This is a work of media history and media criticism with a human face. It presents profiles of 11 journalists who left some of the country's biggest mainstream media outlets, and took on new career challenges. Their stories give the reader a vivid sense of what it means to be a reporter and to cover big news events. But this book goes beyond media memoir.
The book also explores the factors that led talented people to re-assess the profession they loved, and raises profound questions about the economic structure of news organizations and the culture of newsrooms, and their impact on the practice of journalism. By demonstrating that there is life after journalism, and that the skills the profession teaches remain valuable in other careers, this book also offers hope and direction to both aspiring and current journalists contemplating the future.