The Journalism Shelf

Provoking the Press
Kevin M. Lerner
University of Missouri Press
113 Heinkel Bldg., 201 S. 7th Street, Columbia, MO 65211 https://upress.missouri.edu
9780826221865, $51.15, HC, 290pp

https://www.amazon.com/Provoking-Press-Confidence-Journalism-Perspective/dp= /0826221866

Synopsis: At the beginning of the 1970s, broadcast news and a few newspaper=
s such as The New York Times wielded national influence in shaping public d= iscourse, to a degree never before enjoyed by the news media. At the same t= ime, however, attacks from political conservatives such as Vice President S= piro Agnew began to erode public trust in news institutions, even as a new = breed of college-educated reporters were hitting their stride.

This new wave of journalists, doing their best to cover the roiling culture=
wars of the day, grew increasingly frustrated by the limitations of tradit= ional notions of objectivity in news writing and began to push back against=
convention, turning their eyes on the press itself.

Two of these new journalists (a Pulitzer Prize winning, Harvard-educated Ne=
w York Times reporter named J. Anthony Lukas, and a former Newsweek media w= riter named Richard Pollak), founded a journalism review called (MORE) in 1= 971, with its pilot issue appearing the same month that the Times began pub= lishing the Pentagon Papers.

(MORE) covered the press with a critical attitude that blended seriousness = and satire -- part New York Review of Books, part underground press. In the=
eight years that it published, (MORE) brought together nearly every import= ant American journalist of the 1970s, either as a writer, a subject of its = critical eye, or as a participant in its series of raucous "A.J. Liebling C= ounter-Conventions" (meetings named after the outspoken press critic) the f= irst of which convened in 1974.

In issue after issue the magazine considered and questioned the mainstream = press's coverage of explosive stories of the decade, including the Watergat=
e scandal; the "seven dirty words" obscenity trial; the debate over a repor= ter's constitutional privilege; the rise of public broadcasting; the strugg=
le for women and minorities to find a voice in mainstream newsrooms; and th=
e U.S. debut of press baron Rupert Murdoch.

With the publication of "Provoking the Press: (MORE) Magazine and the Crisi=
s of Confidence in American Journalism", author and professor of journalism=
Kevin Lerner explores the power of criticism to reform and guide the insti= tutions of the press and, in turn, influence public discourse.

Critique: A timely and valued contribution to our current political and cul= ture polarization and increasing attacks on journalism and journalists by t= hose with an extremist agenda or a criminal enterprise such as currently ex= emplified by Donald A. Trump and his continuing attempts to overthrow a fre= ely and fairly elected American government, "Provoking the Press" should be=
considered essential reading by all aspiring and active journalists whethe=
r in print, digital, or broadcast medias. While available for personal read= ing lists in a paperback edition (9780826222886, $26.00) and in a digital b= ook format (Kindle, $24.70), "Provoking the Press" is especially and unrese= rvedly recommended for community, college, and university library History o=
f American Journalism collections and supplemental curriculum Censorship & = Politics studies lists.

Editorial Note: Kevin M. Lerner (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user= =3DgJ-kc4sAAAAJ) is an Assistant Professor of Journalism at Marist College =
in Poughkeepsie, New York, and edits the Journal of Magazine Media.

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