By Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel
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"Kovach and Rosenstiel combine journalism and civics in this valuable and insightful resource to help Americans adapt to an era that demands that readers become their own editors and news aggregators."-Booklist (starred review)
Like the authors' classic book The Elements of Journalism, Blur is a unique and readable discourse on how information culture is changing. Yes, old authorities are being dismantled and new ones created, and the way we obtain knowledge has changed. But seeking true and reliable information remains the most important purpose of journalism-and the object for those who consume it. In an age when the line between citizen and journalist is becoming increasingly fuzzy, Blur is an indispensable and serious-minded guide to navigating this new twenty-first-century media terrain.
Praise for Blur:
"Impassioned and practical…It's hard to imagine a more urgently necessary task, for journalism and for democratic societies, than the one Kovach and Rosenstiel have taken on."
-Nicholas Lemann, dean of the Columbia Journalism School
"This is one of the most important books of the year…A sobering but evenhanded analysis that should be valuable to all of us in journalism and the citizens we serve." -Bob Schieffer, CBS News chief Washington correspondent
"Kovach and Rosenstiel's riveting, terse book shows how citizens can gauge fact from fiction, discern neutral sources from interested parties, and parse the news as American journalism goes through its big upheaval." -Dean Baquet, New York Times Washington bureau chief
Advance Praise for Blur
“Blur is an impassioned and practical brief for what its authors call "verification"--the effort by journalists and others who publicly exchange information about public affairs to examine evidence and test the truth value of the assertions they and others are making. It argues persuasively for the virtues of traditional journalism without in any way resisting the sweeping changes the Internet has brought to the profession. It's hard to imagine a more urgently necessary task, for journalism and for democratic societies, than the one Kovach and Rosenstiel have taken on.” —Nicholas Lemann, Dean, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
“Two trailblazing newspapermen make a powerful case that with information reaching us at warp speed, Americans can – and must – learn the tough-minded skepticism that drove the country’s great journalists. Kovach and Rosenstiel’s riveting, terse book shows how citizens can gauge fact from fiction, discern neutral sources from interested parties, and parse the news as American journalism goes through its big upheaval.” —Dean Baquet, Washington Bureau Chief, New York Times
“If I had $1 million I would buy a copy of this book for every high school senior in America. If I had $2 million, I would use the second million to offer cash incentives for every one of those high school seniors to read what might be the most important book they will read in their lives--the one volume that will help them evaluate everything else they read until the day they die.” —David M. Shribman, executive editor, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"This is one of the most important books of the year. Rosenstiel and Kovach take today's media landscape apart, examine each component--partisan blogs, social media, web sites that follow the traditional journalistic values, newspapers, networks and cable--and help us understand what they are, the pressures they bring on each other and how together they have changed forever how news is gathered and distributed. Always enlightening and at times scary as when they speculate on how the Three Mile Island nuclear plant accident might have played out in the age of cable and the internet, this is a sobering but even handed analysis that should be valuable to all of us in journalism and the citizens we serve.” —Bob Schieffer, CBS News Chief Washington Correspondent
Reviews for Blur
“…today, of course, the news world is very different, as Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel make clear in "Blur," their extremely useful guide through the thickets of modern journalism…. an important book that can help us to cope better in the age of information overload. —Charlotte Observer. Read full review.
Listen to this interview with Bill Kovach on David Lewis’s show AM 1690 out of Atlanta
Here’s a Podcast with Tom Rosenstiel on Politics Daily
Interesting Q&A with Tom Rosenstiel in Columbia Journalism Review
Bill and Tom in Seattle at Seattle Town Hall, plugged here by the Seattle Times
Listen to Kovach and Rosenstiel talk on Seattle’s NPR affiliate KUOW’s The Conversation with Ross Reynolds
“This well-written critique of contemporary journalism will appeal to academics, journalism students, and consumers interested in the changes in the news media” —Library Journal
Mention for Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel’s Blur in Washington Post’s ombudsman column. They mention John Wooden also!
“The authors offer sound lessons on the “tradecraft of verification” necessary for Americans to sort out truth from vested opinion… Kovach and Rosenstiel combine journalism and civics in this valuable and insightful resource to help Americans adapt to an era that demands that readers become their own editors and news aggregators.”—Booklist, starred
“Kovach and Rosenstiel provide a roadmap for maintaining a steady course through our messy media landscape. As the authors entertainingly define and deconstruct the journalism of verification, assertion, affirmation, and interest group news, readers gain the analytical skills necessary for understanding this new terrain.” —Publishers Weekly
