Description

Book Synopsis

Questions the dominant notion that reporters entering the field in the late nineteenth century relied on an informal apprenticeship system to learn the rules of journalism. Drawing from the experiences of more than fifty reporters, Randall Sumpter argues that cub reporters could and did access multiple sources of instruction.

Trade Review

Sumpter introduces the notion that the day's news work rules were spread through communities of practice, that is, informal interpersonal networks involving ‘knowledge brokers,' as well as through news fiction, newswriters' autobiographies, and trade and general interest publications. The author's early point about how studying this topic can offer insight into today's technology-driven upsetting of the boundaries of journalism underscores why this study is important."" - Patricia Dooley, Wichita State University; author of Taking Their Political Place: Journalists and the Making of an Occupation and The Technology of Journalism: Cultural Agents, Cultural Icons

Before Journalism Schools

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    A Hardback by Randall S. Sumpter

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      Book details

      Publisher University of Missouri Press
      Published 30 June 2018
      ISBN-13 9780826221599
      978-0826221599
      ISBN-10 0826221599
      Also in:
      Journalism

      Description

      Book Synopsis

      Questions the dominant notion that reporters entering the field in the late nineteenth century relied on an informal apprenticeship system to learn the rules of journalism. Drawing from the experiences of more than fifty reporters, Randall Sumpter argues that cub reporters could and did access multiple sources of instruction.

      Trade Review

      Sumpter introduces the notion that the day's news work rules were spread through communities of practice, that is, informal interpersonal networks involving ‘knowledge brokers,' as well as through news fiction, newswriters' autobiographies, and trade and general interest publications. The author's early point about how studying this topic can offer insight into today's technology-driven upsetting of the boundaries of journalism underscores why this study is important."" - Patricia Dooley, Wichita State University; author of Taking Their Political Place: Journalists and the Making of an Occupation and The Technology of Journalism: Cultural Agents, Cultural Icons

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