After nearly three years, Out of the News: Former Journalists Discuss a Profession in Crisis is a published book.  It’s available from the publisher, McFarland, from Barnes and Noble and from Amazon.   It is my first book, and I loved nearly every moment researching and writing it.

The essence of this book are the 11 intriguing, talented, vivid journalists I had the privilege to interview.   All have left the world of “for-profit” journalism; some have left the field entirely.  But they continue to hold very strong views about its past, present and future.

Their stories were a gift to me, and I hope that they will be a gift to the readers who find this book.

Journalism continues to evolve.  But the need for good journalism is as great, if not greater, than ever.

Facts are the fuel for democracy.  When unbiased information is difficult to come by, democracy’s engine sputters.  The vacuum left by the absence of good journalism is filled by propaganda and punditry. Both can cause the gears of government to slow down and finally stop.

We need the people profiled in this book.  We need them to remind us once again about what good journalism can achieve.

One of the highest purposes of journalism is to bear witness – to give an honest rendering of an event, or a complex issue, or a person – while keeping the journalist’s own ego out of the way.

I hope this book, in its own way, bears witness to journalism.