Product Description

From the editors at the world-renowned Associated Press, a guide to research, writing style, and reporting using the Internet.

How does a reporter go about researching a story on the Internet and how does one fact check and cite online sources? What are the copyright issues involved in quoting Internet sources? How does one go about selling a story to Internet sites? How does one physically file a story on-line? Answers to these and many more twenty-first-century journalism questions can be found in The Associated Press Guide to Internet Research and Reporting. The final word on the rules of Internet reporting, this comprehensive guide will be the on-line style guide of choice for AP staff, stringers, and journalism students alike.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1112497 in Books
• Published on: 2002-01-15
• Released on: 2002-01-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 156 pages

About the Author
Frank Bass has been director of computer-assisted reporting at The Associated Press since 1997. He previously worked for several newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal/Texas Journal, The Houston Post, and The Alabama Journal. He is a graduate of Texas Tech University. Bass shared the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for General News Reporting for an examination of Alabama's unusually high infant mortality rate and was the 1993 Texas Headliners Foundation's Reporter of the Year.

Customer Reviews

Only worthwhile if you've never used a computer
I was extremely disappointed with this book. This book is aimed either at people who have never used a computer, or at first-graders. The fact that most first graders have already used computers and the Internet probably won't help matters.

Coming from the Associated Press (who publishes other worthwhile books), one would guess that this is a fairly detailed guidebook on how to cite online resources, use of the Internet in the modern reporting environment, and also key information on online copyright and publishing in the digital age. Not even close.

Instead, this book proceeds to explain what the Internet is. Then it delves into what the "www" means, why there's a "." or "dot" between that and what's known as a "domain". It continues in this vein for the entire book.

The chapters entitled "Searching the Web", "Spreadsheets" and "Databases" aren't focused on how these can be leveraged with online reporting, they're primers. "Searching the Web" explains the concept of a "search engine" and why and how anyone would use one (such as the concept of "keywords" and "search results"), and provides examples of valuable resources called "Google" and "AltaVista". The same for the Spreadsheet and Database chapters.

The only value this book has is that chapter one has an interesting summarization of the personal computer and internet industries in about six pages. It sheds absolutely no new light, but as a quick read, it can get you up to speed (browser wars explained in twenty-five words or less). Chapter 12, which deals with online copyright, also explains at a first-grade level what a copyright is, etc. There's about four interesting paragraphs on "fair use", and the rest is filler.

Bottom line - you're reading this online, so you have already mastered 10 out of the 12 chapters without ordering the book. The other two chapters can be skimmed in about 4 minutes, and mostly are common sense. Avoid.