Writing Across the Media

Rating:
Summary: Good, encouraging overview, but a little shallow.
Review: I have opted to use this book in a course on newswriting for various distribution channels but I am not as pleased with it as I anticipated. One of the first disappointments is that the accompanying classroom material promoted in the text is simply not available, and the publisher is not willing to say if it ever will be. The material included a video of some of the footage discussed in the text, and a promised web site, which was to keep current examples of good and bad writing available, with other goodies hinted at. Both promised to be great classroom tools to enhance understanding, but now I find myself having to try to explain why referenced examples in the text do not exist. The book, however, does a very solid job of providing an overview of several valuable concepts - most notably the idea that good writing is still at the core of communications, with delivery systems helping aim at specific audiences with specific interests and needs. The emphasis on content and accuracy, regardless of delivery, is strong throughout the book. The authors use two major news stories as illustrations across the chapters, which is nice to follow, but also a little confusing, since we don't have the video clips to support the discussions. The material is not damaged, though, and the principles are still communicated. It's not very detailed and I would like to have seen more specific advice given involving the distinctions between the writing styles themselves. The material is touched on, but not heavily addressed. That, however, would have lengthened the 225-page book and made it more intimitating that it needs to be. Perhaps in this era of exploring this issue of writing across the media, this brevity is the right approach. I know I'll have more success getting students to make it through this book than I do requiring them to wade through some other heftier texts I've tried. In all, it's a great first step. Now it's time for more detail and analysis. Who's game?