Introductory Journalism Textbooks from the Top 5 Undergraduate Journalism Programs

As I’m now working at an NPR station, but I was never formally trained in journalism, I decided to look up what I missed out on. Here are the introductory textbook’s used by 5 of America’s top journalism programs:

Textbook / Book

Program New Used
Who, What, When, Where, Why by James Glen Stovall Emmerson College $121

$7

Blur: How to Know What’s True in the Age of Information Overload by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel UT Austin $12 $8 ( Free audiobook with audible trial )
Inside Reporting by Tim Harrower  Northwestern $44 $13
Writing and Reporting the News by Carole Rich NYU $130 $60
The News Media: What Everyone Needs to Know by C.W. Anderson, Leonard Downie Jr., Michael Schudson.

USC

$13 $6.64

Other texts that showed up in syllabi: The Associated Press Stylebook and America’s Best Newspaper Writing by Roy Peter Clark

Anyways, if you’re interested in teaching yourself journalism, this might be a place to start. This probably also doubles as a list of books to give as a gift to a journalism major or a young aspiring journalist.

Also of interest, might be the unofficial recommended reading list from Gimlet Media, which pertains specifically to making narrative audio documentaries and NPR-style pieces.

Advertisements