Curtis Daniel MacDougall (1903–1985)

This is the eighth edition, and the last MacDougall was the sole author on. It is one of the best books on how to do reporting out there. MacDougall started his reporting in the '30s, and it informed his work. Objective was the goal, and keeping the reportage fair to the relevant ideas/issues was the question to be answered. This was written just before the age of newspapers ended, when most cities had more than one paper, and they were in competition, because the primary way for people to get news was newspapers. One needed to get the facts, and present them. A false sense of "objectivity" by showing, "all sides of the issues" even when some of the sides were ridiculous wasn't the aim.

Honestly, anyone who is looking to see what journalism could be, would be well served by this book.… (mer)

This book contains, as the author describes in the very last line, "over five hundred anecdotes" about various hoaxes, frauds, and lies throughout history. The first half of the book is organized as something of a skeptic's handbook, with sections divided by various reasons "why people believe" and "why people don't disbelieve", richly illustrated with examples of each case. The second half divides yet more hoaxes up by theme ("religious hoaxes", "newspaper hoaxes", "political hoaxes"), and the last section, called "hoaxes on the wing", discusses the distances that a false story once it's left its creator's control.

The book's full of fascinating tidbits of history and trivia, from the Cardiff Giant to the strange career of Isaac Bickerstaffe to the four-hundred-year history of the Spanish Prisoner swindle (perhaps better known now as the Nigerian Bank e-mail scam), and it's excellent, fascinating reading, particularly for dipping into a bit at a time. This book was written between the World Wars, and the Dover edition has been updated tp 1950, and iit's nteresting to read the stories that now seem sadly innocent (the sections on PR hoaxes and political hoaxes are full of what to a modern reader is just business as usual) and the hoaxes and cons that are still going strong after all this time.… (mer)