An urgent case that the survival of democracy depends on reinventing the press, with ten pioneering reforms to help journalism better serve the public—from the co-author of the classic The Elements of Journalism.
The crisis in journalism reflects a crisis in American democracy. Faith in news outlets has dwindled, news deserts are expanding, and audiences are turning away from alarmist, partisan, and fragmented coverage.
In The Next Journalism, Tom Rosenstiel—veteran journalist, researcher, novelist, and co-author of The Elements of Journalism—argues that the roots of journalism’s failure are intellectual, not just financial or technological. He outlines ten fundamental ways journalism must change to become more useful, trustworthy, and collaborative with the communities it serves.
From redefining news as a service rather than a product, to embracing transparency, to harnessing AI responsibly, Rosenstiel provides a bold, practical framework for rebuilding a press that empowers citizens instead of alienating them. With case studies, historical insight, and forward-looking ideas, this book offers journalists, policymakers, and readers alike a roadmap to ensuring democracy’s survival in the twenty-first century.
Tom Rosenstiel is a journalist, media critic, researcher, novelist, and professor. He is the author of seven influential nonfiction books, including The Elements of Journalism, and four novels. Rosenstiel has been a press critic for the Los Angeles Times, chief congressional correspondent for Newsweek, press critic for MSNBC, and director of media studies at the Pew Research Center. He also led the American Press Institute and now serves as Eleanor Merrill Professor on the Future of Journalism at the University of Maryland. He lives in Washington, D.C.
Rosenstiel will be joined in conversation with Asma Khalid & John Harwood.
Asma Khalid is the co-host of a new daily news podcast that launched this September from the BBC called The Global Story. She’s based in Washington DC, with a co-host in London — and together they tell the stories of where the world and America meet. The show airs as a podcast here in the U.S. and around the world on the BBC World Service radio reaching tens of millions of people around the globe. She got her start in journalism in her home state of Indiana, but fell in love with radio through an internship at the BBC Newshour in London during graduate school. She’s a frequent guest on TV news programs such as ABC’s This Week, CNN’s Inside Politics and PBS’s Washington Week. A native of Indiana, Asma is a graduate of Indiana University in Bloomington and the University of Cambridge.
For four decades, John Harwood has covered the White House, Congress, national politics and the economy for America’s leading news organizations. He has interviewed every president from George H.W. Bush to Joe Biden. He was part of the Wall Street Journal team that won the Pulitzer Prize for coverage of 9/11, and received an Emmy nomination for his hour-long live CNBC town hall with President Barack Obama. Born in Louisville, KY, he grew up in suburban Washington and graduated from Duke University with a degree in history and economics. He spent a year as a Nieman Fellow at Harvard, and now chairs the Nieman Foundation Advisory Board.