I’m putting together a reader of around 20 articles for my students this year. These are pieces of journalism, not academic works, and I’m hoping to showcase a variety of stories, writing styles and places in it. The idea is to have them read great writing, learn about some key events and provide a starting point for discussions of issues in journalism, especially in foreign correspondence.
Right now, I have the following:
- Orwell, George: Down the Mine ; 1937
From The Road to Wigan Pier
Public domain: available at: http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks03/0300011h.html - Lee, Laurie: The Village that lost its Children; 1975
From I can’t stay long, personal copy - Chang, Leslie T. Going Out ; 2008
In Factory Girls, personal copy - Kapuscinki, Ryszard: The Soccer War, 1969
In The Soccer War, personal copy - Politkovskaya, Anna; Nord-Ost, the Latest Tale of Destruction; 2004
From Putin’s Russia
University library copy - Shadid, Anthony Reporting from Baghdad, 2009
Published in the Washington Post
Available online at: http://www.pulitzer.org/works/2010-International-Reporting - Woodward, Bob and Bernstein, Carl: GOP Security Aide Among Five Arrested in Bugging Affair, Washington Post (1972)
In Stories that Changed America, personal copy - Alavi, Nasrin: Spreading the News 2005
from We Are Iran, personal copy - Pilger, John: In a Land of Fear, 1996 (article) and Inside Burma: Land of Fear (film)
available at: http://johnpilger.com/articles/in-a-land-of-fear and at http://johnpilger.com/videos/inside-burma-land-of-fear - Gourevitch, Philip: We Wish to Inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families, 1999
- Seierstad, Asne: The Bookseller of Kabul, 2003
So, a fair amount of Africa (and there’s more, I want to include something by Michela Wrong as well, and I need to include the 1994 South African election (but I can’t find a good enough article), I need something on the fall of the Berlin wall or the collapse of the Soviet Union, but I can’t find the right one.
I have nothing on India, and am reluctant to include Dalrymple, since he’s more travelogue than journalism.
I have only one set in central America, and nothing in South America. Recommendations?
I have nothing from Oceania?
Possibly something lighter, less war-focused?
Is there a great example of sports reporting for a general audience I could include?
Environmental issues?
More women?
More less-white people? #
Any suggestions welcome, below in the comments, or direct to me.
Paul Conroy – Under the Wire. On Marie Colvin’s last assignment in Syria
On the Front Line: The Collected Journalism of Marie Colvin
James Brabazon – My Friend the Mercenary.
Alex Crawford – Colonel Gaddafi’s Hat.
Some of my favourites