AAN Association of Alternative Newsmedia

25 Years' Worth Of Investigations And Commentary

november 23, 2010 03:20 pm

Using terms like "juicy," "edgy" and "poignant," the praise has been effusive for Watchdog: 25 Years of Muckraking and Rabblerousing, a collection of investigations, commentary and personal essays by Isthmus news editor Bill Lueders, who one reviewer called, "one of Madison’s leading investigative journalists."

Lueders was a co-founder of the weekly Crazy Shepherd in Milwaukee, which later evolved into AAN-member Shepherd Express, before joining Madison-based Isthmus in 1986. Much of the material in the book originated in Isthmus, although there are also pieces from Christian Science Monitor, The Progressive, and the aforementioned Shepherd Express sprinkled within.

Said historian Paul Buhle:

You could say this book has “the Lueders touch” all over it. He says he’s a radical but he is clearly a non-ideological type, spotting injustice and going after it, irrespective of the usual political lines.

And the Capital Times' Dave Zweifel:

Even those who have been the target of some of his frequently well-placed jabs will find his new book, “Watchdog,” a great read, not to mention a trip through the past 25 years of local and state history.

From his chapter on poet Allen Ginsberg to his more personal writings such as his remembrance of his late father, the works contained in this book led one reviewer to declare, "If the forecasts of print journalism’s decline and doom are premature, Bill Lueders may be proof incarnate."

Lueders' Watchdog is available for purchase here.