In his massive, marvelous new paean to the greats of foreign correspondents, Journalism’s Roving Eye (Louisiana State University Press, 487 pp), John Maxwell Hamilton, Dean of the J-school at LSU, gallops to the precipice of What Now? (more...)

the aughts Just as great men stand on the shoulders of giants, so too is history built on what came before. This now-elapsing decade — The Aughts, or whatever you want to call them — has been a decade of change not only compared to the decades before it, but because of them. That said, historian Paul Starr notes an important distinction: “We are seeing a whole series of events in which journalists became important actors themselves. You can’t tell the story of what happened without them. You can write about any other period in history and you don’t have to mention journalists at all. You can’t do that for this period, because journalists were critical actors in those changes.” Perhaps that's why now, more than ever, it's important to remember how we got here. (more...)

Glenn Beck sure gives me the yips. But so have many others over my sixty-plus years in this profession. Some as columnists, like Hearst’s nasty Westbrook Pegler, or rumor-monger Walter Winchell; some as voices for the frustrated afflicted, self-defined or truly hurting; to mobilize and deploy political enmities, like Huey Long, George Wallace or Joe McCarthy.

But this guy is different. (more...)

The giant  rear-view mirror held up by Walter Cronkite's death, seen through the fog of adulation and nostalgia for historic feats of journalism,  brings into focus the essence of his importance:  it was the trust he inspired — by dint of professional  skills, personal accessibility and exposure as the  first  designated anchor  for the new nationwide medium — by being a great reporter. (more...)

While the freedom of the press guaranteed by the First Amendment has never been successfully challenged politically, it is now being challenged economically:  as a practical matter, the press is not so free.

In the hard new priorities of news management, dwindling resources struggle to keep coverage alive on essential routine beats, while the public-interest side of the business — investigative journalism,  the very heart and soul of journalism — is being unforgivably squeezed in the face of fiscal realities. (more...)

For the media business -- in turmoil  as it tries to figure out what it should be doing and how it should be doing it -- events along the emotionally -conflicted career path of Robert McNamara give us a whole course curriculum of case studies and  topics for debate. Here are just a few - plus some lessons the media can still learn from them. (more...)