Investigative journalist Peter Laufer is back with his third book in a trilogy that explores the way we humans interact with animals. The attack of a trainer at Sea World by a killer whale in February 2010 is the catalyst for this examination of the controversial role animals have played in the human arenas of entertainment and sports. From the Romans throwing Christians to lions to cock-fighting in present-day California, from abusive Mexican circuses to the thrills of a Hungarian counterpart, from dog training to shooting strays in the Baghdad streets, Laufer looks at the ways people have used animals for their pleasure. The reader travels with Laufer as he encounters fascinating people and places, and as he ponders the ethical questions that arise from his quest.

Interviewing: The Oregon Method is a collection of practical and analytical essays from more than three dozen professional interviewers, scholars, and teachers. This revised and expanded second edition of the popular professional tool features a new foreword and a dozen new chapters designed to aid journalists navigating the contemporary 'fake news' and 'enemy of the people' media landscape. The book's chapters take focused looks at a wide variety of issues, including interview ethics, the sanctity of quotes, interviewing in the virtual world, negotiating identity, and building rapport. The art of the interview has been taught at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication for generations. This foundational text binds those years of experience into a collection of vibrant essays designed to train novices and invigorate old hands. Interviewing is edited by Peter Laufer, the University of Oregon's James Wallace Chair Professor of Journalism. As he tells his students, 'The interview is intimate, immediate, and often an entree toward the soul. Conducting interviews can be both great fun and an art form.' This is a primer for the digital age, yet one embracing age-old lessons that make clear the crucial importance of successful interviewing techniques for speaking truth to power along with other productive forms of civic engagement.

With this provocative and concise book, journalist Peter Laufer launches a Slow News movement, inviting us to question the value of the perpetual empty-calorie news that accompanies our daily lives.
"Slow News: A Manifesto for the Critical News Consumer" examines the nature of news in the context of the increasingly frenetic pace of modern life in the twenty-first century. Taking a cue from the slow food movement, Laufer suggests that we step back from the constant barrage of instant news to consider news thoughtfully and thoroughly. He argues that it is valuable for both the journalist in the field and the news consumer at home to take the time to ruminate on most news events.
Inspired by Michael Pollan's "Food Rules," Laufer offers twenty-eight rules--including "Trust accuracy over time," "Know your sources," and "Don't become a news junkie"--to guide us in a gradual quest for slower news.

These days everyone has something to say (or declaim ) about the U.S.-Mexico border. Whether it's immigration, resource management, educational policy, or drugs, the borderlands are either the epicenter or the emblem of a current crisis facing the nation. At a time when the region has been co-opted for every possible rhetorical use, what endures is a resilient and vibrant local culture that resists easy characterization. For an honest picture of life on the border, what remains is to listen to voices that are too often drowned out: the people who actually live and work there, who make their homes and livings amid a confluence of cultures and loyalties. For many of these people, the border is less a hyphenated place than a meeting place, a merging. This aspect of the border is epitomized in the names of two cities that straddle the line: Calexico and Mexicali.
A "sleepy crossroads that exists at a global flashpoint," Calexico serves as the reference point for veteran journalist Peter Laufer's chronicle of day-to-day life on the border. This wide-ranging, interview-driven book finds Laufer and travel companion/photographer on a weeklong road trip through the Imperial Valley and other border locales, engaging in earnest and revealing conversations with the people they meet along the way. Laufer talks to secretaries and politicians, restaurateurs and salsa dancers, poets and real estate agents about the issues that matter to them the most.
What draws them to border towns? How do they feel about border security and the fences that may someday run through their backyards? Is "English-only" a realistic policy? Why have some towns flourished and others declined? What does it mean to be Mexican or American in such a place? Waitress Bonnie Peterson banters with customers in Spanish and English. Mayor Lewis Pacheco laments the role that globalization has played in his city's labor market. Some of their anecdotes are humorous, others grim. Moreover, not everyone agrees. But this very diversity is part of the fabric of the borderlands, and these stories demand to be heard.