Journalism Primer
Jim Pumarlo

Romeii, LLC
September 28, 2011 / ISBN: 1937391027
Nonfiction / Writing / Reporting
Amazon

Reviewed by Sylvia McClain

Jim Pumarlo uses the textbook approach in his book, Journalism Primer. He calls it a guide to community news coverage for beginning and veteran journalists in the age of new media. For example, each chapter has a title. Starting with Preparing for the Story, he discusses how to do interviews. Moving on to his next chapter, The Nuts and Bolts of Meat and Potatoes, he discusses the two-way street election coverage merits. Afterwards, he goes on to Examine Approaches to Everyday Stories, explaining how to approach challenging stories with sensitivity and examine stories behind the numbers. His last chapter is Connect with Readers, where he shows how you use websites and the current social media. I think the book is a good primer for new, old or veteran newspaper writers.

Jim Pumarlo has been in the journalism business for 27 years. Having worked in different states, I feel he most likely knows the ins and outs of newspaper writing. Although most of his writing was in community newspapers, what he knows will also apply to newspapers printed in metro areas, like New York, Washington DC and other large major publishing hubs. Pumarlo weaves you through the process of learning how to write well for newspapers no matter what publisher you write for. If you are new to newspaper writing, read the Journalism Primer and think of it as being back in school again. It can't hurt.

As mentioned before, this book is for a classroom setting. Pumarlo takes you step by step through the process of learning how to be a good journalist.