Ink Stained

Three years ago, I gave up my "dream" job as a senior writer at one of the most storied institutions in journalism, The Wall Street Journal. My job was no longer a dream, at least not for me.

So begins one of 19 original stories in Ink Stained, by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism's Class of 1992. With datelines from Estonia to the Gulf Coast during Hurricane Katrina, from Peru to Chechnya during bloody conflicts, Ink Stained is a vivid snapshot of what's changed and what hasn't in the news business since the class graduated, possibly the most revolutionary 20 years in journalism.

Ink Stained is an examination of some of the challenges facing journalists. The Turkish government pressures a bureau chief from Turkey to tone down his stories; a town run by drug traffickers and guerrillas who killed the last gringo reporter to visit spook a foreign correspondent; and a journalism professor refuses to compromise ideals to appease administrators critical of a student newspaper.