Hold the Press: The Inside Story on Newspapers

How come your local paper didn't print your trenchant letter to the editor? Why did the reporter seem impatient and hurried? Could an advertiser have undue influence on what stories see the light of day? The answers to these questions go a long way toward revealing the foibles and strengths of America's newspapers, large and small. In neat sections, the authors (former journalists themselves) describe how a newspaper is put together, what sorts of people work behind its desks and printers and, ultimately, what limitations are imposed on them. Far from offering an academic lecture, Hamilton, dean of Mass Communications at Louisiana State University, and Krimsky, co-founder of the Center for Foreign Journalists, incorporate popular anecdotes from newspaper lore (the former dean of Columbia Journalism School tells his students to save enough money so they can take a hike when their paper steps over an ethical line), as well as hypothetical situations from small-town life, to demonstrate what makes a paper tick and what sorts of people are affected by it. But the authors have made a few, albeit minor, journalistic errors. The pair sometimes employ gossipy, blind quotes (""We know of a medium-sized southern newspaper where the editor...""). Still, this is an enjoyable book that dispels myths about how the press works and why occasionally it doesn't. Drawings not seen by PW. (June)