Book Review: A Force for Good: How the American News Media Have Propelled Positive Change, by Rodger Streitmatter

Abstract

Rodger Streitmatter A Force for Good: How the News Media Have Propelled Positive Change. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015. 229 pp.In the opening line of his introduction, historian Rodger Streitmatter postulates that American journalism is a punching bag (p. xiii) and walks through the laundry list of complaints about the news media including too negative, too sensationalistic, or too biased.As an antidote to this alleged public cynicism toward the press, Streitmatter has researched and written a set of 16 short case studies where news media outlets helped the United States become a better place (p. xiii)Then he dives into the case studies starting with early journalism history examples such as Nellie Bly's undercover reporting inside an insane asylum for women on Manhattan's Roosevelt Island that exposed the harsh treatment of patients and Jacob Riis's pioneering journalism that revealed deplorable living conditions in Manhattan's lower east side tenements.He also focuses on topics thataren't classified as historic milestones but are what can be seen as cultural phenomena. These incidents often had enormous impact on society, and yet they don't make the cut when scholars list the landmark moments that have charted this country's evolution. (p. xv)Among these phenomenons, he credits the press in exposing the original Ponzi scheme in Boston, presenting the FBI as a force that could stop 1920s-1930s-era gangsters, and popularizing birth control pills in the 1950s.In these case studies, Streitmatter shows an ability to explain history in an engaging, smooth, and succinct manner. He also has sourced his chapters well with footnotes, bibliography, and an index that shows he read and synthesized many sources in his research process.Most readers will find some new facts or ideas in these case studies. While I think the book is unlikely to be assigned in a college class as a whole, some of the case studies could provide excellent views on particular moments in journalism history. And, while reading the book, I found myself referring to cases from the book in class discussions with students.My main quibble with the book is Streitmatter's framing. He seems to present the heart of journalism as progressive politics and social activism, celebrating the ways journalism pushed (p. xiv) or drove social change. Journalism is sometimes about that, yes. But it is also about much more than that. And we are missing a good deal of additional context that could and should easily be included. …