THE ELEMENTS OF JOURNALISM by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel is coming out this month with a Revised and Updated 4th Edition. In their discussion of this text, the authors note the past "waves" of re-examining journalism over time with responses to perilous democracy after WWI; changes in news distribution due to the advent of television and increased propaganda; other new technologies (cable, internet); shifts in advertising revenue and changing cultural norms. Calling journalism a "field in crisis," they advocate "recall[ing] the fundamentals that informed the field in the first place." Next, "to identify and abandon worn-out practices ... and to recognize new ways to perform the services that society requires of it." Our students use this text in their journalism classes and in an age where essentially anyone can be a journalist, this fundamental re-examination and discussion of innovations is critical. The authors summarize a core question as: "whether a journalism of open-minded passionate inquiry is still possible, or whether people in newsrooms will abandon inquiry in favor of argument, because facts seem not to matter." They go on to discuss the importance of a common public square and to stress the role of verification in journalism and to raise the positive potential of journalists and citizens working together and to explore the impact of increasing diversity in newsrooms. Clearly, THE ELEMENTS OF JOURNALISM is a timely work.

The 1st edition of this wholly inept book was published in 2001 and its suggested elixirs for reclaiming the failing art of journalism have done nothing to cure the patient. 20 years later the same nonsense is rolled out so do not waste your time with this book. Of course, in another 4 or 5 years, readers will likely have to endure a 5th edition as the practice of journalism sinks still further. What a shame!