Explores the world of journalism and contains instructions and practical advice on all facets of reporting.

In the wake of 2010's historic general election politics commands more column inches and air time than ever before. Yet most political journalists failed to foresee the consequences of a coalition government. And they are still struggling to understand and reflect the new political environment in their coverage. While there is plenty of debate about the current state of politics and journalism, aspiring political reporters receive little guidance. Are unscrupulous spin doctors simply spoon-feeding them stories? Do they push their own politically-biased agendas? This book aims to focus on helping to produce competent and confident journalists who report on politics without fear or favour. With chapters on starting out in the trade, where to find the story, how to report it, and how to deal with the political classes, this book is the essential guide for journalism students, trainee journalists and journalists looking to understand the mechanisms of Westminster and Whitehall. Edited by Sheila Gunn, who was a political reporter on The Times and spin doctor to John Major, So You Want To Be A Political Journalist features contributions from a wide range of current and former political journalists from print, broadcast and on-line media. An essential resource for journalism students and the perfect refresher for seasoned reporters. Author lectures on political journalism on City University's prestigious journalism course. The National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) recognizes 63 journalism courses at colleges around Britain. In addition, there are hundreds of further colleges and organisations running media studies courses.

Over the course of a thirty-year career, Samuel Freedman has excelled both at doing journalism and teaching it, and he passionately engages both of these endeavors in the pages of this book. As an author and journalist, Freedman has produced award-winning books, investigative series, opinion columns, and feature stories and has become a specialist in a wide variety of fields. As a teacher, he has shared his expertise and experience with hundreds of students, who have gone on to succeed in both print and broadcast media. In Letters to a Young Journalist, Freedman conducts an extended conversation with young journalists-from kids on the high school paper to graduates starting their first jobs. Whether he's talking about radio documentaries or TV news shows, Internet blogs, or backwater beats, shoeleather research or elegant prose, his goal is to explore the habits of mind that make an excellent journalist. It is no secret that journalism's mission is seriously imperiled these days, and Freedman's provocative ideas and fascinating stories offer students and journalists at all levels of experience wise guidance and professional inspiration.

A book for book lovers, The Last Bookshop is a uplifting novel that reminds us never to underestimate the power of people who love books. Cait is a bookshop owner and book nerd whose social life revolves around her mobile bookselling service hand-picking titles for elderly clients, particularly the grandmotherly June. After a tough decade for retail, Book Fiend is the last bookshop in the CBD, and the last independent retailer on a street given over to high-end labels. Profits are small, but clients are loyal. When James breezes into Book Fiend, Cait realises life might hold more than her shop and her cat, but while the new romance distracts her, luxury chain stores are circling Book Fiend's prime location, and a more personal tragedy is looming.

From an NPR veteran, a “comprehensive and lucid” guide to “the values and practices that yield stellar audio journalism” (Booklist). Maybe you’re thinking about starting a podcast, and want some tips from the pros. Or perhaps storytelling has always been a passion of yours, and you want to learn to do it more effectively. Whatever the case—whether you’re an avid NPR listener or you aspire to create your own audio, or both—Sound Reporting: The NPR Guide to Audio Journalism and Production will give you a rare tour of the world of a professional broadcaster. Jonathan Kern, a former executive producer of All Things Considered who has trained NPR’s on-air staff for years, is a gifted guide, able to narrate a day in the life of a host and lay out the nuts and bolts of production with both wit and warmth. Along the way, he explains the importance of writing the way you speak, reveals how NPR books guests ranging from world leaders to neighborhood newsmakers, and gives sage advice on everything from proposing stories to editors to maintaining balance and objectivity. Best of all—because NPR wouldn’t be NPR without its array of distinctive voices—lively examples from popular shows and colorful anecdotes from favorite personalities animate each chapter. As public radio’s audience of millions can attest, NPR’s unique guiding principles and technical expertise combine to connect with listeners like no other medium can. With today’s technologies allowing more people to turn their home computers into broadcast studios, Sound Reporting is a valuable guide that reveals the secrets behind NPR’s success.

This is a 1973 anthology of journalism edited by Tom Wolfe and E. W. Johnson. The book is both a manifesto for a new type of journalism by Wolfe, and a collection of examples of New Journalism by American writers, covering a variety of subjects from the frivolous (baton twirling competitions) to the deadly serious (the Vietnam War). The pieces are notable because they do not conform to the standard dispassionate and even-handed model of journalism. Rather they incorporate literary devices usually only found in fictional works.

Practical Journalism: How to Write News introduces the beginner to the skills needed to become a journalist in the digital age. The book draws on interviews with dozens of working journalists. They share their thoughts on the profession and we watch them work - selecting stories, carrying out interviews and writing scripts. There are chapters on interviewing, research techniques and news writing. Further chapters cover working in broadcasting and online. Media law and ethics are also included. Most journalists believe they work ethically although few have set rules and others admit to being pressured to behave underhandedly. This book looks at how journalists can work more ethically and provides a guide for beginners. The book is easy to read. Each chapter concludes with activities and a list of further reading. A glossary of terms is included at the end of the book.

The true account of the Nicholsons, the father and son who sold national secrets to Russia. “One of the strangest spy stories in American history” (Robert Lindsey, author of The Falcon and the Snowman). Investigative reporter and Pulitzer Prize finalist Bryan Denson tells the riveting story of the father and son co-conspirators who betrayed the United States. Jim Nicholson was one of the CIA’s top veteran case officers. By day, he taught spycraft at the CIA’s clandestine training center, The Farm. By night, he was a minivan-driving single father racing home to have dinner with his kids. But Nicholson led a double life. For more than two years, he had met covertly with agents of Russia’s foreign intelligence service and turned over troves of classified documents. In 1997, Nicholson became the highest-ranking CIA officer ever convicted of espionage. But his duplicity didn’t stop there. While behind the bars of a federal prison, the former mole systematically groomed the one person he trusted most to serve as his stand-in: his youngest son, Nathan. When asked to smuggle messages out of prison to Russian contacts, Nathan saw an opportunity to be heroic and to make his father proud. “Filled with fascinating details of the cloak-and-dagger techniques of KGB and CIA operatives, double agents, and spy catchers . . . A poignant and painful tale of family love, loyalty, manipulation and betrayal.” —The Oregonian

Over 55% of your day is spent listening; yet only 2% of us have been trained in how to listen. What is poor listening costing you? Do you rush from meeting to meeting, your head buried in the last conversation you had, without time to think of the next? Or feel frustrated with unproductive discussions where the loudest in the room adds limited insight and drowns out everyone else? We usually think of these situations as communication problems; that we have not spoken our needs correctly or clearly. Yet, conflict, chaos and confusion are the costs of not listening. Many communication and listening books say the most important person in a conversation is the speaker - not true! This pocket-sized guide will help you to reconnect with your innate gift of deep listening, to create the right space to listen to yourself before you listen to others. You'll learn to listen beyond the words that are spoken, to add context and meaning and listen in to what's not being said. Deep Listening will help you move from confusion and conflict to thoughtful, insightful and powerful discussions that will transform not just your work, but your whole life.

Contains chapters on writing news; writing features; writing reviews; style and a glossary of terms used by journalists.