The History Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) has selected Andie Tucher as winner of its award honoring the best journalism and mass communication history book published in 2022. Tucher is author of Not Exactly Lying: Fake News and Fake Journalism in American History (Columbia University Press).
The committee also recognizes Ralph Engelman and Carey Shenkman as runners-up for this year’s Book Award. They are co-authors of A Century of Repression: The Espionage Act and Freedom of the Press (University of Illinois Press).
A panel of three distinguished media historians chose Not Exactly Lying from a strong field of entries. Tucher presents her history in an insightful and engaging narrative, the judges agreed. One described the book as “beautifully written, richly researched, and exquisitely timely.”
Not Exactly Lying defines and historicizes “fake news” and “fake journalism” from the first publications to appear in the American colonies. Tucher traces the relationship among truth, journalism, and public expectations over multiple centuries, using well-chosen examples from historical media to demonstrate how practices and ethics have evolved to serve various stakeholders.
Judges also praised Engelman and Shenkman’s A Century of Repression for its meticulous research and the importance of its subject.
“This book addresses an important area of scholarship,” a judge said. “It presents a sweeping history of the Espionage Act of 1917 and its relationship to freedom of the press and freedom of information. Starting with the law’s passage and showing how it has been applied by different agencies and administrations, the authors build a strong argument that the Espionage Act presents a danger to a free society (even as its supporters claim it protects the nation).”
Tucher is H. Gordon Garbedian Professor of Journalism and director of the Communications Ph.D. program at Columbia University. Her previous books are Happily Sometimes After: Discovering Stories from Twelve Generations of an American Family (University of Massachusetts Press, 2014) and Froth and Scum: Truth, Beauty, Goodness, and the Ax Murder in America’s First Medium (University of North Carolina Press, 1994), which won the Allan Nevins Prize from the Society of American Historians.
Ralph Engelman is senior professor emeritus of journalism and communication studies at Long Island University, Brooklyn. He is the author of Public Radio and Television in America: A Political History (Sage, 1996) and Friendlyvision: Fred Friendly and the Rise and Fall of Television Journalism (Columbia University Press, 2011). Carey Shenkman is a constitutional lawyer and litigator focusing on freedom of expression, transparency, and technology. He serves on the panel of experts of Columbia University’s Global Freedom of Expression Program and consults on media rights issues before the United Nations and around the world.
Tucher will receive a plaque and cash prize. All three honorees will be recognized during the division’s awards gala, Aug. 6, at the 2023 AEJMC National Convention in Washington, D.C. Tucher’s book has been discussed in an episode on the Journalism History podcast.