By “Floyd Inkjet”
JOTR Book Critic
At last, someone has penned a book about Journalism that truly can be described as all these things — a personal memoir, a comprehensive strategy for building a Journalism career, a nuts-and-bolts textbook and, yes, a call to arms that could be fairly described as a Manifesto for Saving Journalism.
That is a lot of landscape for a 228-page volume, but this seminal book — Shoestring Reporter
— covers all that ground — and more.
But I may be doing an injustice to author Joel Thurtell’s latest literary effort by describing it as a mere “textbook.”
His new book, Shoestring Reporter
It certainly can be called a memoir, because the author describes the rise of his career from unpublished novelist to stringer for the South Bend Tribune and then staff writer with the Detroit Free Press.
And following MSNBC’s suspension of Keith Olbermann for donating money to political causes, Shoestring, it turns out, is very timely. It has an in-depth discussion of the “ethical” issues surrounding political donations by Journalists.
[In the interest of full disclosure, Thurtell is the owner and operator of this blog, joelontheroad.com; he commissioned this review, but gave this pseudonymous writer carte blanche with the promise that “not a word will be censored — ha-ha!”]
Thurtell provides his readers a literary road map for creating a career as a paid Journalist — without spending a nickel on traditional Journalism classes.
The book’s subtitle may frighten some Journalism profs: How I Got To be a Big City Reporter Without Going to J School and How You Can Do It Too. Does the author think that subtitle might be seen as a gauntlet tossed in front of Journalism teachers?
“No,” Thurtell told me, “I don’t believe that will happen. Journalism profs are a fair-minded lot. They teach all about balance and getting the story right. And the story about Shoestring is not only about the great things you can achieve as a Journalist. I also delve into the darker side of this great craft, warning budding Journalists about legal and ethical issues they’ll inevitably confront if they choose to follow the path of Journalism. That is to say, if they follow the path of honest, independent Journalists. J-school profs will find my book is a primer on the dark underside of news reporting.”
“I doubt another Journalism book has been written that takes a hard look at the troubles a working Journalist can suffer. And I offer solutions,” noted Thurtell.
Thurtell describes how he jump-starts his writing in the morning, how he’s learned to write at any time of day or night in most any situation. The author says he doesn’t believe in “writer’s block.” He gives detailed tips on locating editors who will pay for stories, tells how to approach them and how to use editors to find other editors, aka employers who will pay money for your written work.
But he goes much further, by describing a situation in which he, as a hunted Journalist, had armed police threatening to break down the door of his house because of flawed legal advice from a newspaper attorney intent on preventing Thurtell’s testimony in a criminal trial.
Thurtell also writes about his first experience as an investigative reporter, when he wrote a story so shattering to the status quo in a western Michigan community that the prosecutor mulled investigating the reporter.
How does a Journalist handle these situations? Shoestring Reporter
“Shoestring certainly is a personal memoir,” Thurtell told me. “As a Journalist, you can do things that ordinary mortals would never dream of. How about flying straight up in a US Navy Blue Angels fighter jet? How about facing an angry western diamondback rattlesnake or learning to fly the WJR-AM traffic helicopter?”
“Some of these adventures were scary, but man, I wouldn’t trade them for the more stable but less exciting life of a lawyer, teacher, accountant or plumber,” said Thurtell.
Shoestring Reporter
Shoestring Reporter
