A healthy democracy needs engaged and curious citizens as well as engaged and curious journalists. But in the 1970s, engagement and curiosity took a turn toward skepticism and even cynicism about not only democracy but also the media outlets covering government – a feeling that persists today.

Kevin Lerner talks about his new book Provoking the Press: (MORE) Magazine and the Crisis of Confidence in American Journalism, which looks at the journalists who wrote about how others in their field covered big events of the day – from the Watergate scandal to the “seven dirty words” obscenity trial and debate over a reporter’s constitutional privilege.

Lerner, who holds a doctorate in journalism and media studies from Rutgers University, is a journalism professor at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York, where he teaches, among other topics, American press history, media law, and narrative journalism. He edits the Journal of Magazine Media and serves on the executive committees of the International Association for Literary Journalism Studies and the Joint Journalism and Communication History Conference.