Why Newspapers Have Gone to Hell
No, the answer cannot be found in the reductionist explanation by experienced newsman James O'Shea.
O'Shea, an experienced reporter and editor, misses the story and writes poorly. If only we could send his terrific assignment back to the rewrite desk for fixing.
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This review originally appeared in the June 26 Washington Postand is reprinted with permission. I wonder what sort of newsman Satan would make. Send your speculations to slate.pressbox@gmail. For a taste of heaven, visit my Twitter feed. (Email may be quoted by name in "The Fray," Slate's readers' forum; in a future article; or elsewhere unless the writer stipulates otherwise. Permanent disclosure: Slate is owned by the Washington Post Co.)
Track my errors: This hand-built RSS feed will ring every time Slate runs a "Press Box" correction. For email notification of errors in this specific column, type Hell in the subject head of an email message, and send it to slate.pressbox@gmail.com.
Jack Shafer was Slate's editor at large. You can follow him on Twitter or email him at Shafer.Reuters@gmail.com.
Photograph of James O'Shea by James O'Shea/Chicago Tribune.



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