The 10 Best Journalism Books

Editor's Notes

March 16, 2020:

My earliest memory of training for a career in journalism is of my high school teacher Sister Jeremiah quoting Joe Friday from “Dragnet” with his commonly used, “All we want are the facts, ma’am.” She also made sure we students were well familiar with the inverted pyramid model, in which we inserted the most important details of a news story into the first paragraph – ensuring any busy subway rider could learn all the important details up front and move to the next story, if so desired. These days, journalism is unrecognizable from what it was back then, in many respects. As such, it’s important for any aspiring reporter -- as well as seasoned veterans -- to read up on the history of the profession and all the important ways it’s evolving today, not to mention the current standards and rules of the trade.

Although we already had the Associated Press’s informative Guide to News Writing on our list, in this update we felt it was important to add The Associated Press Stylebook, which is referred to daily by countless journalists. The latter is more of a hands-on resource, and its dictionary-style A to Z layout makes it quick and easy to find out about any term or topic at hand. This guide is updated annually, and all of the major changes are conveniently outlined toward the start. We linked to the spiral-bound copy; while a standard-bound copy is also available, the spiral binding makes it so much easier to keep it open flat on your desk as you type.

We also felt it was important to add a copy editing book to the selection, as many a reporter sooner or later may be tasked with editing the work of others. There is a much smaller selection of editing books available than books on writing, but you’ll appreciate The Subversive Copy Editor, which is an easy read with both strategies and support for keeping everyone happy with the changes you make: your writer and managing editor, as well as your readers.

To make room for these highly relevant books, we removed The New York Times: Complete Civil War 1861-1865 and The New New Journalism. While it didn’t make our list, anyone who wants to become a better writer would benefit from the renowned “The Elements of Style” by Strunk and White, which is as entertaining for many as it is thorough in explaining proper grammar and usage rules. My dog-eared copy with yellowed pages is always within reach.