MU professor puts journalism in historical perspective
With the publication of two books investigating major events in the history of American journalism, University of Missouri School of Journalism Professor Steve Weinberg is creating a buzz in the Fourth Estate.
Of particular local significance is Weinberg’s A Journalism of Humanity: A Candid History of the World’s First Journalism School, published by the University of Missouri Press April 7.
Commemorating the centennial anniversary of the J-School’s founding in 1908, the book delves into the factors and challenges that have shaped it: struggles over resources; efforts to balance scholarly pursuits with practical professional training; the marginalization of women and minority groups and legal and ethical conundrums.
Released within the same week and also covering journalistic events of the early 1900s, Weinberg’s book Taking on the Trust: The Epic Battle of Ida Tarbell and John D. Rockefeller, published by W. W. Norton, explores the career of one of the most significant women in American journalism— and her clash with one of the most powerful men in business. Known an original muckraker, Ida Tarbell helped take down John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil monopoly by exposing unethical business practices in a series of investigative pieces published in McClure’s magazine between 1901 and 1904. A sizable and favorable review of Weinberg’s book appears in the March 28 Wall Street Journal, online.wsj.com.
A J-School graduate himself, Weinberg now teaches courses at his alma mater. A seasoned investigative journalist, he is the author of Trade Secrets of Washington Journalists, Armand Hammer: The Untold Story, Telling the Untold Story and The Reporter’s Handbook: An Investigator’s Guide to Documents and Techniques.
CBT: The School of Journalism is one of the largest schools at the University of Missouri, and it draws students from all over the world. What do you see as its financial and cultural impact on Columbia, and has that changed over the years?
Weinberg: The cultural impact is considerable, because the Journalism School draws students from dozens of nations, plus all regions of the United States. Journalism students spread their cultural values and practices quickly, as they interview sources.
Furthermore, journalism students at MU tend to be up to date on current events and possess outgoing personalities, which means they are vocal and otherwise visible in MU classrooms outside the Journalism School.
CBT: It’s often said that just about every business owner and operator in Columbia has been interviewed by students from the journalism school at least once, and the swarm of cub reporters also forces city and county officials to an abnormal amount of scrutiny. From your perspective as a long-time resident of the city, how has this “hyperjournalism” affected how the city is run?
Weinberg: The number of journalists is large, but it is a myth the “every” business operator and government official has been interviewed. Unfortunately, most important and interesting stories in Columbia remain untouched, despite the large number of journalists.
The main reason is the narrow definition of news held by lots of assigning editors. Workplace coverage is narrow and shallow for the most part, and a huge number of government agencies are covered only superficially.
CBT: The description of your book on Tarbell and Rockefeller says the story has “a powerful resonance for the first decades of the 21st century.” Could you elaborate?
Weinberg: Ida Tarbell’s exposé of the Standard Oil Company needs to be used as a model for today’s journalists trying to understand contemporary behemoths other than the oil companies. Where are the journalists of Tarbell’s ilk who need to expose in full, rather than piecemeal, the operations of Wal-Mart and Microsoft and McDonald’s and Starbucks and the profiteering defense contractors, among other dominant multinational corporations?