The Next Journalism by Tom Rosenstiel

THE NEXT JOURNALISM by Tom Rosenstiel is subtitled “How the Press Must Change to Serve Democracy.” Obviously, that is a difficult and controversial question. Being the co-author of The Elements of Journalism, Rosenstiel offers a unique perspective and in this latest publication he is intent on describing future actions for journalists. The book itself is divided into ten chapters, each of which outlines a “fundamental way” (e.g., applying behavioral psychology or thinking of news as collaborative intelligence) that journalism must change. Probably the most interesting chapter is the one where he offers suggestions on a new interview structure building on open-minded inquiry. Throughout the book, Rosenstiel stresses the importance of considering how a story would serve the public and working with the community. Much to consider here, particularly for practicing journalists. 

For related research on this topic, see several studies from Pew Research, the Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center, or The Conversation. More of an international Perspective is available from Media & Journalism Research Center. 

How to Rule the World by Theo Baker

HOW TO RULE THE WORLD by Theo Baker is a fascinating memoir about his time as a Stanford undergrad and his reporting about hubris and allegations of research misconduct tied to then Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne. It has certainly stirred some debate about elitism and Baker’s own privilege: see review and accompanying comments in The New York Times. I wonder how much of the negativity there is a result of what Anand Giridharadas, the reviewer, summarizes as how Baker “confronts his dreamland and concludes, painfully, that it is rotten, indifferent, built on lies, craving power for its own sake.” In any case, Baker’s account is well-written and well-substantiated and fact-checked. He describes not only the painful freshman journey to belong, but also the avarice and competition in the tech/finance and entrepreneurial world which Stanford feeds. HOW TO RULE THE WORLD received a starred review from Publishers Weekly (“incendiary account ... [and] ... a confident testament to the power of independent journalism from an author with a bright future”).

Baker’s reporting for The Stanford Daily won the George Polk Award. For a sense of his writing style, see this recent piece in The New York Times called “What A.I. Did to My College Class.”

Teaching News Literacy in the Age of AI

World Press Freedom Day will be celebrated on May 3, 2026.  It's worth a look at new books related to this topic.  

TEACHING NEWS LITERACY IN THE AGE OF AI by Cathy Collins, an award-winning library media specialist, is an excellent resource. I wish that more schools made this topic (helping students to “recognize quality journalism, spot deepfakes, challenge misinformation, and critically analyze conspiracy theories”) a priority, but Collins has done a great job of compiling suggestions of resources (including multimedia tools and learning standards) related to these issues. A few examples (not all of which are free) include: Checkology (including several of their helpful posters); The News Literacy Project; ISTE (she extensively references their standards); PBS Learning Media; and Newsela. Some of her information is revealing, but from a decade ago and warrants updating, as do her references to Stanford History Education Group, now called Digital Inquiry Group. However, the more I read, the more excited and interested I became. It does take a while to get to the section on “Learning Activities,” but that is filled with ideas related to Social Studies, Science, Health, Mathematics and more. Also, this text could work well in a secondary newspaper class – an entire lesson could review the Code of Ethics for the Society of Professional Journalists or the eight factors (e.g., timeliness, proximity, interest, conflict) which Collins lists that “news organizations might use to evaluate whether to cover a particular event.” There are multiple Appendices, including a News Literacy Glossary. As Collins writes, “The future of informed citizenship is less about passively consuming information and much more about actively interrogating it. … Teaching them to question what they see, seek diverse viewpoints, and practice self-regulated attention is more important than ever.” 

THE INFORMATION STATE by Jacob Siegel (a contributing writer at Tablet, an American conservative magazine focused on Jewish news and culture) is subtitled “Politics in the Age of Total Control.” Siegel makes some thought-provoking claims such as when he explores the relationship between information and state power (“regime’s ultimate aim was not to censor or oppress, but to rule. … the information state refers to a form of government that replaces the democratic principle of consent with control”). However, I was very disappointed by his early comment when he wrote “I doubt that more than a few dozen people had been conversant in the finer points of the disinformation field at the start of 2016.” He only had to look at the critical thinking or information literacy (a term not included in his book) work being championed by librarians and educators at that time or the winner of that year’s National Business Book Award: A Field Guide to Lies by Daniel J. Levitin. In addition, Seigel seems to have a bias against President Obama and some of the actions taken by his administration; he certainly objects to attempts to even insinuate that Russia influenced the 2016 election while simultaneously rarely referencing the blatant and obvious lies from subsequent administrations. Overall, reviews are mixed: Booklist says, THE INFORMATION STATE “will challenge and enlighten readers on every page,” whereas Publishers Weekly describes it as a “hit-or-miss debut account.”

The Curious Case of the Poisoned Professor

THE CURIOUS CASE OF THE POISONED PROFESSOR by Lucy Connelly is the first in a new cozy mystery series. It is set in Dillynaidd, Wales at the local university where alumnae Gwen Griffith has arrived to head the journalism department for the Dean (and her best friend), Carolyn Sparks. After a faculty party welcome, one of the other professors, Alice Rice, collapses at Gwen’s door. Foul play - and Gwen - are suspected by the local police detective, Gareth Jones. Of course, Gwen (aided by her teaching assistant Ellis) jumps in to do some investigative reporting and makes some rather dubious choices along the way. Soon, both are in danger, and it takes a village of newly found friends to save them. Gwen is a very likeable heroine and I look forward to more of her Welsh adventures. 

Dear Miss Lake by AJ Pearce

DEAR MISS LAKE by AJ Pearce is the final novel in an excellent four book series which began with the award-winning Dear Mrs. Bird. These historical fiction titles should be read in order and are set primarily in London or the English countryside during WWII. Emmy Lake is a major character who becomes an active correspondent for a magazine titled Woman’s Friend.  In the latest book, she is devoting time to an advice column dealing with issues like financial worries, problems with relatives living together, unexpected pregnancies, and unfaithful husbands. In addition, Emmy works with the British government by conducting interviews and profiling the contributions that women like nurses and factory workers make to the war effort, especially on the Home Front. It is all quite upbeat even when she becomes involved in trying to obtain answers about British POWs. Throughout, there is a strong comradery amongst the team (e.g., brother-in-law Guy Collins, fashion editor Monica, young assistant Hester, and stalwarts like Mrs. Shaw and Miss Peters) at the magazine. And, happily, there’s a wedding or two to plan despite the wartime shortages impacting food and clothing. Resilience, resourcefulness, and courage combine again and again in this hopeful, inspiring read: “Tonight as I kiss the glass of the photo frame and wish Charles goodnight, I felt sure he would know I was thinking of him. … ‘whenever you think of me, I will feel it in my heart and be thinking of you too.’” 

Consider Yourself Kissed by Jessica Stanley

I really liked the cover of CONSIDER YOURSELF KISSED by Jessica Stanley; finding it to be bright and happy, I was expecting to escape through a rom-com of some sort. Instead, I was disappointed by the characters and their actions. In its review, The Wall Street Journal says, “‘Lost woman tries to find herself’ is a familiar story, but CONSIDER YOURSELF KISSED is buoyed by fresh, funny writing and, pretty much without exception, a terrific cast of characters.” Unfortunately, I could not get past the “lost woman” aspect and found the main character, Coralie, to be a willing doormat, despite an initially promising romance with Adam, an English political journalist.  Granted, circumstances are difficult (Coralie has to return to Australia where her own mother is dying, the pandemic looms, etc.), but even Coralie acknowledges that “all the while, she was conscious of an argument going on inside her, between the part of her that loves Zora [Adam's young daughter] and would do anything for her and the part that hated being taken for granted by the adults in Zora's life.” The pattern repeats itself and readers may struggle to develop empathy for this character even though The New York Times says, “Stanley’s delightful novel reminds her readers of the joy, humor and even subtle hope that can be experienced during life’s lowest moments."

Yet here I Am by Jonathan Capehart

YET HERE I AM by Jonathan Capehart is subtitled “Lessons from a Black Man’s Search for Home” and provides ample insight into the background and influences on this award-winning journalist who appears regularly on PBS NewsHour with David Brooks (How to Know a Person). Capehart shares stories about his childhood including being raised by a single mother and her re-marriage when he was a sophomore in high school (hard on any kid), “a suburban middle-class Black kid who grew up playing with white kids now back in a majority Black city [Newark] with no clue about how to relate or fit in.” Writing about college at Carleton, Capehart says, “without a doubt, just about every wonderful thing that has happened in my life can be traced back to my decision to go to that small liberal arts college in Minnesota.” He continues with engaging stories about his work in the news media, including Washington Post and MSNBC, and offers unique perspective on being gay and Black, commenting, “Blackness is always at the mercy of someone else’s judgment. You can be too Black, not Black enough, or not Black at all, and I have run the range my entire life.” YET HERE I AM received a starred review from Kirkus and praise from, among others, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Katie Couric, Michele Norris, and Jon Meacham. 

The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict

THE QUEENS OF CRIME by Marie Benedict received a starred reviews from Library Journal and Booklist; it was also a LibraryReads Hall of Fame selection for February. In her latest work of historical fiction (1930s England and France), Benedict conveys the personalities of five Golden Age mystery writers.  She teams Dorothy Sayers with Agatha Christie, plus Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, and Baroness Emma Orczy. As part of an effort to impress the male writers at the Detection Club, these women work together to solve a murder of a young English nurse, May Daniels, in France. They trace her stops at the ferry and various shops, often employing their own characters’ techniques to learn much more than the local police while still providing plenty of suspense for readers. In the process, they redeem Daniels’ reputation and enhance their own. A great historical whodunit.

I was fortunate in being able to listen to the Audio Book narrated by Bessie Carter. She did a great job of using Benedict’s words to help readers picture these five authors and their varied personalities. 

Erasing History by Jason Stanley

ERASING HISTORY by Jason Stanley is subtitled “How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future” and we have certainly heard the term fascist quite frequently in this election cycle. According to the publisher, Stanley, the Jacob Urowsky Professor of Philosophy at Yale University, “exposes the true danger of the authoritarian right’s attacks on education, identifies their key tactics and funders, and traces their intellectual roots.” Stanley points to the importance of multiple perspectives and says that “erasing history helps authoritarians because doing so allows them to represent it as a single story, a single perspective.” He is apparently not the only one to feel this way; one of the most chilling quotes is from Vladimir Putin: “Wars are won by teachers.” Stanley writes movingly and convincingly:

“Today we are unquestionably returning to something like the era of the Red Scare. Right-wing activists and politicians are targeting educators at all levels for their supposedly leftist ideologies, with the goal of suppressing any teaching that challenges racial hierarchy or patriarchy.”  And

“By removing the history of uprisings against the current status quo from the curriculum (or never allowing that history to be taught in the first place), authoritarians leave students with the impression that the status quo has never been -- and cannot be -- challenged.”

Student researchers will find much to ponder here, particularly about how education, knowledge, and critical thinking skills provide the foundation for democracy, agency, and self-rule. Unlike those who blame the “enemy within,” Stanley stresses the importance of educators and investigative journalists. Those concerned with the future of democracy will find this text to be very informative. Approximately fifteen percent of ERASING HISTORY is devoted to notes and an index.