The Elements of Journalism

A timely new edition of the classic journalism text, now featuring updated material on the importance of reporting in the age of media mistrust and fake news—and how journalists can use technology to navigate its challenges

What Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect
Revised and Updated 4th Edition

More than two decades ago, the Committee of Concerned Journalists gathered some of America’s most influential newspeople and asked them, “What is journalism for?” Through exhaustive research, surveys, interviews, and public forums, the committee identified the essential elements that define journalism and its role in our society. The result is one of the most important books on media ever written—winner of the Goldsmith Book Prize from Harvard, a Society of Professional Journalists Award, and the Bart Richards Award for Media Criticism from Penn State University.

“Don’t even think of becoming a reporter, editor, columnist or influential blogger without reading this modern classic”

— William Safire, New York Times

Updated with new material covering the ways journalists can leverage technology to their advantage, especially given the shifting revenue architecture of news—and with the future of news, facts, and democracy never more in question—this fourth edition of The Elements of Journalism is the authoritative guide for journalists, students, and anyone hoping to stay informed in contentious times.

“The most important book on the relationship of journalism and democracy published int he last fifty years”

— Roy Peter Clark, Poynter Institute
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Excerpt

Reviews

“One of the five best essential works about journalism ever written”

— Roger Mudd, The Wall Street Journal

 

“At a time when technological and financial forces are creating formidable challenges to journalism’s traditional values, Kovach and Rosenstiel have written an immensely valuable primer on who we are, what we do, and how we should do it.”

— David Halberstam

 

“The Elements of Journalism is a remarkable book that does a superb job of describing the problems, articulating the values, outlining the risks, and offering understandable and practical ways to respond to the difficulties of the present state of journalism. The Elements of Journalism ought to become required reading for every institution (and individual) engaged in journalism.”

— Neil Rudenstine, President, Harvard University

 

“Of the many books that have been written about reporting the news, this one best captures the shortcomings, subtleties, and possibilities of modern journalism. It deserves to become as indispensable to journalists and journalism students as The Elements of Style.”

— Tom Goldstein, Dean, Graduate School of Journalism, Columbia University

 

“In an age when partisan rancor and ratings-driven showmanship have crowded out the more subtle virtues of solid journalism, Tom Rosenstiel and Bill Kovach provide a timely refresher course in the importance of press fundamentals. They remind us that at its best, journalism is a high public calling, and all those who practice it have a deeper obligation to their readers and viewers than to the demands of the market.”

— David Talbot, editor-in-chief, Salon.com