Review: A WONDERFUL AND INCISIVE LOOK AT A LOST ART
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 20, 2011
There was a time when journalists were true newsmen and newswomen.  When names like Royko, Mencken, Wicker, Reston and Frank Reynolds symbolized the true mission and art of journalism.  They were not pretty but true journalism is not pretty and each felt the punlic had "a right to know".Today, Journalists have become another type of performer or entertainer, complete with agents and make up artists. The sad state of the "media" makes Ken Rossignol's new book THE RAG so very enjoyable and compelling. It is a salve to those of us who value true newspeople and journalism,and proof that it still exists, albeit, not nearly as common as it used to be.The Story of THE RAG is a brilliant and cutting story of the newspaper ST. MARY'S TODAY...as the blurb sums up "In the short course of less than one year, a small-town newspaper which was run on a shoe-string was featured on the front page of two major newspapers and on network news, all due to covering the news with loud flashy headlines that `shouted' the news rather than boring its readers to tears. In short, the news made news.That was just the beginning, before long the newspaper would be the target of an organized effort by a county sheriff and his deputies and a candidate for states attorney to clean the paper off newsstands the night before an election and result in a landmark First Amendment case which is now the law of the land."To call The Story of THE RAG just an other "underdog" tale is to do this superb book a great injustice. In addition to being utterly engrossing, Ken Rossignal has perfected the art of producing a cautionary tale on freedom of the press as well as dedication to the reported word.A JAMES MASON COMMUNITY BOOK CLUB MUST READRICK FRIEDMANFOUNDERTHE JAMES MASON COMMUNITY BOOK CLUB