Update: 6-26-18: I hope you enjoy this book of reflections on the hope for renewal in journalism, drawing upon the recent World Communications Day 2018 message (and prayer) presented by Pope Francis. See my earlier blog post or my LinkedIn profile for a fuller discussion of the book and its subject.

This post has two purposes–first, as a tool for readers who wish to buy my e-book (with additional iterations anticipated in the future) in various formats, from various vendors; and second, as a companion to aid your own online research, utilizing links I included in the original text.

Purchase the book for $2.99 from:

• Amazon (for Kindle devices)
• Barnes and Noble (for Nook devices)
• Smashwords (for several document formats, including pdf and html, as well as .epub, which can be read on Apple products–iPad and iPhone)

Use the following links if your e-book format does not connect the links automatically. These will send you directly to material I highlighted–expert insights that informed the perspectives I pursued in the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi. Please invite these experts’ observations into your own reflections! The links are sorted according to the chapters in which they appeared:

Chapter One.

• Report on the Pope’s reflections for World Communications Day: “The TruthWill Set You Free: Fake News and Journalism for Peace” — A storyd by Catholic News Service
• The verbatim text of his message, issued officially on the Sunday before Pentecost.
• Communications Day messages spanning 52 years, annual messages issued by Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, and Pope Frdncis.
• Preview of the Pope’s message was provide on the feast day of St. Franics deSales, patron saint of journalism.
• Flannery O’Connor about the impact of the truth

Chapter Two.

• The original Peace Prayer of St. Francis, reprinted by Loyola Press

Chapter Three.

• Parallel wisdom about the power of language from Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies, by scholar and public speaker Marilyn McEntyre  . . .  See my Notre Dame Magazine blog post about her book and Pope Francis’ message
• Noah Webster’s 1928 dictionary, available free online, talks about conversation

Chapter Four.

• “With love for mankind and hatred for sins”–underlying the need to make judgments about actions–is drawn from Catholic Answers Online website.
• Calls for ethical responsibility have been common guidelines for journalists in various ethical codes, drawing upon values in the secular world
• Code of Ethics from the Society of Professional Journalists, urging awareness of the harm that some journalistic practices can inflict

Chapter Five.

• The power of love in the public square, evoked by Episcopal Presiding Bishop Michael Curry during his May 2018 Royal Wedding sermon, reported by CNN
• “Journalism is the literature of civil life,” as pointed out by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel in their respected book of sound guidelines, The Elements of Journalism. 
• A mandate for outreach to others, shared by journalists and everybody, through the lens of Pope Francis, as reported by the Catholic News Agency
• Pope Francis puts his call for authentic communication with others in the context of his apostolic exhortation, The Joy of the Gospel
• Noted press critic A.J. Liebling points out the inequality when not everyone owns a “press” and has a voice

Chapter Six.

• Journalism as the “art of pretending to know,” a humbling quip by British writer G.K. Chesterton, cited by editor Dale Ahlquist of the American Chesterton Society
• “In the end, journalism is an act of character,” say Kovach and Rosenstiel in The Elements of Journalism
• Sinfulness of calumny and detraction as explained in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 2475, 2477)

Chapter Seven.

• News media “over-covering the crises of the world and under-covering the major trends”: correspondent Georgie Anne Geyer in panel at University of Notre Dame
• Journalists’ own critiques relevant to news coverage in the 1980s and perhaps still today, extracted from scholar Robert Schmuhl, The Responsibilities of Journalism
• A 2013 report finds 27 percent of Americans think journalism contributes “not very much” or “nothing” to society, according to the Pew Research Center
• People are bound by a moral obligation to seek the truth, says the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 2467)

Chapter Eight.

• “News transparency’ helps to bridge gaps between news producers and consumers, says a Washington Post reporter; she also cites public mistrust of media in 2017
• Other reports on the spread of “news transparency” efforts come fromNiemanLab, a National Public Radio ethics handbook, and New York University
• “News literacy” is an effort to improve relationships between producers and consumers of journalism, especially young audiences, says News Literacy Project
• Our society’s sloppy communications styles “make us careless and so make us care less,” says Marilyn McEntyre in her book, Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies.

Chapter Nine.

• Truth is journalists’ first obligation, write Kovach and Rosenstiel in The Elements of Journalism, and the pope ends his 2018 message with a similar emphasis on truth.

Chapter Ten.

• The exact explanation of the word “amen” is a bit tricky, according to the Catholic Answers Online website, because it has multiple layers of meaning.

[Please send me your comments at billgerards@gmail.com]

[Also, peruse some more of the content you’ll find in earlier posts on this OnWord blog. Please visit the “I Link, Therefore I Am” biographical page connecting to dozens of articles, online posts, books, videos, podcasts, and other recordings–many of which I’ve been blessed to produce, or contribute to, in recent months.]