Journalism History reviews books related to the broad fields of mass communication history. If you are interested in reviewing or submitting a book, contact book review editor Joseph Jones.
2025
2025-11-Business as usual: How sponsored media sold American capitalism in the 20th century (Reviewed by Sydney Stevens, Louisiana State University, sstev55@lsu.edu)
2025-10-Reconsidering the History of South African Journalism: The Ghost of the Slave Press (Reviewed by Martial Fanga Agbor, Wits Business School, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa and Danat Al Emarat Hospital, UAE martialfangaagbor@gmail.com)
2025-9-Last paper standing: A century of competition between the Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News (Reviewed by Michael Humphrey, Johnson County Community College)
2025-8-Journalism for the Public Good: The Michener Awards at Fifty (Reviewed by Jeffrey Dvorkin, Massey College, University of Toronto).
2025-7-Racializing Objectivity: How the White Southern Press Used Journalism Standards to Defend Jim Crow (Reviewed by Joseph Jones, Reed School of Media and Communications, West Virginia University).
2025-6-The Two Revolutions: A History of the Transgender Internet (Reviewed by Larissa Little, Department of Communication and Journalism, University of Maine).
2025-5- Citizen Carl: The Editor Who Cracked Teapot Dome, Shot a Judge, and Invented the Parking Meter (Reviewed by Luisa Tilhe, Southern Methodist University, Department of History).
2025-4- A History of Disinformation in the U.S. (Reviewed by Paula Hunt, Independent scholar based in Washington state)
2025-3- Assault on the Media: The Nixon Years (Reviewed by Lisa M. Burns, Department of Media Studies, Quinnipiac University)
2025-2- The Case of Lizzie Borden and Other Writings: Tales of a Newspaper Woman (Reviewed by Bailey Dick, Bowling Green State University, School of Media & Communication).
2025-1 – The Rules of Public Relations: Legal and Ethical Issues in Contemporary Practice (Reviewed by Sonya DiPalma, University of North Carolina at Asheville).
2024
2024-12 – Shame the Devil: How Critics Keep American Journalism Honest (Reviewed by Ecaterina Stepaniuc).
2024-11 – Chinoy, Ira. Predicting the Winner: The Untold Story of Election Night 1952 and the Dawn of Computer Forecasting (Reviewed by Pam Parry).
2024-10 – Susca, Margot. Hedged: How Private Investment Funds Helped Destroy American Newspapers and Undermine Democracy (Reviewed by Edgar Simpson).
2024-9 – Segal, Edward. Whistle-Stop Politics (Reviewed by Vivian B. Martin).
2024-8 – Hill, Michael, Funny Business: The Legendary Life and Political Satire of Art Buchwald (Reviewed by Richard M. Fried).
2024-7 – Smith, Pete. Birddogs and Tough Old Broad (Reviewed by Myna German)
2024-6 – Conant, Jennet. Fierce Ambition: The Life and Legend of War Correspondent Maggie Higgins (Reviewed by Paula Hunt).
2024-5 – Clegg, Ellen and Kennedy, Dan. What Works in Community News (Reviewed by Darren Johnson).
2024-4 – Jaffee, Larry. Record Store Day: The Most Improbable Comeback of the 21st Century (Reviewed by Sonya DiPalma)
2024-3 – Finneman, Teri and Pribanic-Smith, Erika. Social Justice, Activism and Diversity in U.S. Media History (reviewed by Pam Parry)
2024-2 – Gower, Karla. Betsy Ann Plank: The Making of a Public Relations Icon (reviewed by Sonya DiPalma)
2024-1 – Fine, Richard. The Price of Truth: The Journalist Who Defied Military Censors to Report the Fall of Nazi Germany (Reviewed by Dale Zacher).
2023
2023-12 – Shepperd, Josh. Shadow of the New Deal: The Victory of Public Broadcasting (Reviewed by Jason Lee Guthrie)
2023-11 – Cox, Jordana. Staged News: The Federal Theatre Projects Living Newspapers in New York (Reviewed by Andy Bechtel)
2023-10 – Voss, Kimberly Wilmot. Vivian Castleberry: Challenging the Traditions of Women’s Roles, Newspaper Content, and Community Politics (Reviewed by Laura Meadows)
2023-09 – Rottenberg, Dan. The Education of a Journalist: My Seventy Years on the Frontiers of Free Speech. Philadelphia: Redmount Press (Reviewed by Myna German)
2023-08 – Tucher, Andie. Not Exactly Lying: Fake News and Fake Journalism in American History (Reviewed by Enrique Núñez-Mussa)
2023-07 – Smith, Emma. Portable Magic: A History of Books and Their Readers (Reviewed by Barbara Ruth Burke)
2023-06 – Volponi, Paul and Shulman, Lenny. Phyllis George: Shattering the Ceiling (Reviewed by Kay Colley)
2023-05 – Olmsted, Kathryn. The Newspaper Axis: Six Press Barons Who Enabled Hitler (Reviewed by Benjamin Goldstein)
2023-04 – Örnebring, Henrick, and Karlsson, Michael. Journalistic Autonomy: The Genealogy of a Concept (Reviewed by John-Erik Koslosky)
2023-03 – Cassidy, James, edited by Michael S. Sweeney, NBC Goes to War: The Diary of Radio Correspondent James Cassidy from London to the Bulge (Reviewed by Mike Conway)
2023-02 – Underwood, Doug. Literary Journalism in British and American Prose: An Historical Overview (Reviewed by Erika J. Pribanic-Smith)
2023-01 – Mari, Will. Newsrooms and the Disruption of the Internet: A Short History of Disruptive Technologies, 1990-2010 (Reviewed by Sara Shaban)
2022
2022-12 – McNeil, Mary Llewellyn. Century’s Witness: The Extraordinary Life of Journalist Wallace Carroll (Reviewed by Kaylene Armstrong)
2022-11 – Prioleau, Betsy. Diamonds and Deadlines: A Tale of Greed, Deceit, and a Female Tycoon in the Gilded Age (Reviewed by Jennifer E. Moore)
2022-10 – Gregorio, Katharine. The Double Life of Katharine Clark: The Untold Story of the Fearless Journalist Who Risked Her Life for Truth and Justice (Reviewed by Ecaterina Stepaniuc)
2022-09 – Stephen, Lynn. Stories That Make History: Mexico through Elena Poniatowska’s Crónicas (reviewed by Litzy Galarza)
2022-08 – Marshall, Jon. Clash: Presidents and the Press in Times of Crisis (reviewed by Pam Parry)
2022-07 – Levy, Yael. Chick TV: Antiheroines and Time Unbound (reviewed by Stephanie O’Brien)
2022-06 – Gamache, Ray. Gareth Jones: On Assignment in Nazi Germany 1933-34 (reviewed by Timothy Roy Gleason)
2022-05 – Condon, Amy Paige. A Nervous Man Shouldn’t Be Here in the First Place: The Life of Bill Baggs (reviewed by David R. Davies)
2022-04 – Ellingwood, Ken. First to Fall: Elijah Lovejoy and the Fight for a Free Press in the Age of Slavery (reviewed by Thomas Terry)
2022-03 – Aiello, Thomas. The Life & Times of Louis Lomax: The Art of Deliberate Disunity (reviewed by Pete Smith)
2022-02 – Stoner, Andrew. Dear Abby, I’m Gay: Newspaper Advice Columnists and Homosexuality in America (reviewed by Carolina Velloso)
2022-01 – Kirkpatrick, Melanie. Lady Editor: Sarah Josepha Hale and the Making of the Modern American Woman (reviewed by Paula Hunt)
2021
2021-019 – Thompson, Ethan, Jeffrey P. Jones, and Lucas Hatlen, eds. Television History, the Peabody Archive, and Cultural Memory (reviewed by Len O’Kelly)
2021-018 – Mitchell, Elizabeth. Lincoln’s Lie: A True Civil War Caper through Fake News, Wall Street, and the White House (reviewed by Gregory A. Borchard)
2021-017 – Morton, Scott A. The Sirens of Wartime Radio and How the American Print Media Presented Them (reviewed by Elisabeth Fondren)
2021-016 – Myers, Cayce. Public Relations History: Theory, Practice, and Profession (reviewed by Pam Parry)
2021-015 – Orozco, Cynthia E. Agent of Change: Adela Sloss-Vento, Mexican American Civil Rights Activist and Texas Feminist (reviewed by Melita M. Garza)
2021-014 – Cooper, Tom. Doing the Right Thing: Twelve Portraits in Moral Courage (reviewed by Willie R. Tubbs)
2021-013 – Reddin van Tuyll, Debra, Mark O’Brien, and Marcel Broersma, eds. Politics, Culture, and the Irish American Press, 1784-1963 (reviewed by Jon Bekken)
2021-012 – Washburn, Patrick S., and Chris Lamb. Sports Journalism: A History of Fame, Glory, and Technology (reviewed by Daxton “Chip” Stewart)
2021-011 – Bates, Stephen. An Aristocracy of Critics: Luce, Hutchins, and the Committee that Redefined Freedom of the Press (reviewed by Gwyneth Mellinger)
2021-010 – Smith, Benjamin T. The Mexican Press and Civil Society, 1940-1976: Stories from the Newsroom, Stories from the Street (reviewed by Celeste González de Bustamante)
2021-009 – Mangun, Kimberley. Editor Emory O. Jackson, the Birmingham World, and the Fight for Civil Rights in Alabama, 1940-1975 (reviewed by Vanessa Murphree)
2021-008 – Harris, Mazie M. Paper Promises: Early American Photography (reviewed by Jason Lee Guthrie)
2021-007 – Campbell, W. Joseph. Lost in a Gallup: Polling Failure in U.S. Presidential Elections (reviewed by Michael J. Socolow)
2021-006 – Mellinger, Gwyneth and John Ferré (Eds.) Journalism’s Ethical Progression: A Twentieth Century Journey (reviewed by Berrin A. Beasley)
2021-005 – Ness, Richard R. Encyclopedia of Journalists on Film (reviewed by Chad Painter)
2021-004 – Lumsden, Linda J. Social Justice Journalism: A Cultural History of Social Movement Media from Abolition to #Womensmarch (reviewed by Melissa Greene-Blye)
2021-003 – Martin, Christopher R. No Longer Newsworthy: How the Mainstream Media Abandoned the Middle Class (reviewed by Rob Wells)
2021-002 – Wells, Rob. The Enforcers: How Little-Known Trade Reporters Exposed the Keating Five and Advanced Business Journalism (reviewed by Joseph Weber)
2021-001 – Smith, Stephen A., comp., Freedom of Expression: Foundational Documents and Historical Arguments (reviewed by Erika J. Pribanic-Smith)
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