- Working-Class Perspectives offers weekly commentaries on current issues related to working-class people and communities. Contributors discuss a variety of issues, from what class means to how it intersects with race and gender to how class is shaping American politics. We welcome relevant comments of 500 words or less.
For questions or comments about this blog, e-mail Sherry Linkon. For assistance with news stories about working-class politics and culture, call or e-mail John Russo, 330-207-8085. Categories
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The State of the Working Class
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Tag Archives: Journalism
Misrepresenting the White Working Class: What the Narrating Class Gets Wrong
Most of the time the white working class is invisible in the U.S. But during elections there is a flurry of attention to this “demographic” among political reporters and operatives, and as a result, also among the millions of us … Continue reading
The Incredibly Shrinking Working Class? The View from the “Professional” Bubble
In a semi-sympathetic article about unions organizing professional workers, a Chicago Tribune/Los Angeles Times reporter last month provided the following, colossally wrong, picture of American workers: “Professionals account for 62 percent of the U.S. workforce, up from 15 percent in … Continue reading
Community Journalism in the Recession
It is not news to note that along with traditional working-class occupations, one of the hardest hit business and employment sectors, even before the recession, is the traditional news media. Rocked by, to use a favorite business journalism cliché, a … Continue reading
Posted in Class and the Media, Contributors, Issues
Tagged civic engagement, Class and the Media, community journalism, Journalism
3 Comments
Working-Class Journalism: A Model for Teaching
Among seemingly endless reports, studies and speculations that have almost unanimously heralded the death of the newspaper, the Columbia Journalism Review’s recent study stands out as both incisive and constructive for its detailed summation of the conditions that have caused … Continue reading
Education, Business, and Perpetuating the Class Hierarchy
In our last blog, we noted the increasing absence of working-class writers from the Journalism profession, due in part to the proliferation of the unpaid internship as the requisite for a career in the field. While the financial consequences of … Continue reading
Posted in Class and Education, Contributors, Issues
Tagged Education, internships, Journalism, STEM education, working-class students
4 Comments
The Political Parabola, the Media, and the Direction of Working-Class Populism
Media pundits regularly describe American politics in terms of a spectrum, from far right to far left. It’s time to recognize that this simplistic model has lost some of its explanatory value. It’s convenient, but it doesn’t adequately describe what … Continue reading
Posted in Contributors, Issues, John Russo, Working-class politics
Tagged Journalism, stereotypes, Working class
6 Comments
The Costs of Becoming a Journalist
A report by the British Cabinet Office released this summer offers stark evidence of the disappearance of the working class from the journalism profession, and the study offers some relevant observations for American media as well. The report, Unleashing Aspirations, … Continue reading
Posted in Class and the Media, Contributors, Issues
Tagged Education, internships, Journalism, Youngstown State University
21 Comments
Reinventing Journalism
In March, we wrote about the “deindustrialization” of journalism, the displacement of traditional journalists by the steady closures of newspapers as readers increasingly rely on free online news. . For those in former steel and auto towns like the Mahoning … Continue reading
Crisis and Coverage: Hearing Working-Class Voices
For generations, people have understood and accepted that the news media has the power to set the public agenda through how it covers major stories. How well does the media bear that responsibility? Some argue that the news is gathered … Continue reading
Posted in Class and the Media
Tagged Class and the Media, coverage, credibility, economic crisis, Journalism, Katrina
2 Comments