Some of the century's best

In my last column, I mocked journalists' often tedious and pretentious fascination with making lists. I shamelessly return this week to focus on a journalist-produced list that I didn't find at all tedious or pretentious.

The list is "The Top 100 Works of Journalism in the United States in the 20th Century," and it's available on the Internet at http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/journal/Dep...

Like the Newseum's list of top news stories of the 20th century, this one was compiled by a panel of noted journalists. Assisting in this particular list-making venture was the New York University journalism faculty.

The Newseum's list was embarrassingly U.S.-centric, and the same complaint might be made of this one. But I found NYU's list to be educational and entertaining. I recognized quite a few of the pieces on the list. Others are unfamiliar, and I hope to hunt them down someday soon.

No. 1 on the list was John Hersey's "Hiroshima," which filled an entire issue of The New Yorker in 1946. People might quibble about what belongs in the top 10 of the most important pieces of journalism of the 20th century, but surely this one goes near the top. (Those who aren't familiar with it can find a copy in any good bookstore.)

No. 100, somewhat surprisingly, was Hunter Thompson's "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail." I enjoyed it immensely when I read it some years ago, but I hadn't expected it to weather well. Apparently it has. ("Fear and Loathing" is also available in any good bookstore.)

In between are 98 great picks - works by Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, Edward R. Morrow, Margaret Bourke-White, Joseph Mitchell, Grantland Rice, Lillian Ross, Ben Hecht and more.

The placement of each item on the list isn't worth arguing over. The joy of reading the list is discovering great works you missed - and rediscovering others you've not read in a while.

New York University's web site also includes a lengthy list of the nomineess considered by the judging panel. Working journalists and aspiring journalists should be sure to click on this page, too. It's arranged by year. and it's at http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/journal/Dep...

If you'd like to comment on any of the works on the list, or point out a few that should have made it but didn't, please feel free -- as always -- to add your thoughts to the discussion area below.

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