Journalism professor's book lands spot in top 35

by Laura Schneider
THE POST

Ohio University professor Patrick Washburn was one of 35 authors chosen to be on a list of the Significant Journalism and Communication Books of the Twentieth Century.

The list, compiled by the journalism bulletin Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, chose Washburn's book, ••A Question of Sedition : The Federal Government's Investigation of the Black Press During World War II••, after it was nominated last fall.

The list of journalism and communication publications called the 35 recognized titles ones that "clearly deserve a permanent place in libraries and on student and faculty reading lists."

Washburn said he initially thought a colleague was kidding when he told Washburn he had been placed on the list.

"I was just totally surprised," he said. "I knew I'd been nominated last fall, but I never expected that to happen."

The book is Washburn's dissertation, which he completed at Indiana University in 1984. The book focuses on the role of the black press during World War II and the government's examination of it.

During the war, the black press was scrutinized for their complaints concerning the unfairness of the United States government. The black press was investigated heavily, and publishers were even taken to court under charges of violating the Espionage Act for the articles that they printed. Washburn's book focuses on these investigations, and also the resulting changes for black Americans during World War II.

Washburn said his book was particularly significant because it included what he calls "massive amounts of information about World War II that had never been released".

Also, the book was one of the first to take advantage of the Freedom of Information Act that requires the government to release most information requested by citizens, Washburn said.

"The real hard core historians aren't in it for the money, but to add the knowledge and to get people to teach about the era you write about," Washburn said. "That's the ultimate accomplishment. People use it to teach, to research."

"It's pretty humbling to show up with some of the major names in the communication field," he said. "It's pretty stunning to get lumped in with these people."

- compiled by staff and wire reports