The Journalist S Predicament

Low pay. Uncertain work prospects. Diminished prestige. Why would anyone still want be a journalist? Drawing on in-depth interviews in France and the United States, Matthew Powers and Sandra Vera-Zambrano explore the ways individuals come to believe that journalism is a worthy pursuit—and how that conviction is managed and sometimes dissolves amid the profession’s ongoing upheavals. For many people, journalism represents a job that is interesting and substantial, with opportunities for expression, a sense of self-fulfillment, and a connection to broader social values. By distilling complex ideas, holding the powerful to account, and revealing hidden realities, journalists play a crucial role in helping audiences make sense of the world. Experiences in the profession, though, are often far more disappointing. Many find themselves doing tasks that bear little relation to what attracted them initially or are frustrated by institutions privileging what sells over what informs. The imbalance between the profession’s economic woes and its social importance threatens to erode individuals’ beliefs that journalism remains a worthwhile pursuit. Powers and Vera-Zambrano emphasize that, as with many seemingly individual choices, social factors—class, gender, education, and race—shape how journalists make sense of their profession and whether or not they remain in it. An in-depth story of one profession under pressure, The Journalist’s Predicament uncovers tensions that also confront other socially important jobs like teaching, nursing, and caretaking.

In the context of profound transformations in the professional, business, technological and social context of journalism, it is crucial for journalism studies and education to move beyond limited approaches to the discipline. Among the most significant changes affecting journalism worldwide is the emergence of startup culture, as more and more journalists strike out on their own. In Beyond Journalism, Deuze and Witschge combine extensive global and comparative fieldwork. Through rich case studies of journalism startups around the world, they provide deep insight into the promises and pitfalls of media entrepreneurship. Ultimately, they aim to recognize new and emerging voices as legitimate participants in the discourse about what journalism is, can be and should be. A bold manifesto as well as an in-depth empirical study, this book is essential reading for students and scholars of journalism, media, communication, and related disciplines.

Being a dad isn’t something you are; it’s something you do. This mantra is at the heart of John Badalament's practical approach to helping dads build strong, healthy relationships with children of any age. In The Modern Dad’s Dilemma: How to Stay Connected to Your Kids in a Rapidly Changing World, he presents powerful insights, road-tested activities, and inspiring stories from over a decade of working with thousands of dads, children, and families across the country. His hands-on advice and exercises are designed to help fathers meet the difficulties of today’s family and work life — challenges that previous generations never faced.

In The Environmentalist's Dilemma, award-winning journalist Arno Kopecky zeroes in on the core predicament of our times: the planet may be dying, but humanity's doing better than ever. Inquisitive and relatable, he guides us through the moral minefields of our polarized world.

Corruption runs rampant in the halls of power in Washington, DC. Elected officials sell themselves and their votes to the highest bidder and do whatever they need to stay in office. The political system has degenerated to the point that those in office openly seek to serve themselves at the expense of the nation. A powerful political figure wants Jake dead because he simply knows too much. Mortal combat ensues and the existence of the United States of America hangs in the balance. Jake must decide if his need for personal vengeance outweighs the nation's needs in its fight for survival

Amas story goes from fairy tale to hard times, as she finds herself as a school drop-out, with no money and a young son to raise. She was estranged from her parents. Her fianc and the father of her son was incarcerated. He was being detained by officers of a state agency. An unwitting incident from her past catches up with her and compounds her current problems. Amas is subpoenaed to be a prosecution witness in a case against some young men believed to be the killers of a fellow student six years prior. Used to having others do for her, Amas struggles to get her life back on track by herself and on her own terms. With some help from her parents, now reunited with her, Ama begins to piece her life back together. She goes back to college, no longer the heartless young thing that only enjoyed the attention of older men with money. This time Ama is older and wiser and has her attention fully focused on getting her architecture degree and raising her son. Love visits again, this time dressed up as a sharp police officer who wants her to help him nail the bad guys. This is Amas second chance at finding true love.

In its long history, the English language has had many lawmakers--those who have tried to regulate or otherwise organize the way we speak. Proper Words in Proper Places offers the first narrative history of these endeavors and shows clearly that what we now regard as the only "correct" way to speak emerged out of specific historical and social conditions over the course of centuries. As historian Jack Lynch has discovered, every rule has a human history and the characters peopling his narrative are as interesting for their obsession as for their erudition: the sharp-tongued satirist Jonathan Swift, who called for a government-sponsored academy to issue rulings on the language; the polymath Samuel Johnson, who put dictionaries on a new footing; the eccentric Hebraist Robert Lowth, the first modern to understand the workings of biblical poetry; the crackpot linguist John Horne Tooke, whose bizarre theories continue to baffle scholars; the chemist and theologian Joseph Priestly, whose political radicalism prompted violent riots; the ever-crotchety Noah Webster, who worked to Americanize the English language; the long-bearded lexicographer James A. H. Murray, who devoted his life to a survey of the entire language in the Oxford English Dictionary; and the playwright George Bernard Shaw, who worked without success to make English spelling rational. Grammatical "rules" or "laws" are not like the law of gravity, or even laws against murder and theft--they're more like rules of etiquette, made by fallible people and subject to change. Witty, smart, full of passion for the world's language, Proper Words in Proper Places will entertain and educate in equal measure.

Why do nations break into one another's most important computer networks? There is an obvious answer: to steal valuable information or to attack. But this isn't the full story. This book draws on often-overlooked documents leaked by Edward Snowden, real-world case studies of cyber operations, and policymaker perspectives to show that intruding into other countries' networks has enormous defensive value as well. Two nations, neither of which seeks to harm the other but neither of which trusts the other, will often find it prudent to launch intrusions. This general problem, in which a nation's means of securing itself threatens the security of others and risks escalating tension, is a bedrock concept in international relations and is called the 'security dilemma'. This book shows not only that the security dilemma applies to cyber operations, but also that the particular characteristics of the digital domain mean that the effects are deeply pronounced. The cybersecurity dilemma is both a vital concern of modern statecraft and a means of accessibly understanding the essential components of cyber operations.