What Journalism Could Be

A former journalist, Barbie Zelizer is the Raymond Williams Professor of Communication, and the Director of the Scholars Program in Culture and Communication, at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania.

• 1: Imagining Journalism Beginnings2: Definitions of JournalismIntro Section 1: Cues for Considering Key Tensions in JournalismBarbie Zelizer, Jennifer Henrichsen and Natacha Yazbeck3: On “Having Been There”: “Eyewitnessing” as a Journalistic Key Word4: On the Shelf Life of Democracy in Journalism Scholarship5: When Practice is Undercut By EthicsIntro Section 2: Cues for Considering Disciplinary MattersBarbie Zelizer, Jennifer Henrichsen and Natacha Yazbeck6: Journalism and the Academy7: Journalism in the Service of Communication8: When Facts, Truth, and Reality Are God-Terms: On Journalism’s Uneasy Place in Cultural StudiesIntro Section 3: Cues for Considering New Ways of Thinking About Journalistic PracticeBarbie Zelizer, Jennifer Henrichsen and Natacha Yazbeck9: Journalists as Interpretive Communities10: The Culture of Journalism11: When War and Conflict Are Reduced to a Photograph Endings12: Thinking Temporally About Journalism’s FutureReferences

“No one knows the journalism studies literature better than Zelizer. This book demonstrates as much. Its chapters show Zelizer masterfully putting the literature to use, rendering its main points, interrogating its blind spots, pushing the field forward.” - David Ryfe, University of Iowa“With her customary rigour and independent zeal, Zelizer has reimagined not just journalism in its moment of crisis and change, but also journalism studies. Her focus on journalism as it is, rather than what we might wish it to be, allows her to imagine realistic ways that the 'traditional' ideas and practice of journalism can now offer the possibilities of creative alternatives to the usual narrative of 'Old' and 'New' news media. Through a close attention to key case studies and a thorough critical analysis of current academic approaches, she makes a compelling case for her key insight: both journalists and journalism scholars must think much more creatively about the vital role of journalism in the context of our challenging local and global public spheres.” - Charlie Beckett, London School of Economics and Political Science"This book is so refreshing because it uplifts the spirit of the discussion of journalism, and [Zelizer] never picks a side on any of the issues. Just like a great moderator, she peacefully addresses all the problems from a place of truth."Communication Booknotes Quarterly