ABOUT THE BOOK

When Willard M. Kiplinger launched the groundbreaking Kiplinger Washington Letter in 1923, he left the sidelines of traditional journalism to strike out on his own. With careful reporting and insider access, he delivered perceptive analysis and forecasts of business, economic, and political news to busy business executives, and the newsletter’s readership grew exponentially over the coming decades.

Part journalism history, part biography, and part democratic chronicle, The Insider offers a well-written and deeply researched portrayal of how Kiplinger not only developed a widely read newsletter that launched a business publishing empire but also how he forged a new role for the journalist as political actor.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rob Wells is an Associate Professor and Ph.D. Studies Director at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism, University of Maryland. Previously, he was Associate Professor and Graduate Program Coordinator at the School of Journalism and Strategic Media at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. He teaches data journalism, investigative reporting, business journalism, and journalism theory, among other topics. Wells earned a doctorate in Journalism Studies at the Merrill College in 2016. He is a journalism historian specializing in the field of business journalism.