Mr. Associated Press Kent Cooper and the Twentieth-Century World of News

Finalist for the AEJMC Tankard Book AwardBetween 1925 and 1951, Kent Cooper transformed the Associated Press, making it the world s dominant news agency while changing the kind of journalism that millions of readers in the United States and other countries relied on. Gene Allen s biography is a globe-spanning account of how Cooper led and reshaped the most important institution in American--and eventually international--journalism in the mid-twentieth century. Allen critically assesses the many new approaches and causes that Cooper championed: introducing celebrity news and colorful features to a service previously known for stodgy reliability, pushing through disruptive technological innovations like the instantaneous transmission of news photos, and leading a crusade to bring American-style press freedom--inseparable from private ownership, in Cooper s view--to every country. His insistence on truthfulness and impartiality presents a sharp contrast to much of today s fractured journalistic landscape.Deeply researched and engagingly written, Mr. Associated Press traces Cooper s career as he built a new foundation for the modern AP and shaped the twentieth-century world of news.