The Audit

In defense of ‘Dasani’

The NYT series transcends the Pulitzers and the second-guessing

By Ryan Chittum   Apr 17, 2014 at 06:50 AM

Columbia's Bill Grueskin tries to explain why the Pulitzer board dismissed The New York Times's "Invisible Child" series about Dasani... More

United States Project

What law did the Toledo Blade break? The Army won’t say

But we’ve got a guess—and the paper’s lawsuit could present the first challenge to the statute

By Jonathan Peters   Apr 16, 2014 at 03:22 PM

After military police detained two journalists last month outside a military manufacturing plant, an Army spokesman said the journalists had... More

Behind the News

Another Pulitzer for reporting classified info

The prize’s board has “rewarded” coverage of leaked material before

By Cora Currier   Apr 16, 2014 at 11:35 AM

The Pulitzer committee's decision to give its public service award this year to the Washington Post and the Guardian for... More

The Kicker

3 signs you’re in a bad relationship with your editor

What happens if, somewhere between first draft and publication, the editor-writer relationship goes south?

By Sarah Laskow   Apr 16, 2014 at 06:50 AM

Just like any successful romance, a good editorial relationship starts with two people, a mutual attraction, and the hope that... More

Behind the News

Why was ‘Dasani’ shut out of the Pulitzers?

5 problems with The New York Times’ ambitious, influential series on the life of one homeless Brooklyn girl

By Bill Grueskin   Apr 16, 2014 at 06:50 AM

On Monday afternoon, the Pulitzer board awarded the local news reporting prize to an impressive, powerfully written series of stories... More

The Second Opinion

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution does the Medicaid story we’ve been looking for

Taking a close look at what life is like in the “coverage gap”

By Trudy Lieberman   Apr 15, 2014 at 03:05 PM

Not long ago, we faulted press coverage of the Medicaid expansion debate for overlooking the personal experiences and struggles of... More

The Audit

USA Today’s third-rate clickbait

Trolling for pageviews à la Business Insider, but without the panache

By Ryan Chittum   Apr 15, 2014 at 11:00 AM

What happens when America's Newspaper tries to go Business Insider? Something like this: That's the America's Markets section of USA... More

Behind the News

Stories I’d like to see

Sealing deadly court files, and Obama and his Cabinet

By Steven Brill   Apr 15, 2014 at 10:55 AM

This column, a regular feature, was originally published on Reuters.com. 1. Sealing deadly court files: In the wake of continuing... More

Language Corner

Pretentious, or quaint?

Amongst, amidst, whilst

By Merrill Perlman   Apr 15, 2014 at 06:50 AM

The headline on a recent article in a Tennessee newspaper said the local teachers were "among best-paid" in the state.... More

Behind the News

IBT Media is allegedly breaking labor law

Newsweek’s parent company only pays employees once a month despite laws mandating twice monthly, according to multiple former and current staffers

By Sara Morrison   Apr 14, 2014 at 05:45 PM

IBT Media, the parent company of International Business Times and Newsweek, has been violating New York labor law for years... More

The Kicker

2014 Pulitzer Prizes announced

Guardian and WaPo win for public service

By The Editors   Apr 14, 2014 at 03:00 PM

This year's Pulitzer Prizes were announced at 3pm on Monday at Columbia University, the final prizes overseen by outgoing administrator... More

#Realtalk

16 women whose digital startups deserve Vox-level plaudits

A look at the media entrepreneurs who aren’t grabbing headlines

By Ann Friedman   Apr 14, 2014 at 11:30 AM

Even casual consumers of media news have heard of Ezra Klein and Nate Silver, two names that are now synonymous... More

Behind the News

The enduring pull of mag covers

Why do magazine cover images still hold so much cultural power in this decline-of-print era?

By Jill Filipovic   Apr 14, 2014 at 06:50 AM

In some ways, the Julia Louis-Dreyfus Rolling Stone cover is a sign of how far we've come: A 53-year-old woman... More

The Kicker

Must-reads of the week

Heartbleed bugs and wonk bubbles

By The Editors   Apr 11, 2014 at 02:50 PM

Culled from CJR’s frequently updated “Must-reads from around the Web,” our staff recommendations for the best pieces of journalism (and... More

The Second Opinion

The AP downplays its Obamacare scoop

Repeal on deductible caps marks another step in The Great Cost Shift

By Trudy Lieberman   Apr 11, 2014 at 01:30 PM

Earlier this week, David Espo of The Associated Press broke the news that an unlikely alliance of Democrats and Republicans... More

The Kicker

OnEarth eliminates print

The science mag’s editors say sticking to digital will allow them to devote more resources to environmental journalism

By Alexis Sobel Fitts   Apr 11, 2014 at 11:31 AM

Back in February we praised OnEarth, the editorial arm of the Natural Resources Defense Council, for using its website to... More

The Audit

Michael Wolff’s digital media bloopers (UPDATED)

The Newser founder trolls (other) digital-news companies

By Ryan Chittum   Apr 11, 2014 at 06:50 AM

Having accurately predicted that Lachlan Murdoch would return to his dad's company, Michael Wolff, in his exhilaration, made this crack... More

United States Project

A small paper scores an open-records win in a recovering city

The Joplin Globe’s court victory forces an investigation’s findings public before local election

By Greg Grisolano   Apr 10, 2014 at 11:13 AM

KANSAS CITY -- Voters in Joplin, MO, the small Midwestern city still recovering from a 2011 tornado, went to the... More

The Second Opinion

The promise and peril of new Medicare data

Newly-released Medicare payment data offer key clues to how physicians practice, get paid—if reporters proceed carefully

By Trudy Lieberman   Apr 10, 2014 at 08:00 AM

Yesterday's release by the Department of Health & Human Services of Medicare physician payment and service data--for decades out of... More

The Audit

The press and the tech bubble

How the groundwork might be laid for another Big One

By Ryan Chittum   Apr 9, 2014 at 04:30 PM

Here's a headline you don't like to see if you're worried about a possible social-media/tech bubble: Slate wrote this toward... More

The Audit

Audit Notes: CNN, SEC scorched, how we read now

By Ryan Chittum   Apr 9, 2014 at 03:00 PM

CNN is launching a show built for Twitter called Your 15 Second Morning, The Wall Street Journal reports. Fifteen seconds!... More

The Second Opinion

What coverage of New York’s ‘surprise billing’ fix left out

The fight between doctors and insurers is an important one to keep watching

By Trudy Lieberman   Apr 9, 2014 at 11:00 AM

Last week, The New York Times ran an article announcing a significant healthcare provision in the budget deal reached by... More