School of Communications staff member Colin Donohue had a book review published in the Spring 2007 issue of Newspaper Research Journal. Donohue, the Coordinator of Student Media for the school, reviewed the book Baseball and the Media: How Fans Lose in Today's Coverage of the Game by George Castle, a Chicago Cubs beat writer for the Times of Northwest Indiana.
Castle argues that baseball fans are receiving short shrift from America’s newspapers, as coverage becomes diluted in some newspapers and completely non-existent in others. He laments the direction of the print journalism industry, complaining that the reduction of column inches and the increased awareness of profits are ruining, not aiding, the newspaper industry.
Donohue contends that Castle breaks no new ground with his book, making it more suitable for the casual baseball fan, rather than the astute media observer. Donohue writes:
“Overall, though, Castle’s impassioned prose often carries with it a subtext of anger and disillusionment. One can read the words about the decline of baseball coverage in America, but between the lines, readers will notice that the book is also about one man’s struggle to galvanize all corners of the baseball world, from the fans to the on-field talent to the reporters to the front office employees, in an attempt to return baseball to its halcyon days as this nation’s most revered and important athletic endeavor. The only way to achieve that end, Castle opines, is to improve coverage in newspapers, the one medium where unfettered, in-dept content is a constant. …
“Baseball and the Media presents no cutting-edge material; certainly media scholars might not find the book enlightening. However, those readers who survive outside the world of journalism, to whom the book is better suited, may come away with a clearer understanding of the quagmire in which print journalism remains stuck.”