Beyond News

Mitchell Stephens is a professor of journalism at New York University's Arthur L. Carter Institute. His books include A History of News, named a New York Times "Notable Book of the Year"; The Rise of the Image, the Fall of the Word; Broadcast News; and Writing and Reporting the News. He has written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times. Much of the research for this book was completed while Stephens was a fellow at the Shorenstein Center at Harvard's Kennedy School.

With his customary intelligence and brio, Mitchell Stephens argues for more ambitious, more valuable journalism. Stephens embodies the virtues of his hero Benjamin Franklin, writing with pungent wit and sharp insights. He has mined United States history for telling anecdotes showing that conventional news reporting is insufficient. He boldly makes the case that the interpretation of news could redeem both journalism and journalism professionals; moreover, since wisdom journalism both produces and requires knowledge, his vision sets the course for journalism education. -- Linda Steiner, Philip Merrill College of Journalism, University of Maryland Persuasively written and filled with telling examples, Beyond News makes a powerful case for moving beyond the traditional five W's as guidelines for journalists to the five I's of what Stephens calls wisdom journalism: informed, intelligent, interpretive, insightful, and illuminating. -- Loren Ghiglione, Northwestern University This engaging book tells us how journalism must change in order to better serve the times-and the public. Stephens calls for interpretation and insight, intelligence, and illumination. Beyond News offers all of these and more. Thought-provoking and a delight to read. -- Geneva Overholser, senior fellow, University of Southern California, Annenberg Definitely of value to journalism students, this book will also appeal to those interested in access to informed perspectives and the fate of the "fourth estate." Library Journal ...a feast, intelligent and candidly forthright. Publishers Weekly

• Introduction: Quality Journalism Reconsidered 1. "Principles, Sentiments, and Affections": The Journalism Out of Which the United States Was Born 2. "Yesterday's Doings in All Continents": The Business of Selling News 3. "Circulators of Intelligence Merely": The Devaluation of News 4. "Bye-Bye to the Old 'Who-What-When-Where'?": The Return of Interpretation 5. "Much as One May Try to Disappear from the Work": The Argument Against Objectivity 6. "The World's Immeasurable Babblement": What Does and Does Not Make Journalism Wise 7. "Shimmering Intellectual Scoops": The Wisdom Journalist, the Journalism Organization, Their Audiences, and Our Politics Notes Acknowledgments Index