(c) Samuel Freedman, Letters to a Young Journalist

Although the book is several years old, I recently had to re-read “Letters to a Young Journalist” for class. When I announced that I was writing a book review of the book on Twitter, @srubenfeld was quick to request a reading of the review. I thought I would post the review on my blog for all to read. Here are snippets of it. Enjoy.

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In “Letters to a Young Journalist,” Samuel G. Freedman, a professor at Columbia University looks back on his career and the finer point of journalism in the last half century and passes on important tips he has learned through his time as a journalist. He even passes on some interesting observations on where he thinks journalism is going and how these changes are not for the worse, like a lot of traditional journalists seem to think.

Freedman starts off the book by giving the reader a brief synopsis of his early days in journalism, working for the Courier-News in New Jersey. He talks of the exhilaration he felt while working there. He describes his rough wardrobe, the slight confusion he felt, and shares a few interesting stories of people who influenced him while he was working there. He uses these stories as a catalyst to discuss where he is today, a professor at Columbia University, a columnist for The New York Times, author of five books. He tells the reader that he’s come a long way and has seen countless changes in his time and he begins to explain each and every to the reader.

Throughout the book, not only does he use his own experiences as an example for great journalism, he looks to others. For example, he talks about JFK’s assassination and how in the weeks following the event, it had been covered from nearly every angle, except for one exceptional story that came out that covered the gravedigger who dug Kennedy’s grave on the morning of Kennedy’s funeral. He also talked about Gay Talese’s article on Frank Sinatra for Esquire entitled “Frank Sinatra has a Cold.” I had previously heard about this article and was interested to read his review of it and his explanation of its importance in the history and development of modern journalistic writing. It was very engaging.

I would strongly recommend “Letters to a Young Journalist” to any journalism friend of mine. The book is well written and interesting, as it serves as a personal retrospective of journalism history and an interesting compilation of some of the best articles and reporting tales I’ve read in one sitting.

The book starts off very slow and it is easy to at first not be able to determine its relevance. However, as the book progresses, it begins to analyze journalism in a more in-depth form and thus it becomes more of an engaging read.
This book makes it very easy to apply to my own life, because it is written specifically for people in my circumstance: college journalism majors. It speaks of the struggles of every journalist in finding a job, dealing with difficult sources, coworkers, etc.

However, more inspiringly, Freedman analyzes his relationships with his mentors, the decisions he made to get to where he is today, and tips on how young journalists can implement them into their own lives.

What I, particularly find interesting, is the part where Freedman reminds the reader that they are not entering journalism at a time when it is dying (which with the continuous closing of newspapers and magazines, it is easy to feel). He tells us that this is the time when it is thriving, as we are on the threshold of new ideas, new business models, and newer and more improved ways to tell stories. We’re telling stories in ways that seemed impossible even just 10 years ago.

As a college student interested in new media, this is such an enlightening thing to read. I continuously hear friends of mine say that the glory days are over, but I am on the opposite side of the spectrum. I really believe that the ways reporters can tell stories are evolving to a degree that newspapers cannot keep up with. We have seen recently a push in mobile technology, application use, flash, and more unique multimedia tools. Freedman goes on to explain his past as a means to use these technologies better as we progress into the future.

The book was both interesting and inspiring. Although it seemed like a personal journalism diary, more than a “letter” to a young journalist, it was engaging enough to the point that I could not put it down and to a degree where I feel the examples of excellent article writing he noted are things I should pass on to my friends and hold on to.