Description
Book SynopsisQuestions 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 ReviewSumpter 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
