnson's sculpture "Newspaper Reader" by John Rogers
How to Get Started in Sports Journalism
With the Super Bowl approaching our thoughts naturally turn to sports, and at this site at least, sports journalism.
Too often beginning sportswriters think they can start at the top by writing about the pro teams, whether it's the NFL, NBA, NHL or Major League baseball. But they usually can't do their own reporting, because they don't have access to those teams. So they take stuff they've read about those teams online, and then regurgitate it (maybe in their own words, maybe not) and call it sportswriting.
That may teach them a little (very little) about writing, but it teaches them nothing about reporting, which is much more important. If you want to become a sportswriter, the best way is to start by covering local teams in your area, usually high school or college teams. So read this:
Want to Get Your Start in Sports Journalism? Cover the Local Teams
One thing every sports writer needs to know: How to cover a game. Sound obvious, but a lot of newbie sportswriters don't really know how to do a basic game story. So check this out:
Sports: Writing The Short Game Story
Finally, every sportswriter needs to know how to bang out a story on a tight deadline. See how professional sportswriter Eric Redner does it here:
Write Sports Stories On a Tight Deadline
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Should Journalists Be Truth Vigilantes?
New York Times public editor Arthur Brisbane recently poked a hornet's nest when when he wondered aloud whether hard-news reporters should call out public officials when they make false statements.
The response from readers?
"The fact that you would ask something so dumb simply reveals how far you've sunk. Of course you should be REPORTING THE TRUTH!"
Of course, a reporter's primary mission is always to find the truth. The problem is, it's not always that easy. Here's why:
Should Journalists Be Objective or Tell the Truth?
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Can Paywalls Work for Local Newspapers?
Much of the controversy over website paywalls has focused on big papers like The New York Times. But if local newspapers are to survive they may increasingly have to charge for online access as well.
So can local papers make paywalls work for them? My thoughts.
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In Any Kind of Writing, Simplicity is the Goal
When we talk, we have a natural ability to condense and summarize our ideas, to simplify them so that our listeners will understand
But when we start to write many of us gum up our sentences with overly wordy phrases and big words.
Here's how to change that.
Good Follow-up Questions are Important in any Interview
Have you ever seen an interview where the interviewee says something absolutely outrageous, and the reporter fails to challenge the statement or ask a follow-up question? I have, and to say it's annoying is an understatement. But here's how you can avoid making that same mistake:
Be Ready to Ask Tough Follow-up Questions
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Photo by Tony Rogers