On the margins: understanding peripheral journalism -- Strong state, weak field: the forces shaping journalism in Rwanda -- Founding myths: stories as building blocks of journalism practice -- Underbaked or unrealized: "underdevelopment" as a journalistic keyword -- Money matters: the news values of business pressure -- Bridging worlds: working global while living local -- Conclusion: What is weak journalism good for? The power and potential of peripheral practice.

"What happens to journalism when its credibility has been decimated and journalists no longer believe in themselves? Can the journalism field reinvigorate itself from within or with assistance from global journalism culture? This book examines journalism practice in Rwanda to draw conclusions applicable to journalism fields everywhere. Drawing on seven months of fieldwork, Ruth Moon argues that this field of journalism is weak in part because of powerful but murky political boundaries but also because journalists themselves do not trust their profession. Compounding these forces are a powerful field orientation that emphasizes cooperation and positive development as news values and economic pressures that reward these values and render precarious any other behavior. Moreover, while global professional influences might provide an animating force, they in fact serve to reinforce the limitations of the local field - highlighting the limitations of globalization to effect change"--