Iron Editor

Book excerpt: Advocacy journalism is decimating newspapers. Since Watergate, newspapers have lost touch with the readers by turning into boring, preachy and lifeless publications. Today's editors want to win awards, not connect with readers. As newspaper executives are trying to save the world, they are killing an industry. And fewer readers are relying on newspapers as their primary source of information. Editors around the country are desperately scrambling for answers by turning to conferences, readership studies and surveys for help. But the drastic drop continues. In the IRON EDITOR, author Michael A. Raffaele provides a pull-no-punches analysis of the newspaper industry and offers vital steps needed to boost sales at the newsstands. Raffaele reveals his concept of an ideal editor, the "Iron Editor." Time is running out for editors. The industry is in peril. Only an "Iron Editor" can save it.