Books on journalism, clear writing and presenting - Army Public Affairs Association

HomeWriting Reading List

APAA Professional Development Reading List

Writing		Why we like it

		The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. is an American English writing style guide. It is one of the best-known and most influential prescriptive treatments of English grammar and usage, and often is required reading in US high school and university composition classes. The original 1918 edition of The Elements of Style detailed eight elementary rules of usage, 10 elementary principles of composition, a few matters of form, and a list of commonly "misused" words and expressions. This book, printed as a private edition in 1918 for the use of his students, became a classic on the local campus, known as "the little book", and its successive editions have since sold over 10 million copies. This version is based on the public-domain text from 1918, which was originally uploaded to Wikibooks and wikified by Wikibooks: User: Lord Emsworth in 2003.

		The gold standard of DINFOS and Army Branding.

		This is the one guide that anyone who writes - whether student, business person, or professional writer - should keep with them whenever they begin to write. Filled with professional tips and a wealth of instructive examples and prompts, this valuable, easy-to-use audio handbook can help solve any and all writing problems.

		Before you share information, can you separate fact from fiction? Bias Is All Around You: A Handbook for Inspecting Social Media & News Stories is designed to help you authenticate any form of information for possible bias before you use it and/or share it in your network.

		Interviewing is the single most important way journalists (and doctors, lawyers, social workers, teachers, human resources staff, and really, all of us) get information. Yet to many, the perfect interview feels more like luck than skill - a rare confluence of rapport, topic, and timing. But the thing is, great interviews aren’t the result of serendipity and intuition, but rather the result of careful planning and good journalistic habits. And Dean Nelson is here to show you how to nail the perfect interview every time.

		The Anatomy of Fake News offers the first historical examination of fake news that takes as its goal the effective teaching of critical news literacy in the United States. Higdon employs a critical-historical media ecosystems approach to identify the producers, themes, purposes, and influences of fake news. The findings are then incorporated into an invaluable fake news detection kit. This much-needed resource provides a rich history and a promising set of pedagogical strategies for mitigating the pernicious influence of fake news.

		Jill Abramson follows four companies: The New York Times, The Washington Post, BuzzFeed, and Vice Media over a decade of disruption and radical adjustment. The new digital reality nearly kills two venerable newspapers with an aging readership while creating two media behemoths with a ballooning and fickle audience of millennials.

APAA is an affiliate seller. We may receive a small commission when you purchase items through our online store. Books and movies listed here are peer recommended. If you have a recommendation for our professional development reading/watch list, please send an email with a 'why I like it' comment to:

treasurer@armypublicaffairsassociation.org. Recommended content must be appropriate to the Army Communicator's mission.