Brandon Wedge
09/13/13
Jiun-Yi Tsai
J201-Sec 304
Experts of
Journalism
Currently people are living in a world of information
that requires updates every minute. People want to be informed whether it is
for their occupation or just to have knowledge of what is currently going on in
their world. The question is: How does one know what to believe with all this
information being fed to us through multiple sources? Blur: How to Know What’s True in the Age of Information Overload (Blur) is the answer to the question. Written
by Bill Kovach (Kovach) and Tom Rosenstiel (Rosenstiel), Blur allows readers to not only understand the media, but analyze
and filter the information they are receiving as well. Rosenstiel and Kovach
are well respected writers known for their work in journalism, and are the main
reason for the book’s success.
To
understand why Blur is so useful, the
audience must know where the information is coming from. Bill Kovach, one of
the authors of Blur, is no stranger
to journalism. With forty years of journalism under his belt, Kovach has
acquired many accomplishments throughout his career; first beginning in 1979
when he was named as Washington bureau chief by the New York Times. After a little over six years of working in
Washington, he left the bureau to pursue a career with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Bill Kovach 1). While working in
Atlanta he directed and was a part of two projects that won two Pulitzer
Prizes, which had not happened in Atlanta in twenty years. Kovach is also
associated with Harvard as a Nieman fellow and later became the curator of the
Nieman Foundation journalism fellowship program in 1988 (Bill Kovach 2). Along
with being the curator, the Harvard Faculty chose him to be the chairman of the
Committee of Concerned Journalists (CCJ) in 1997 (Bill Kovach 1). Kovach is an
established author who has been acknowledged by many organizations and
companies. He does not just associate with anyone, associating himself with another
successful writer and cofounder of the Committee of Concerned Journalist (CCJ),
Tom Rosenstiel.
Tom Rosenstiel is also no stranger to journalism. Rosenstiel
has more than thirty years of experience in writing and is known for founding and
directing the Project for Excellence in Journalism along with cofounding the
CCJ with Bill Kovach. Rosenstiel also worked for the Los Angeles Times for over a decade as a media writer and critic.
However, he did not stop there. Rosenstiel was just nominated Executive
Director at the American Press Institute in January 2013. Another notable
accomplishment for Rosenstiel is his collection of seven books he has written
in his career (Tom Rosenstiel). From all the accomplishments it is clear as to why
Kovach writes with Rosenstiel. Both are well established writers and have
received many awards and accomplishments for their work. Blur is not their only book together; it is only their most recent
to be released.
Rosenstiel
and Kovach have produced two other books together, Warp Speed: America in the Age of Mixed Media and more notably The Elements of Journalism: What Newspeople Should Know and the Public
Should Expect. The authors have successfully produced two books together,
the most recent, Blur, is on its way
to success as well. Reviews of Blur only
strengthen the view of the book. Booklist had this to say about Blur, “A valuable and insightful
resource to help Americans adapt to an era that demands that readers become
their own editors and news aggregators.” Booklist is not the only review
praising Blur, Nicholas Lemann, the
dean of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism praised the book
as well. The dean referred to the book as, “Impassioned and practical…It’s hard
to imagine a more urgently necessary task, for journalism and for democratic
societies, than the one Kovach and Rosenstiel have taken on” (Blur). I personally
agree with the reviews about Blur; I
knew very little about journalism and have learned so much from just reading
five chapters. The authors did a wonderful job of explaining the importance of
knowing the truth and analyzing the news.
Rosenstiel
and Kovach deserve every award they have earned and then some more in the
future. These authors have made analyzing the news simple, not only for
journalists, but any reader. The book will have a lasting effect on readers and
leave the readers analyzing every bit of information they receive after
completion. Rosenstiel and Kovach have successfully produced two books before Blur, and I agree with other reviews,
that Blur will have the same success.
Works Cited
"Bill
Kovach 1." International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
ICIJ. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2013.
<http://www.icij.org/journalists/bill-kovach>.
"Bill
Kovach 2." Journalists: Kovach. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Sept. 2013. <http://www.investigatingpower.org/journalist/bill-kovach/>.
"Blur: How
to Know What's True in the Age of Information Overload." RJI. N.p., 01
Nov. 2010. Web. 14 Sept. 2013.
<http://rjionline.org/ccj/books/blur-how-know-whats-true-age-information-overload>.
"Tom
Rosenstiel." Poynter. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2013. <http://about.poynter.org/about-us/our
people/tom-rosenstiel>.
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