He’s Just Not That Into (Getting Into) It

By Megan Garber   Jul 31, 2009 at 05:16 PM

Question-evasion is a time-honored tradition among White House press secretaries; the terms used to avoid commenting, however, vary by occupant... More

Coverage of Obama “Suds Summit” Hard to Swallow

Top papers waste time covering irrelevant photo-op

By Greg Marx   Jul 31, 2009 at 03:39 PM

The nation’s political media apparently decided to hold a little contest yesterday: Which outlets can produce the most gratuitous, the... More

Why the Twitter Absence? Keller’s Toothsome Response

By Megan Garber   Jul 31, 2009 at 02:41 PM

Bill Keller has been, of late, an absentee Twitterer: his most recent tweet was posted on May 14. What's up... More

Fuel for Thought

Once credulous, biofuels coverage grows skeptical

By Sanhita Reddy   Jul 31, 2009 at 12:24 PM

Fuel from corn. Fuel from coffee grounds. Fuel from chicken feathers. Whatever the recipe, the search for a replacement for... More

High-Frequency Trading and Crash Risks

Reuters’ Goldstein and an NYT op-ed raise questions about a potential feedback loop

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 31, 2009 at 11:58 AM

We've been keeping an eye on the high-frequency trading story since Matthew Goldstein of Reuters broke the story of a... More

The Washington Post’s Priorities, Beer Goggles Edition

By Megan Garber   Jul 31, 2009 at 11:45 AM

By my count, the people mocked in the latest episode of "Mouthpiece Theater"--the Washington Post Web series starring Dana Milbank... More

Pelosi, Prevention, and PBS

Is Madame Speaker misinformed?

By Trudy Lieberman   Jul 31, 2009 at 11:44 AM

Preventative care saves money? C’est impossible, Madame Speaker! For weeks, we on Campaign Desk have been pointing out this fallacy,... More

Lessons Learned from “Wafergate”

When bad editing happens to good reporters

By Craig Silverman   Jul 31, 2009 at 11:07 AM

People are calling it Wafergate, which makes it sound silly. But underlying this story is a major mistake by a... More

Getting Adjusted

Post health care piece errs by using nominal dollars

By Greg Marx   Jul 31, 2009 at 10:48 AM

Near the top of a long, interesting story in Sunday’s Washington Post, in which he argued that improved medical treatments... More

“The Coalition of the Swilling,” or, “The Audacity of Hops”

By Megan Garber   Jul 31, 2009 at 09:21 AM

Yesterday's so-called "Beer Summit" did not feature: screaming matches; fist fights; heartfelt hugs; apologies. Thus, cable pundits deemed the thing... More

Another One on the Block

By Megan Garber   Jul 31, 2009 at 09:14 AM

The latest magazine to be put up for sale? Publisher's Weekly. More

Birthers: Bad for Business?

By Megan Garber   Jul 31, 2009 at 09:06 AM

For Lou Dobbs, they may be, anyway. Reports the New York Observer: Mr. Dobbs' first began reporting on Obama birth... More

Print Newspapers Still Dominate Readers’ Attention

Another look at how much time is spent reading newspapers online and in print

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 30, 2009 at 07:46 PM

For those of us of a certain small-but-growing subset—the blogging, commenting, techno-savvy, early-adopting, extreme-news consumers—it's sometimes easy to forget that... More

“Malaise” Maligned

A look back at Jimmy Carter’s ill-fated speech

By Megan Garber   Jul 30, 2009 at 01:35 PM

'What the Heck Are You Up To, Mr. President?': Jimmy Carter, America's 'Malaise,' and the Speech that Should Have Changed... More

Got It Wrong? WSJ Op-Ed Page Has a Spot for You

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 30, 2009 at 01:27 PM

The Wall Street Journal editorial page saw fit to print an op-ed from Donald L. Luskin today about how the... More

Two Takes on the U.S.-Pakistan Marriage

On the rocks, or on the mend? Or could it be both?

By Greg Marx   Jul 30, 2009 at 10:32 AM

What’s the current status of the United States’s tortured, convoluted, unhappy marriage with Pakistan? If you’re someone who still prefers... More

The Economy Today: Feeling Beige

Economic headlines from Ohio, Indiana, and elsewhere

By Greg Marx   Jul 30, 2009 at 10:14 AM

The Federal Reserve’s latest “beige book,” a summary of economic indicators from around the country, shows “a few more glints... More

Times Finds More Mortgage Industry Conflicts

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 30, 2009 at 09:55 AM

The New York Times has an important story on page one about the conflicts of interest at mortgage companies that... More

Shades of Richard Nixon

Is Obama playing defense or offense?

By Trudy Lieberman   Jul 30, 2009 at 08:00 AM

Those of us of a certain generation remember Richard Nixon and all the gory Watergate details that oozed out and... More

“Sudan ‘Trousers Trial’ Adjourned…”

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 29, 2009 at 03:14 PM

...is not a headline from an American news source (if the first word didn't give that away -- Sudan?!-- surely... More

A Seat at the (Picnic) Table For Fox News?

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 29, 2009 at 02:08 PM

Is there space for Team Fox & Friends at that presidential picnic table for tomorrow night's "teachable moment" with beer?... More

NYT’s Digs Into Pension Benefit Guaranty Scandal

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 29, 2009 at 01:29 PM

The New York Times delves into the scandal at the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, whose head greased the wheels for... More

Like a Prayer

By Megan Garber   Jul 29, 2009 at 01:29 PM

It's an anxious time for journalists, to be sure: layoffs and cost-cutting abound, with many media outlets fighting for their... More

If You Hold It, They Will Come

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 29, 2009 at 11:50 AM

I guess the publicly-released 911 tape didn't say it all. "911 caller in Gates case to hold press conference." Well,... More

(E)mission Impossible?

Blogs, Web sites provide climate policy analysis lacking elsewhere

By Sanhita Reddy   Jul 29, 2009 at 11:15 AM

After the recent Group 8 meeting in Italy, news outlets released a flood of reports about certain developing countries—led by... More

In My Spare Time? I Scrapbook, Jog, Do a Little Journalism…

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 29, 2009 at 10:55 AM

Last month, Time's James Poniewozik imagined a future for journalists in the "literary-fiction/poetry model" whereby "a lucky few, best-selling creative... More

The Economy Today: Housing Prices Stabilizing?

A roundup of national and regional economic headlines

By Greg Marx   Jul 29, 2009 at 10:02 AM

The New York Times leads today with the apparent steadying of the real estate market, as a widely used index... More

President PYT

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 29, 2009 at 09:45 AM

All that "skittering away from chocolate goodies, as though... a starlet obsessing on a svelte waistline" that Maureen "Gender Twist"... More

Palin and Shatner, on the Beat

By Megan Garber   Jul 29, 2009 at 12:18 AM

Because nothing says "Farewell, Sarah" quite like the glorious combination that is William Shatner and Allen Ginsberg... More

Gibbs: “No Formal Agenda Other Than Cold Beer”

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 28, 2009 at 04:22 PM

The White House press secretary previewing the president's plans for his August Martha's Vineyard getaway? No. The White House press... More

Health Reform Too Boring for Broadcast?

Not at KQED

By Trudy Lieberman   Jul 28, 2009 at 03:56 PM

Over the weekend, Politico published one of those juicy, inside-the-industry stories that media execs love to read. The story trashed... More

Bloomberg’s Obvious High-Frequency Trading Story

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 28, 2009 at 03:43 PM

Put this Bloomberg piece in the You Don't Say! category. It reports that high-frequency traders say high-frequency trading is a... More

The Space-Time Continuum Just Ruptured.

By Megan Garber   Jul 28, 2009 at 03:17 PM

Behold, the moment has come. A cable commentator--in this case, Shep Smith--has finally managed to pronounce Sonia Sotomayor's name with... More

I Heard It While in Grapevine

Stories abound at the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference

By Sam Eifling   Jul 28, 2009 at 01:58 PM

It was 3:24 a.m. in room 617 at the Hilton in Grapevine, Texas, the sort of cushy, two-pooled joint that... More

Health Care Reform “Not A Journalism-Friendly Story,” Part 2

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 28, 2009 at 01:44 PM

Per PEJ, health care-related coverage filled one quarter of last week's newshole! Hold your applause. The fine print (emphasis mine):... More

Members Only

What matters more when it comes to paid content: information or experience?

By The Editors   Jul 28, 2009 at 01:04 PM

The New York Times, like most news outlets currently in--which is to say, currently fighting for--existence, is spending much of... More

“Sad Hillary” Coverage

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 28, 2009 at 12:10 PM

Foreign Policy blogger Annie Lowrey describes "How stories about the Secretary of State end up as 'Sad Hillary' anecdrama." Writes... More

CRS sizes up the Future of Newspapers

By Clint Hendler   Jul 28, 2009 at 11:42 AM

Want to see what Congress is reading on the fate of the newspaper industry? Try Congressional Research Service report R40700:... More

The Economy Today: A New New Deal in Tennessee

Economic headlines from New Jersey, Tennessee, Ohio, and elsewhere

By Greg Marx   Jul 28, 2009 at 10:10 AM

The New York Times takes a front-page look today at a throwback approach to fighting unemployment: use government funds to... More

Scooped by Seacrest! (TMZFail?)

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 28, 2009 at 10:02 AM

Silverman... out! Ryan Seacrest, American Idol host, Twittered as much yesterday (referring to the NBC co-chairman and friend-of-Seacrest, Ben... More

WSJ Scoop: CFTC Will Blame Traders for Oil Spike

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 28, 2009 at 09:46 AM

The Wall Street Journal has a big scoop this morning that the Obama administration is set to report next month... More

‘The Greatest Liar’

Is Defoe’s A Journal of the Plague Year a work of journalism?

By Nicholson Baker   Jul 28, 2009 at 08:00 AM

I first read Daniel Defoe’s A Journal of the Plague Year on a train from Boston to New York. That’s... More

More on the Associated Press Copyright Move

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 27, 2009 at 05:40 PM

My post refuting some of the nonsense going around about the new AP initiative on copyright kicked up a bit... More

Vir-gin Version

“Ginning up” won’t make you drunk

By Merrill Perlman   Jul 27, 2009 at 04:49 PM

President Barack Obama apparently enjoys “ginning up.” While we’ve known that his wife, Michelle, enjoys a martini or two on... More

The Birth Of Politico…

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 27, 2009 at 03:35 PM

...as told by Glenn Greenwald, via Twitter, just now: One day, someone woke up and said: "let's create a perfect... More

What’s The Matter With NJ? NYT Asks, Answers (Kinda)

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 27, 2009 at 03:07 PM

Given last week's news out of New Jersey -- that corruption scheme, per today's New York Times, "which involved three... More

Baucus Watch, Part XII

The mother’s milk of politics and more

By Trudy Lieberman   Jul 27, 2009 at 01:23 PM

As chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Max Baucus holds the keys to health care reform; any health care... More

We Just Don’t Know: An Interview with Jonathan Glick

There may be a future for the news business, but it’s going to be unrecognizable

By Diana Dellamere   Jul 27, 2009 at 11:44 AM

In the early 1990s, Jonathan Glick, a programmer and news enthusiast, approached The New York Times about taking the paper... More

Shep Smith: Newcasting is Not Complicated

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 27, 2009 at 10:06 AM

The Boston Globe profiles Fox News anchor Shep Smith, who "describes himself as a newscaster," adding: “All we’re really supposed... More

The Economy Today: Better Bad News on the Way?

A roundup of national and regional economic headlines

By Greg Marx   Jul 27, 2009 at 10:04 AM

The Wall Street Journal today takes an advance look at economic data slated to be released Friday and finds some... More

The Journal Analyzes a Government “Gift”

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 27, 2009 at 09:49 AM

The Wall Street Journal has a nifty bit of analysis this morning looking at how much money banks are saving... More

Health Care Not Healthy For Ratings

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 27, 2009 at 09:35 AM

Assorted people in journalism explain to Politico's Michael Calderone that health care reportage, in addition to being a challenge for... More

Relax, Bloggers. The AP Isn’t Out to Get You

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 24, 2009 at 03:54 PM

I started a post this morning about the issue causing much, um, consternation amongst the media blogs today: The Associated... More

Today, it’s an Obama Gaffe

By Greg Marx   Jul 24, 2009 at 03:47 PM

From Wikipedia: "A Kinsley gaffe or 'gaffe in Washington' in American politics is the term used for telling the truth... More

The Boy Breaking News Alert Who Cried Wolf

By Megan Garber   Jul 24, 2009 at 03:09 PM

Dear New York Times: Do you really--really, in your heart of hearts--think that the following is an appropriate use of... More

Weil on the End of “Nothing to See Here” Accounting

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 24, 2009 at 02:49 PM

Jonathan Weil of Bloomberg reports that the accounting-standards board is going to actually make companies (read: banks) price assets on... More

Further Thoughts on Mr. Cellophane

By Greg Marx   Jul 24, 2009 at 12:22 PM

Megan’s already made the most important points about that odd “White House Memo” in today’s New York Times, but just... More

Post Publishes a Reply to Palin

By Greg Marx   Jul 24, 2009 at 11:56 AM

Phrases used in Barbara Boxer and John Kerry’s reply to Sarah Palin’s Washington Post op-ed on cap-and-trade that weren’t used... More

Troubled Times for Transit Agencies

By Greg Marx   Jul 24, 2009 at 11:27 AM

Over at The Nation, Ben Adler takes a look at an economic story that probably hasn’t gotten the coverage it... More

Wrong, Wrong, Wrong, Wrong, Wrong, Wrong

Alessandra Stanley’s troubling history of error

By Craig Silverman   Jul 24, 2009 at 11:19 AM

Alessandra Stanley has fallen back into old habits. This week, the New York Times television critic was responsible for a... More

All the President’s Words, Part II

Slogans for change, or a movement for change?

By Trudy Lieberman   Jul 24, 2009 at 11:15 AM

What case did the president make for reform Wednesday night? Not a very persuasive one, in my view. For me,... More

The New York Times, or, Cellophane, Mr. Cellophane

By Megan Garber   Jul 24, 2009 at 11:12 AM

Here are some news organizations that are not The New York Times: PBS, CBS, NBC, The Washington Post, the blogosphere,... More

Tasty Treat of the Day: Birther’s Original

By Megan Garber   Jul 24, 2009 at 10:31 AM

Jon Stewart takes on the Birther, um, movement: The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10cThe Born... More

The Economy Today: Dow 9,000

Economic headlines from Maine, Texas, Montana, and elsewhere

By Greg Marx   Jul 24, 2009 at 10:14 AM

The economy’s still down, but corporate profits are up, and so is the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The Wall Street... More

The Times Takes on High-Frequency Trading

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 24, 2009 at 09:53 AM

The New York Times puts the high-frequency trading issue front and center on the nation's agenda this morning with an... More

Chinese Characters (140 of Them)

By Megan Garber   Jul 24, 2009 at 09:23 AM

On today's "Morning Edition," NPR's Andrew Kuhn takes a look at Twitter's usage in China. It's a look predicated on... More

This Man Was Made for You and Me

By Megan Garber   Jul 24, 2009 at 09:12 AM

This weekend's New York Times magazine will feature a Deborah Solomon interview with...Arlo Guthrie. Among the tidbits, per Greg Mitchell's... More

Expensive Gifts

What does free culture cost?

By Alissa Quart   Jul 24, 2009 at 08:30 AM

One evening in February 2009, the artist Shepard Fairey spoke at the New York Public Library. He was discussing his... More

About that Letter…

TPM whiffs on Obama’s FOIA dodge

By Clint Hendler   Jul 23, 2009 at 05:15 PM

Last night, shortly before Obama took the podium for his prime time press conference on health reform, Gregory Craig, the... More

A Few Wise Words on GatesGate

By Greg Marx   Jul 23, 2009 at 04:57 PM

As Richard Thompson Ford writes in Slate today, many of the reactions to the arrest of Harvard Professor Henry Louis... More

The DEA, Michael Jackson, and Me

How the agency’s press office cost our magazine the propofol scoop

By Adam Marcus   Jul 23, 2009 at 04:22 PM

Scoops are won through hard work, luck and even, in the case of Evelyn Waugh’s William Boot, mistaken identity. They... More

Media on the Moon

Anniversary of Apollo landing inspires stories both quirky and critical

By Sanhita Reddy   Jul 23, 2009 at 03:35 PM

The media loves to commemorate space-age milestones. In 2007, it was Sputnik’s fiftieth birthday. In 2008, it was NASA’s. This... More

Pessimism on Af-Pak

An argument for “the good war” doesn’t quite deliver

By Greg Marx   Jul 23, 2009 at 03:04 PM

I wanted to be persuaded by Peter Bergen’s argument in Washington Monthly about why the U.S. mission in Afghanistan can... More

Because All Things Will Return, Eventually, to the Miracle Ear

By Megan Garber   Jul 23, 2009 at 02:55 PM

Remember that weird moment, during last night's White House presser, when the president called on Steve Koff of the Cleveland... More

George Will and Climate Change: Have We Seen This Movie Before?

By Greg Marx   Jul 23, 2009 at 02:46 PM

He’s ba-ack. After igniting a firestorm in the blogosphere (and attracting some attention from mainstream media) with a February 15... More

Newspaper Readers Buy Papers for the Content

You’d think that would be obvious. Plus, the Walter E. Hussman Jr. Theorem

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 23, 2009 at 02:18 PM

(Note: This is part three of a three-part post. Read part one here and part two here.) I think it's... More

NYT Now Gets As Much Money from Circulation as from Ads

A landmark event for the rapidly changing newspaper industry that points toward a new model

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 23, 2009 at 12:57 PM

(Note: This is part two of a three-part post. Read part one here.) If current trend lines hold up, circulation... More

Circulation Revenue Only Thing Growing at Newspapers

McClatchy and New York Times Company find a revenue stream that goes up

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 23, 2009 at 12:43 PM

The New York Times reported some good news today, namely that it was profitable in the second quarter. But, of... More

Photo Press-tige

By Megan Garber   Jul 23, 2009 at 12:02 PM

Via Editor & Publisher, here's a great slideshow of The New York Times rolling off the presses at its printing... More

The Magazinist

Close reading the July 2009 issue of Reason

By Daniel Luzer   Jul 23, 2009 at 10:44 AM

Every now and then, CJR’s Magazinist delivers an opinionated look at the journals of opinion. Discovering Japan The cover story... More

The Economy Today: Football Stays Strong

A roundup of national and regional economic headlines

By Greg Marx   Jul 23, 2009 at 10:29 AM

The national papers devote most of their space to President Barack Obama’s press conference last night, where, as The Washington... More

Everything’s a Crisis

The perils of prognosticating on Obama’s political future

By Greg Marx   Jul 23, 2009 at 09:55 AM

Just six months in, Barack Obama’s political future is at stake on many fronts, according to the nation’s political press... More

Shocker of the Day: Stewart (Still) Most Trusted Newscaster in America

By Megan Garber   Jul 23, 2009 at 08:35 AM

Time magazine, in a (tangential) tribute to the erstwhile "most trusted man in America," recently asked its readers: "Now that... More

Who Wrote the Book of Love Journalism?

By Megan Garber   Jul 23, 2009 at 08:01 AM

What are the essential books of journalism? A survey conducted at the Joint Journalism Historians Conference this spring, supplemented by... More

What’s a Fair Share In the Age of Google?

How to think about news in the link economy

By Peter Osnos   Jul 23, 2009 at 08:00 AM

The buzz inside Google is overwhelmingly positive about what the company does and how we will all benefit from the... More

Letterman: “I Don’t Know Anything about the Twitter”

By Megan Garber   Jul 22, 2009 at 11:48 PM

Kevin Spacey guested on Letterman last night...and proceeded to (try to) convert David Letterman to Twitter. He was unsuccessful. Perhaps... More

Meet the New Boss…

Democrats won’t defend ’06 position on White House visitor logs

By Clint Hendler   Jul 22, 2009 at 05:48 PM

In 2006, the Democratic National Committee took the Bush administration to court. “The Abramoff scandal was going on,” remembers Joseph... More

Who Will Be at the Table? Part XII

Did the AMA snooker the press?

By Trudy Lieberman   Jul 22, 2009 at 05:20 PM

During the campaign, Barack Obama promised his cheering crowds that, when he rolled up his sleeves to work on health... More

Reuters’ Goldstein Raises High-Frequency Trading Issue

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 22, 2009 at 03:53 PM

Matthew Goldstein, the Reuters columnist who recently broke the Goldman Sachs code-theft story, has a good column today keeping alive... More

Media Matters in South Korea

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 22, 2009 at 03:40 PM

No, members of South Korea's parliament were not "mad because they can't read the words on anything" (as Fox News's... More

See the World, Tell the World!

By Megan Garber   Jul 22, 2009 at 02:46 PM

When I think of college study-abroad programs, I tend to assume that most students' experiences, pretty much wherever they go,... More

You Can’t Do That (Allude to Loofahs) On Television (Fox News)

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 22, 2009 at 02:40 PM

A Forbes columnist explained on Fox News just now why Bill O'Reilly might not replace Walter Cronkite in the hearts... More

Will “Birthers” Make Prime Time Tonight?

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 22, 2009 at 01:26 PM

What with the (cable, blog, Beltway) chatter about this "Birthers" business crowning seemingly reaching some kind of a head lately,... More

Covering the TARP Inspector’s Report

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 22, 2009 at 12:43 PM

CJR's Greg Marx notes that coverage of the report from TARP Special Inspector General Neil Barofsky was all over the... More

Another Take on the Cost of That House Health Care Bill

By Greg Marx   Jul 22, 2009 at 11:43 AM

A few days ago we noted the split between major papers and the Associated Press about how to characterize the... More

“Regional and Foreign News Media” “Softer” Than WH Press Corps?

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 22, 2009 at 10:56 AM

Politico offers readers what it calls a "peek inside the [Obama administration's PR] playbook," revealing that this particular White House... More

Sen. Schumer, Meet Louise Russell

What’s this about preventative care saving money?

By Trudy Lieberman   Jul 22, 2009 at 10:48 AM

Reporters from the New York media, take note! It’s time to tell your state’s senior senator (and the people he... More

The Art of Listening

Pete Hamill chats about the joys of A.J. Liebling

By James Marcus   Jul 22, 2009 at 10:35 AM

With his phenomenal ear and rococo prose--not to mention the sort of wit that can still leave a reader helpless... More

Transparency or Trillions?

Papers make different choices about what to highlight in IG report

By Greg Marx   Jul 22, 2009 at 10:24 AM

One criticism commonly heard about the dread MSM is that all the major outlets are operating out of the same... More

The Economy Today: For the Birds

Economic headlines from California, Indiana, Texas, and elsewhere

By Greg Marx   Jul 22, 2009 at 10:07 AM

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke appeared before a Congressional committee yesterday and told lawmakers he plans to keep interest rates... More

Didn’t Trust Cronkite?

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 22, 2009 at 10:07 AM

Slate's Jack Shafer is collecting "reasons for Cronkitian distrust" to add to his own -- "He sailed. He was avuncular.... More

Weiss Takes on the Limits of Press Power

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 22, 2009 at 09:32 AM

Gary Weiss has an interesting post up at his Web site on the limited power of the press. Someone emailed... More

Open for Business

If you want readers to buy news, what exactly will you sell? The case for a free/paid hybrid.

By Michael Shapiro   Jul 22, 2009 at 08:00 AM

In the dark winter and spring of 2009, as dispatches from the news business grew ever more grim, as Jim... More

Do You Remember Walter?

What can contemporary journalists learn from Walter Cronkite?

By The Editors   Jul 21, 2009 at 04:56 PM

In the days since Walter Cronkite's recent death, the media have been awash with eulogies for and remembrances of the... More

The $1 BusinessWeek Story

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 21, 2009 at 03:32 PM

We haven't weighed in on BusinessWeek since news emerged that McGraw-Hill is seeking to unload the magazine. But I read... More

Headline of the Day?

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 21, 2009 at 01:30 PM

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/20/AR2009072002984.html">From the Washington Post: In Tokyo, a High-Pitched Whine Repels Teens, Attracts TV Crews (Is it really news that... More

Does This Question Make My Butt Look Big Interview Look Small?

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 21, 2009 at 01:09 PM

Katie Couric (or tweet assistant) via Twitter yesterday: I've been granted an exclusive interview with Pres. Obama tomorrow. Working on... More

Science Clichés: Steer Clear

By Sanhita Reddy   Jul 21, 2009 at 01:02 PM

Cheers to the Knight Science Journalism Tracker for picking up a snarky post at Wired titled, “5 Atrocious Science Clichés... More

Health Reform Lessons from Massachusetts, Part IV

The new math, or maybe it’s the old

By Trudy Lieberman   Jul 21, 2009 at 12:43 PM

Three years ago, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts enacted a far-reaching health reform law that politicians and the media hailed as... More

It’s On at Slate

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 21, 2009 at 10:27 AM

Michael Kinsley announces a "highly unscientific experiment " at Slate to determine "who's better informed, newspaper readers or Web surfers?"... More

The Economy Today: Taxing Times

A roundup of national and regional economic headlines

By Greg Marx   Jul 21, 2009 at 10:20 AM

As a proposed surtax on top earners becomes the latest political football of the health care debate, The Wall Street... More

“Don’t Jump Off-the-Record”

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 21, 2009 at 09:40 AM

Washington Post ombud Andrew Alexander reports that BNA (Bureau of National Affairs, Inc.), "which produces an array of print and... More

NYT: Where’s Obama’s Manufacturing Plan?

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 21, 2009 at 08:48 AM

The New York Times is good this morning to point out that the Obama administration doesn't have a plan for... More

A Busy Couple of Days in Iran

The NYT and the LAT offer some strong reporting

By Greg Marx   Jul 21, 2009 at 08:31 AM

After a relatively quiet period that left media outlets stepping back and taking stock, events in Iran picked up again... More

The Grave Dancer’s Folly

Blaming newspapers for their plight is a waste of precious time

By The Editors   Jul 21, 2009 at 08:00 AM

Despite the tedious posturing of both Web triumphalists (Jeff Jarvis to the Newspaper Association of America: “You blew it!”) and... More

Build the Wall

Most readers won’t pay for news, but if we move quickly, maybe enough of them will. One man’s bold blueprint.

By David Simon   Jul 21, 2009 at 08:00 AM

To all of the bystanders reading this, pardon us. The true audience for this essay narrows necessarily to a pair... More

Let’s Give ‘Em Something to (Continue to) “Talk About”

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 20, 2009 at 04:54 PM

On Mediaite's front page right now: Will The Right Make This Obama’s “Wise Latina” Moment? One line of the President’s... More

Global Village

Are regional columnists under pressure to think locally?

By Connie Schultz   Jul 20, 2009 at 04:22 PM

Let’s not call this a trend. Not yet, please. In April, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the paper that championed civil rights... More

You Spell Potato, I Spell Potatoe

Spelling “foreign” words

By Merrill Perlman   Jul 20, 2009 at 04:16 PM

If you read The New York Times, you’ve run across news of things happening in the Saudi Arabian city “Jidda.”... More

Getting the New Journal (Mostly) Right

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 20, 2009 at 03:43 PM

Mark Potts has a good post at his Recovering Journalist site on The Wall Street Journal under Murdoch. Which is... More

The Last of the Newsmen

Walter Cronkite and the way it was

By Megan Garber   Jul 20, 2009 at 03:20 PM

TV news anchors, and any other journalists who aspire to be trusted in the way that Walter Cronkite was trusted,... More

Keep On Shuffling

Bai’s argument about Obama doesn’t stand up to scrutiny

By Greg Marx   Jul 20, 2009 at 03:16 PM

I’m as sympathetic as any writer to the columnist’s need to come up with an argument on demand. But in... More

Walter Cronkite, the Last Newsman

Remembering the Way It Was

By Megan Garber   Jul 20, 2009 at 03:08 PM

TV news anchors, and any other journalists who aspire to be trusted in the way that Walter Cronkite was trusted... More

Wired’s Media Pyramid (“News” Still Broccoli)

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 20, 2009 at 01:20 PM

This must explain something about us (obesity? stupidity?) Wired illustrates a balanced "media diet:" "entertainment" is the "whole grains" or... More

Awkward Spitzer Moment on MSNBC

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 20, 2009 at 12:46 PM

MSNBC's Carlos Watson was joined this morning by guest-co-host (and former New York Governor) Eliot Spitzer. Guest co-hosting a news... More

When Financial Media Blogs Collide

Competing views of journalism emerge

By Dean Starkman   Jul 20, 2009 at 12:43 PM

As Ryan Chittum noted on Saturday, Yvette Kantrow, a columnist and editor with The Deal, a Wall Street trade publication... More

Gregory A+; Sebelius D-

NBC’s David Gregory bores down on Madame Secretary

By Trudy Lieberman   Jul 20, 2009 at 11:26 AM

Last week, Campaign Desk urged reporters to start asking Obama tough questions on health care, so we could learn what... More

Meet The Press (And Hair)

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 20, 2009 at 10:59 AM

One day, Politico has you "enjoying a gravitas boost" from your "prematurely salt-and-pepper mane," and then they turn around and... More

CBS News Retires To Keep Using Cronkite’s Voice-Over

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 20, 2009 at 10:31 AM

Viewers of the CBS Evening News heard Walter Cronkite's voice-over for final time Friday night. The network opted to retire... More

The Economy Today: Have We Met Before?

A roundup of national and regional economic headlines

By Greg Marx   Jul 20, 2009 at 10:08 AM

What’s a shady subprime mortgage broker to do when the housing market goes belly-up? Become a shady loan modification firm... More

The WSJ Spotlights Working Class Woes

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 20, 2009 at 09:55 AM

The Wall Street Journal puts the woes of the working class front and center (on page one) today, using the... More

Sanford’s Sorry State Column

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 20, 2009 at 09:41 AM

Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina apologizes and seeks forgiveness via guest column in Sunday's The State. In part: It’s... More

The News Frontier

A mission statement

By The Editors   Jul 20, 2009 at 08:00 AM

Welcome to The News Frontier. It's an anxious but exhilarating time for journalists. As the Web topples many long-held assumptions... More

Leap of Faith

Inside the movement to build an audience of citizens

By Megan Garber   Jul 20, 2009 at 08:00 AM

What inspired you to become a journalist? I always liked writing, and I was also into photography. And I knew... More

The Deal’s Audit Gotcha

Trade-mag editor falsely implies that we pull punches at CJR

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 18, 2009 at 05:19 PM

Anyone who's read half an Audit post would find it laughable to think that we bow down to Wall Street.... More

Still More on Sotomayor

By Greg Marx   Jul 17, 2009 at 04:37 PM

I know from anecdotal experience that my views about the value of the Senate hearings on Sonia Sotomayor’s Supreme Court... More

A Kind of Victory

Remembering El Salvador’s struggle and those who covered it

By Jacques Menasche   Jul 17, 2009 at 04:36 PM

“El Salvador is now the most dangerous country in the world for foreign journalists,” NBC's John Chancellor told viewers on... More

A Man in Full

Four years after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans broadcaster Garland Robinette is still fighting mad

By Douglas McCollam   Jul 17, 2009 at 04:13 PM

It was the birds that tipped him off. Two days before Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, while the storm was... More

The New Pioneers of the West

Start-up tries to fill the void in environment coverage

By Sanhita Reddy   Jul 17, 2009 at 03:50 PM

When Robert McClure picked up the phone to talk to about the new journalism startup he’s working for, Investigate West,... More

Who Will Be at the Table? Part XI

Center for Medicine in the Public Interest fights against a public plan

By Trudy Lieberman   Jul 17, 2009 at 03:01 PM

During the campaign, Barack Obama promised his cheering crowds that, when he rolled up his sleeves to work on health... More

Cost Control, Back in the News

By Greg Marx   Jul 17, 2009 at 02:59 PM

In the wake of Atul Gawande’s much-discussed article in the June 1 New Yorker—in which he argued that a key... More

The Daily Show Gets Jim Cramer Again (and Bernie Goldberg)

But they’re not alone in their credulity on former baseball-star Lenny Dykstra

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 17, 2009 at 01:13 PM

If you haven't seen Jon Stewart's evisceration of former-baseball-star-turned-investment-guru-turned-bankrupt Lenny Dykstra, as well as some of his fawning admirers in... More

Buggin’ Out in Baltimore

By Justin Peters   Jul 17, 2009 at 12:46 PM

I have a longstanding fascination with mattresses, bedbugs, night terrors, and other such factors that can confer or deny a... More

The Huffington Post as Moral Compass?

By Diana Dellamere   Jul 17, 2009 at 12:17 PM

The Huffington Post is-thus far-a success story for the hybrid news model of voluntary contribution mixed with professional journalism. Well,... More

Lobbyists Slimy; No One Too Surprised

By Greg Marx   Jul 17, 2009 at 12:11 PM

Two weeks after Mike Allen broke the story of The Washington Post’s planned “salons,” he’s back today with another tale... More

Obama, Hard Truths, and the Media

By Greg Marx   Jul 17, 2009 at 11:12 AM

There’s an interesting contrast in coverage of President Barack Obama’s address to the NAACP in The New York Times and... More

Reuters Opens its Kimono

Wire service makes reporting handbook freely available online

By Craig Silverman   Jul 17, 2009 at 11:02 AM

Dean Wright recently printed out a copy of the Reuters Handbook of Journalism—all 500-plus pages of it. Yesterday he used... More

The Numbers Game

Sorting out conflicting reports on the cost of House’s health care bill

By Greg Marx   Jul 17, 2009 at 10:36 AM

After House Democrats unveiled their proposal for health care reform Tuesday, media outlets attached a variety of cost estimates to... More

The Economy Today: Stimulus Struggles

Headlines from Staten Island, South Carolina, Vermont and elsewhere

By Greg Marx   Jul 17, 2009 at 10:10 AM

As the economy continues to founder, the debate over the effect of the federal stimulus package continues to heat up.... More

(Still) Supremely Boring

Arguments for Sotomayor hearing’s long-term significance are unpersuasive

By Greg Marx   Jul 16, 2009 at 04:48 PM

In the run-up to this week’s hearings on Sonia Sotomayor’s Supreme Court nomination, one of the memes circulating about why... More

Into the Fold

How the online sports community has become part of the mainstream

By Robert Weintraub   Jul 16, 2009 at 04:39 PM

Regular watchers of ESPN —that is, all sports fans—may have noticed the network has begun allotting more airtime to the... More

Ugly Numbers on Toxic-Asset Prices Signal More Trouble

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 16, 2009 at 04:26 PM

I've long called for more reporting on a critical question in the financial crisis: how much the toxic assets clogging... More

BPA, Health, and Nuance

STATS report criticizes media coverage, but has its own faults

By Sanhita Reddy   Jul 16, 2009 at 02:53 PM

The FDA is supposed to reach a final decision on the safety of Bisphenol A (BPA)—a plastics additive found in... More

One of Us

A soldier chooses journalism, but his old boss won’t let go

By Matt Mabe   Jul 16, 2009 at 02:50 PM

On what I thought was my last day in the Army in May 2007, my battalion commander gave me some... More

NYT’s Ben Stein Hawks Misleading Credit Score Site

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 16, 2009 at 01:47 PM

Felix Salmon is right: What's a New York Times business columnist doing in an ad for a company that uses... More

The Chicago Tribune, the Cubs, and Me

TribCo is selling the Chicago Cubs. Steve Daley was there when they bought in

By Steve Daley   Jul 16, 2009 at 11:02 AM

The week I went to work as a sports columnist for the Chicago Tribune in 1981 was the week the... More

A Lapdog in Wolffe’s Clothing

One journalist’s fawning account of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign

By James Kirchick   Jul 16, 2009 at 10:35 AM

Renegade: The Making of a President | By Richard Wolffe | Crown | $26, 368 pages Last month, Politico’s Ben... More

The Economy Today: Jobless Recovery on the Way

A roundup of national and regional economic headlines

By Greg Marx   Jul 16, 2009 at 10:09 AM

The Federal Reserve has joined the ranks of those predicting a jobless recovery, USA Today reports. The Fed now expects... More

Fortune Looks at Automated Trading After a Code Theft

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 16, 2009 at 09:51 AM

It's been a week and a half since news broke of the computer-code theft at Goldman Sachs threw the automated-trading... More

Don’t Forget Iran

As unrest fades, important stories remain to be told

By Greg Marx   Jul 16, 2009 at 08:00 AM

Anyone remember Iran? The “Twitter Revolution” captivated the world’s attention in the weeks after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s disputed (and apparently fraudulent)... More

Do Reader Comments on Web Articles “Devalue” Journalism?

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 16, 2009 at 07:15 AM

Douglas Bailey, president and founder of DBMediaStrategies Inc., thinks so. (What is DBMedia Strategies? The company's web site says that... More

Goldman Sachs to the Forefront

Rolling Stone, a computer-code theft, and boffo profits focus attention on the bank

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 15, 2009 at 07:12 PM

The Goldman Sachs story is just getting bigger, and I get the sense it may be AIG time for Goldie.... More

Why John Lennon Matters

The case for professional pop-music critics in an amateur age

By Jacob Levenson   Jul 15, 2009 at 04:43 PM

A John Lennon song floated over our rental-car radio as my father and I wound our way past silos and... More

Q: Since 2001, how many media leak investigations have the FBI conducted?

By Clint Hendler   Jul 15, 2009 at 04:33 PM

A: Over 100. That's according to an exchange flagged by Steven Aftergood, the invaluable government secrecy maven, in written responses... More

Bloomberg Gets a Scoop on a Too Big to Fail Tax

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 15, 2009 at 04:07 PM

Bloomberg reports today that the Obama administration—or at least parts of it—are planning to levy fees on giant financial institutions... More

GlobalPost Reporter On His Weeks in Iran’s Evin Prison

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 15, 2009 at 03:10 PM

GlobalPost correspondent Iason Athanasiadis, while reporting on the demonstrations in Tehran, was arrested and held in Evin jail for three... More

CNN’s Rick Sanchez “Take[s] the Conversation Outside the Beltway…”

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 15, 2009 at 03:04 PM

... to the South Florida kitchen of his mom's house to, "with some trepidation," ask his mom, Adela Fernanndez, "the... More

Extra, Extra: Health Reform Costs Money

Papers emphasize House health bill’s cost rather than its content

By Greg Marx   Jul 15, 2009 at 02:24 PM

After months of planning, Democrats in the House of Representatives yesterday unveiled their latest proposal for health care reform. But... More

Test Mike

Test subhed

By Mike Hoyt   Jul 15, 2009 at 02:18 PM

Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country. More

Washington’s Newest “Escort Service”

By Clint Hendler   Jul 15, 2009 at 01:40 PM

Add another page to the saga of the salons. Ken Silverstein has a post pointing out two events Politico has... More

Darts and Laurels

Send tips and suggestions to dartsandlaurels@cjr.org

By Katia Bachko   Jul 15, 2009 at 12:49 PM

Laurel to The Arizona Republic for “Perfectly Legal,” a series of six articles, published in May, that exposed a network... More

“For She’s a Jolly Good Journalist”

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 15, 2009 at 11:57 AM

The Washington Post's Jacqueline L. Salmon today profiles Randall Terry, onetime head of Operation Rescue, who "is trying to build... More

Disagreement on Palin’s piece

By Greg Marx   Jul 15, 2009 at 11:04 AM

The liberal blogosphere was pretty much unanimous in its derision for Sarah Palin’s op-ed on cap-and-trade in yesterday’s edition of... More

Obama to Costas: “Is This Hannity?”

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 15, 2009 at 10:59 AM

Before President Obama threw out the first pitch at the MLB All-Star Game last night, MLB Network's Bob Costas got... More

The Economy Today: It’s a Gas

Economic headlines from North Carolina, Michigan, and elsewhere

By Greg Marx   Jul 15, 2009 at 10:04 AM

The major papers, including The Washington Post, report that nationwide retail sales rose 0.6 percent in June, but that’s no... More

More From The State: Tapper, Jenkins Woo Sanford

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 15, 2009 at 09:46 AM

How's the sausage made? More details today from The State: "Media jostled for access to Sanford:" The media e-mails also... More

The Times on the Real Unemployment Crisis

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 15, 2009 at 09:44 AM

The New York Times David Leonhardt this morning shines a spotlight on the real conditions in the labor markets—ones that... More

A Few Good Bloggers

Among the Sotomayor live-bloggers, a few stand out

By Greg Marx   Jul 15, 2009 at 08:30 AM

On Monday, I wondered why the media, which had spent the last few days telling us how staged and predictable... More

All the President’s Words

Still, when it comes to health reform, what does he stand for?

By Trudy Lieberman   Jul 15, 2009 at 08:00 AM

On Monday, the media went gaga reporting on President Obama’s fancy health reform rhetoric that flowed alongside his introduction of... More

Groundhog Day

Why this year’s health-care debate sounds like the one in 1993

By Trudy Lieberman   Jul 15, 2009 at 08:00 AM

Last fall, soon after Barack Obama was elected president, Sheila Burke was waiting to discuss Obama’s campaign promises, via Webcast,... More

CIA Story Roundup

A look at the national papers’ coverage of secret CIA hit squad story

By Greg Marx   Jul 14, 2009 at 02:21 PM

After a few days of reporters digging into the details of a controversial CIA program, and one big scoop about... More

The State: Media Outlets Offered to Spin Sanford Story

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 14, 2009 at 01:56 PM

The (South Carolina) State, via open records laws, late yesterday received "nearly 600 pages of documents — e-mails and phone... More

Hospital Disconnect

USA Today offers news you can use, but a little more context, please

By Trudy Lieberman   Jul 14, 2009 at 01:40 PM

Walking down the jetway to the 747 in Paris the other day, I spotted a copy of USA Today. One... More

Audit Interview: James L. Bothwell

The author of a definitive ‘94 GAO derivatives report talks about industry pushback and financial-press complacency

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 14, 2009 at 12:54 PM

A few months back, The Audit's Elinore Longobardi took a a long look at how the press failed in its... More

Brief Encounters

Short reviews of books on campaign bloggers, tabloids, and a collection of Henry Fairlie’s essays

By James Boylan   Jul 14, 2009 at 12:38 PM

Bloggers on the Bus: How the Internet Changed Politics and the Press By Eric Boehlert Free Press 280 pages, $26... More

Time Gets the Stimulus Wrong

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 14, 2009 at 11:59 AM

I wrote yesterday that The Wall Street Journal had been too accommodating of White House spin on stimulus spending. Today,... More

Fox News: Scratch That; Reverse It.

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 14, 2009 at 11:43 AM

On Fox News a few minutes ago, anchor Bret Baier described the "interruptions" during yesterday's Sotomayor hearings as "about abortion,... More

Science Journalism in a Can

Are pre-packaged science stories better than none at all?

By The Editors   Jul 14, 2009 at 10:39 AM

Last week, the The Washington Post’s Health section carried a lead story about AIDS immunology research being spearheaded by a... More

When’s a “Stare” a “Glare?”

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 14, 2009 at 10:24 AM

Was Sonia Sotomayor "glaring" (as in, per Merriam Webster, staring angrily or fiercely or expressing hostility by staring angrily) throughout... More

The Economy Today: “Green” Shoots?

A roundup of national and regional economic headlines

By Greg Marx   Jul 14, 2009 at 10:16 AM

The economy may still be in the doldrums, but the Obama administration is putting on its best happy face, The... More

“Is This Supposed To Be Journalism?”

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 14, 2009 at 09:42 AM

Per the New York Times, NBC News's show The Wanted (a.k.a. To Catch A Terrorist/War Criminal) -- the one that... More

Supremely Boring

Big coverage for Sotomayor hearings; little chance of news

By Greg Marx   Jul 13, 2009 at 03:52 PM

When it comes to media coverage, Supreme Court nomination hearings are funny things. The nation’s political press corps, almost without... More

Sacrilegious

“Secular” moves from the church to the state

By Merrill Perlman   Jul 13, 2009 at 03:39 PM

We’re living in a “secular” time. Well, duh. Of course it’s “secular”; America has no state religion, as in Israel... More

OMG, Teens Are SO Over Twitter!

By Diana Dellamere   Jul 13, 2009 at 03:00 PM

“Teenagers do not use Twitter,” declares Matthew Robson, teenage market analyst and sudden media guru. Pause for collective gasp. Everyone... More

Don’t Judge A Protester (Or a Pundit) By His Hair

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 13, 2009 at 02:21 PM

Twitter. I was just about to post about what Glenn Greenwald Twittered that someone else (Toure!) Twittered that Chris Matthews... More

Obama Spins New Stimulus Spending Line into the WSJ

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 13, 2009 at 01:53 PM

The Journal this morning regurgitates some abject spin from the White House on the economy. It's clearly part of a... More

Palin Was Just Neck Candy. And, “Whatever,” Weymouth

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 13, 2009 at 01:18 PM

Richard L. Connor, CEO of Wilkes-Barre Publishing and MaineToday Media, is not the only opinionated newspaperman to weigh in disapprovingly... More

A Kind of Victory

Remembering the war in El Salvador and what it cost journalism

By Jacques Menasche   Jul 13, 2009 at 12:40 PM

Early one morning in El Salvador’s provincial capital of San Francisco Gotera this past March, the crack of a gunshot—or... More

Meacham: “[Maziar Bahari] Was Doing His Job”

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 13, 2009 at 11:42 AM

In today's Washington Post, Newsweek editor Jon Meacham writes in support of Maziar Bahari, the Newsweek reporter who was taken... More

Health Care in France—and in America

A journalist’s observations

By Trudy Lieberman   Jul 13, 2009 at 10:58 AM

Welcome back to America, I said to myself after a two-week trip to France. Yes, I did think about health... More

Froomkin Is The New Nipples?

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 13, 2009 at 10:56 AM

The HuffPo's Arianna Huffington http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/13/business/media/13froomkin.html?_r=2">told the New York Times yesterday she "has no doubt that Dan [Froomkin, former washingtonpost.com columnist,... More

The Economy Today: Unemployment Inequality

A roundup of national and regional economic headlines

By Greg Marx   Jul 13, 2009 at 10:48 AM

The recession’s pain hasn’t fallen equally on all sectors of the population, The New York Times reports in its lead... More

Transparency Questions for Sotomayor

By Clint Hendler   Jul 13, 2009 at 10:01 AM

Senator Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, promised in his Sonia Sotomayor hearing opening statement that the committee... More

“Nerd Super Bowl” (Again)

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 13, 2009 at 09:48 AM

It's all pundits on deck for the The Sotomayor Show today on cable news! To Jeffrey Toobin, one of many... More

Journal: Option ARMs Doing Worse than Subprime

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 13, 2009 at 09:35 AM

The Journal has an interesting little news story this morning on option adjustable-rate mortgages, reporting that these time bombs now... More

Heart of Stone

A distinguished new biography of a career contrarian

By Robert G. Kaiser   Jul 13, 2009 at 08:00 AM

American Radical: The Life and Times of I. F. Stone | By D. D. Guttenplan | Farrar, Straus, and Giroux | 224... More

Bloomberg’s Weil Asks the Right Questions on Goldman

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 10, 2009 at 04:50 PM

Jonathan Weil zeroes in on the incredible statement by the prosecutor in the Goldman Sachs code-theft case that if Goldman's... More

Huffington Post, community newspaper

By Greg Marx   Jul 10, 2009 at 03:29 PM

The media sure is fascinated by Arianna Huffington and her eponymous Web publication. The latest installment, a Michael Calderone story... More

Slate Takes on the Prosperity Gospel Peddlers

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 10, 2009 at 02:43 PM

Slate is good to take a fresh look, in the second year of the financial crisis, at the "Prosperity Gospel,"... More

Feedback we can do without

By Greg Marx   Jul 10, 2009 at 02:30 PM

Piggybacking off Megan’s earlier post, that PEJ report shows that, spurred on by passage of climate change legislation in the... More

Hacks versus Flacks, Guitar Hero Edition

By Megan Garber   Jul 10, 2009 at 01:39 PM

Because, obviously, the best navigation of a traditionally fraught relationship is to be found within the awesomeness that is "Free... More

Bill Keller doesn’t ❤ Jon Stewart

By Greg Marx   Jul 10, 2009 at 12:49 PM

Turns out New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller didn’t much enjoy the treatment he and his paper received at... More

Edifice Rex

How newspapers lost their spots in the skyline

By Michael Schudson & Danielle Haas   Jul 10, 2009 at 12:45 PM

It was billed “The Fight of the Century” before a single punch was thrown: Jack Johnson versus Jim Jeffries, black... More

Sonia Agonistes

By Megan Garber   Jul 10, 2009 at 12:10 PM

There has been, in most of the media treatments of Sonia Sotomayor and the life she's lead up to her... More

One Small Step for a Google Image…

By Megan Garber   Jul 10, 2009 at 11:40 AM

...one giant leap for Googlekind. Google Image has updated its image search function so that, now, you can filter your... More

“Nails Never Fails”

By Greg Marx   Jul 10, 2009 at 11:39 AM

News of baseball player-turned-business mogul Lenny “Nails” Dykstra’s troubles–he filed for bankruptcy protection in California earlier this week–may have come... More

The Short, Happy Life of the UK Walkman Kid

By Megan Garber   Jul 10, 2009 at 11:27 AM

The Project for Excellence in journalism has, this week, a particularly telling comparison of the main stories of the past... More

The Copy Editing Equation

Fewer copy editors + fewer reporters + more work = trouble

By Craig Silverman   Jul 10, 2009 at 11:15 AM

As far as arithmetic goes, it’s a pretty simple equation. “Fewer Copy Editors, More Errors,” declared the headline over the... More

“Admiral Obama dithers on the poop deck”

By Clint Hendler   Jul 10, 2009 at 11:12 AM

You will be disappointed, though probably none too surprised, to discover that the nautical metaphor at play in the above-titled... More

[Insert Sir-Mix-a-Lot Lyric Here]

By Megan Garber   Jul 10, 2009 at 11:06 AM

It has arrived: Matt Drudge's Day of Joy! One can almost picture The Fedora-ed One squealing in delight upon featuring... More

The Economy Today: Back from Bankruptcy

General Motors emerges in its new, smaller shape

By Greg Marx   Jul 10, 2009 at 10:57 AM

It’s a new day for the auto industry: Less than six weeks after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, General... More

Grace-ful Coverage

Libby asbestos trial highlights the value of robust regional reporting

By Russ Juskalian   Jul 10, 2009 at 10:54 AM

The name Libby doesn’t conjure the same images of corporate and environmental malfeasance as Love Canal or Three Mile Island.... More

Salons Under Scrutiny

Examining the ethics of sponsored, off-the-record events

By Greg Marx   Jul 10, 2009 at 10:03 AM

“The newsletter’s mailing list is used to draw subscribers to closed-door ‘seminars’ in Washington twice a year at which top... More

How CJR Breaks Bread

Full disclosure on a private event

By The Editors   Jul 10, 2009 at 10:01 AM

Since the Columbia Journalism Review is trying today (in a piece posted here) to sort through distinctions about what is... More

Sotomayor and Open Courts

By Clint Hendler   Jul 10, 2009 at 09:59 AM

Noted First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams has an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal today recounting two cases he tried... More

AP, Micro Machine

By Megan Garber   Jul 10, 2009 at 09:47 AM

Move over, micropayments; step aside, microblogging. The latest piece of journalism to be downsized is...formatting itself. Today, the AP unveiled... More

NYT’s Norris Lets Beazer and Justice Have It

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 10, 2009 at 09:43 AM

Floyd Norris has a tough column this morning on Beazer Homes and the government letting it off the hook for... More

Levi Johnston, Sage of Resignation

By Megan Garber   Jul 10, 2009 at 09:07 AM

For the past six days, the national punditocracy has shaken its head, tossed its hands, and joined together in a... More

Journalism Scandal at News Corp

By Dean Starkman   Jul 10, 2009 at 02:22 AM

While it's too early to draw conclusions, anyone interested in what goes on at the owner the nation's leading financial... More

Another One Bites the Dust…or, Maybe Not

By Diana Dellamere   Jul 9, 2009 at 06:03 PM

No doubt, local papers are in trouble and some say big national papers will be the last standing. But there... More

Sarah Palin’s New Reason

Blame it on the Records Act

By Clint Hendler   Jul 9, 2009 at 04:02 PM

Since Sarah Palin’s unexpected announcement that she would vacate Alaska’s governorship before the end of the month, there’s been a... More

CNBC’s Santelli and the $1,300 YOU Can Get Rich Trading! Seminar

Probably not a good idea

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 9, 2009 at 03:30 PM

I had to do a double-take when I saw CNBC's Rick Santelli on a Web site hawking a $1,300 "how... More

USA Today Hits the Overdraft Racket Hard

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 9, 2009 at 03:03 PM

USA Today has a superb story this morning that latches onto the overdraft-charges story and takes it into new territory.... More

Burger Meister

Meet Kevin Pang, cheeseburger critic for the Chicago Tribune

By Justin Peters   Jul 9, 2009 at 01:47 PM

Kevin Pang reviews cheeseburgers for the Chicago Tribune—in print, online, and as the creator and host of a video program... More

Down Mexico Way

Washington Post and Mother Jones with good stories on corruption in the Mexican army

By Greg Marx   Jul 9, 2009 at 01:17 PM

In recent months, as The Washington Post has been forced to part with veteran editorial staffers, the paper has also... More

No Mug Shots on A1 of Your Local Paper*? BuyOneAnyway…

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 9, 2009 at 11:33 AM

From SlateV, a new foundation to aide ailing newspapers and the (very gaunt) people behind them: (*An update on how... More

If G8 Press Coverage Stinks…

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 9, 2009 at 11:05 AM

... blame this? From Fox News's Eve Zibel, in Italy: This is [the White House press corps] area in L'Aquila.... More

The Economy Today: On the Roads

A roundup of national and regional economic headlines

By Greg Marx   Jul 9, 2009 at 10:58 AM

The big economic news of the morning, reported by The Wall Street Journal and others, is that new claims for... More

Today, In Death

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 9, 2009 at 10:25 AM

Two days post-MJ memorial service and so many angles still to pursue, like: ""How Will Michael Jackson's 'White' Kids Get... More

“We’ll See How Much Viewers Are Interested…” (And?)

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 9, 2009 at 09:49 AM

Moments before Michael Jackson's memorial service began on Tuesday -- and with blocks of seats in the Staples Center still... More

No Free Lunch

Who will pay for news? CJR presents four stories searching for journalism’s economic model

By The Editors   Jul 9, 2009 at 08:30 AM

Journalists tend to move in packs. Not long ago we thought that the key to the business model of the... More

Guardian’s Big Scoop on Scandal at News Corp. Tab

The story raises serious questions for the CEO of WSJ parent Dow Jones

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 8, 2009 at 08:56 PM

The Guardian unloaded a big-time scoop today that News Corp. paid more than $1.6 million to settle phone-hacking cases by... More

To Live and Report in Mexico

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 8, 2009 at 03:38 PM

From Charles Bowden's piece in the current Mother Jones, telling the story of Emilio Gutiérrez Soto, a Mexican reporter who... More

Reuters: Bureaucrats Fighting Consumer Agency to Protect Turf

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 8, 2009 at 03:29 PM

Getting a Consumer Financial Protection Agency passed is going to be hard enough, given how the still-extremely-powerful banking industry has... More

“Myth*”-Busting at Mediaite

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 8, 2009 at 01:11 PM

The Dan Abrams Post wouldn't run this headline (or...would it?): Did Dan Abrams Contribute to the Downfall of Journalism? *See... More

Kristof Suggests “‘Student Driver’ Sign” On Some Kristof Columns

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 8, 2009 at 12:54 PM

Columnist Nicholas Kristof is doing the "Talk to the [New York] Times" reader Q&A this week. One reader asks why... More

Was Douthat (Kinda, Sorta) Right?

Faint evidence for his class-based argument about Palin’s appeal

By Greg Marx   Jul 8, 2009 at 11:40 AM

Ross Douthat came in for criticism around the Web (including here at CJR) for his Monday column arguing that Sarah... More

Last Week’s Network News: 30% Jackson Coverage

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 8, 2009 at 11:05 AM

From the latest PEJ study of news coverage for the week of June 29-July 5: The Jackson story filled 30%... More

The Economy Today: Speculators and Stimuli

Headlines from D.C., Seattle, St. Louis, and elsewhere

By Greg Marx   Jul 8, 2009 at 10:37 AM

Two big economic questions that have been percolating recently rise to the top of the news today: Does something need... More

Science Journalism Around the World

WCSJ participants talk about reporting in their home countries

By Curtis Brainard   Jul 8, 2009 at 10:23 AM

LONDON — During the meeting here last week, I began referring to the World Conference of Science Journalists as my... More

The LA Times’s Incomplete Swipe at Credit Cards

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 8, 2009 at 09:54 AM

The LA Times columnist David Lazarus reports this morning that credit-card companies are doing an "end run" around impending regulation... More

Atlantic Editor Bennet on His Magazine’s “Salons”

His thoughts on the salons’ journalistic value, or lack thereof

By Greg Marx   Jul 8, 2009 at 08:29 AM

Of all the different threads of the past week’s SalonGate flap, one of the most interesting has been the widely... More

Beach Reading Redux

CJR’s summer reading list for journalists

By The Editors   Jul 7, 2009 at 04:41 PM

Recently, we asked readers to recommend a book to members of the journalistic community for their summer vacations. Below, we... More

Get Caught Up on the “Uighur Sitch”

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 7, 2009 at 04:01 PM

After you read Greg's post on the situation in western China, here's more background info (recommended via Twitter by Rachel... More

A Code Theft at Goldman Is a Tantalizing Story

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 7, 2009 at 03:46 PM

Reuters' Matthew Goldstein broke a fascinating story on Sunday, reporting that a Goldman Sachs computer programmer stole at least part... More

The Uighur Picture

NPR’s Gifford offers insights on events in Urumqi

By Greg Marx   Jul 7, 2009 at 02:45 PM

The latest unrest in China has turned the world’s attention (well, that portion of the world not watching Michael Jackson’s... More

“This Is America. I Can Ask You Whatever I Want.”

Should journalists be forced to spill reporting info at customs checkpoints?

By John Dinges   Jul 7, 2009 at 02:41 PM

Here’s the dilemma. You’re coming back from a reporting trip with notes and documents about, say, U.S. intervention in a... More

Vatican Radio, Powered by Enel…

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 7, 2009 at 01:46 PM

The BBC reports that "Vatican Radio, the voice of the Roman Catholic Church, is starting to air advertisements for the... More

“We Love You, Michael”

How much Michael Jackson is too much Michael Jackson?

By The Editors   Jul 7, 2009 at 01:12 PM

Since his unexpected death on June 26, Michael Jackson has dominated much of the nation’s news coverage. Howard Kurtz introduced... More

Share Your Jackson Coverage Highlights (Lowlights) Here!

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 7, 2009 at 11:48 AM

As I flip between cable news stations, I've decided to start a list of Very Special Snippets From Today's Michael... More

The Economy Today: Egg Donors and Food Stamps

Headlines from Texas, California, Oregon, and elsewhere

By Greg Marx   Jul 7, 2009 at 10:59 AM

Stories about the slow distribution of stimulus funds are a dime a dozen these days, but The Wall Street Journal... More

The WSJ Gives Its Well-Off Readers a Glimpse of Poverty

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 7, 2009 at 10:43 AM

It may seem obvious, but not everybody gets that increasing government safety nets during a downturn pumps money directly into... More

“Hearse, La Toya Visit Cemetery…”

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 7, 2009 at 10:02 AM

Thank you, CNN news ticker. CNN's Don Lemon: "I've covered a lot of events and I've never seen this much... More

The FT Finds Wall Street Up to Its Old Tricks

And dog bites man, but it’s still important news

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 6, 2009 at 07:41 PM

The Financial Times led its front page with a major story today on the return of those dread words "financial... More

Inside Atlantic Media’s “Unique, Content-Rich” Dinner Events

By Greg Marx   Jul 6, 2009 at 05:40 PM

Zachary Roth of TPM Muckraker advances the ball on the WaPo “salon” story today, noting that Atlantic Media has been... More

Press Eyes Copenhagen

At World Conference of Science Journalists, climate a hot topic

By Curtis Brainard   Jul 6, 2009 at 05:28 PM

LONDON — Unsurprisingly, climate change was one of the most popular topics at the World Conference of Science Journalists, held... More

Anniston Star’s Bad Wrap (Might Mug Shots Save Journalism?)

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 6, 2009 at 04:35 PM

The front page of last Monday's issue of The Anniston (Alabama) Star was particularly, um, arresting. Have a look: Ten... More

Talking Point$ Memo

By Megan Garber   Jul 6, 2009 at 03:46 PM

TPM is getting its first outside funding: an injection of between $500,000 and $1 million that comes courtesy of ur-entrepreneur... More

Uncoupling

Is it OK to omit the “of” after “couple”?

By Merrill Perlman   Jul 6, 2009 at 03:26 PM

The coach was talking about his latest trade, which he said was “hopefully the first of several deals to come... More

Where’d the Money Go?

Times story overlooks insurer’s contributions

By Greg Marx   Jul 6, 2009 at 03:12 PM

The New York Times today offers a dispatch on the health care debate from Maine, home of an endangered species:... More

The AP Is Too Optimistic on Obama’s Too Big To Fail Plans

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 6, 2009 at 02:03 PM

The Associated Press looks at Obama's regulatory-reform plan and finds reason for hope on its approach to tackling Too Big... More

Pew Poll: Palin Polarizes Public

Douthat misreads data in piece on Palin’s purported popularity

By Greg Marx   Jul 6, 2009 at 01:27 PM

A big part of Sarah Palin’s appeal has always been that she had the right enemies. Palin’s resentment of sneering... More

The Economy Today: Giving up the Ghostboxes

Headlines from Texas, Arizona, Michigan, and elsewhere

By Greg Marx   Jul 6, 2009 at 10:51 AM

With the search still underway for concrete signs of widespread economic recovery, The New York Times leads today with reason... More

Do It Tuesday!

On Jackson’s day, the mice should play

By Megan Garber   Jul 6, 2009 at 10:45 AM

From: stu@mice_advice.comDate: July 6, 2009 10:32:18 AM EDTTo: clientlist@mice_advice.comSubject: Do It Tuesday! To our valued clients: I apologize for... More

Palin’s Hidden Emails

By Clint Hendler   Jul 6, 2009 at 10:41 AM

There’s still considerable interest in Sarah Palin’s foreshortened term as Governor of Alaska, interest that will certainly increase should she... More

Mediaite Launches (Loads…)

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 6, 2009 at 10:20 AM

Maybe this --Michael Calderone's description of Mediate.com Mediaite.com, the media-centric site founded by Dan Abrams and launched today -- helps... More

Miami Herald Finds Florida Fudged for Stanford

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 6, 2009 at 09:44 AM

The Miami Herald has a great investigation on the Allen Stanford scandal, reporting that a Florida regulator allowed the conman... More

Amplifying the Drumbeat on the “Overdraft Protection” Racket

The issue picks up momentum in the financial press

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 2, 2009 at 05:48 PM

It's The New York Times turn to do a nice story on "overdraft protection" practices. The Journal had one yesterday... More

Gibbs: “I Seem to Have Forgotten My Amex”

By Megan Garber   Jul 2, 2009 at 04:48 PM

Guess what came up at today's White House press briefing? Here's a clue: "Was anyone from the White House invited... More

Some Optimism for the Future of Science Journalism

And especially for international collaboration

By Cristine Russell   Jul 2, 2009 at 04:43 PM

LONDON — Amidst the gloomy climate in American science journalism, leading British editors have a decidedly upbeat view about coverage.... More

The Tweetest Taboo

By Megan Garber   Jul 2, 2009 at 04:14 PM

So the powers that tweet--Biz Stone, Ev Williams, et al--have applied to trademark one of their contributions to mass culture.... More

More PitneyGate Fallout?

Press focused on who asked questions at Obama town hall

By Greg Marx   Jul 2, 2009 at 03:55 PM

We may, thankfully, be putting Pitneygate behind us. But reading through press coverage of President Obama’s town hall meeting on... More

Washington Post All Access Fire Sale!

By Megan Garber   Jul 2, 2009 at 03:11 PM

So what are we calling this thing, FlierGate? WhineAndDineGate? SpiritedYesConfrontationalNoGate? Regardless, behold the affair's inevitable--and quite funny--parody: More

More on WaPo Salon Deal

By Greg Marx   Jul 2, 2009 at 02:59 PM

Andy Alexander, ombudsman for the Post, has now weighed in on the “salon” scandal. His post provides some news about... More

In (Partial) Defense of Connie Schultz

Jeff Jarvis’s low lob

By Clint Hendler   Jul 2, 2009 at 02:39 PM

Like Cleveland Plain Dealer columnist Connie Schultz, I am sincerely worried about the future, as the revenue streams dry up... More

Brauchli On WaPo Salons

By Greg Marx   Jul 2, 2009 at 12:49 PM

In the wake of Mike Allen’s story in Politico this morning about The Washington Post advertising “salons” at which deep-pocketed... More

The Long and Winding Rohde

By Megan Garber   Jul 2, 2009 at 12:16 PM

On a day of flurries, some happier news: kidnapped New York Times reporter has had his homecoming at the Times... More

“Our Independence from Advertisers or Sponsors Is Inviolable”

By Megan Garber   Jul 2, 2009 at 12:06 PM

Michael Calderone has the indignant-toned memo WaPo executive editor Marcus Brauchli issued to the paper's staff earlier today in response... More

The Economy Today: School’s Out

With Money Tight, Classes Are Slashed

By Greg Marx   Jul 2, 2009 at 10:40 AM

The New York Times leads its print edition with a dispatch about the latest victim of the recession: summer school.... More

Journal: Wall Street Pay Could Set Records

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 2, 2009 at 09:36 AM

That didn't take long. The Journal reports this morning that Wall Street compensation is on track to possibly outdo 2007... More

“That Turns Out to be Pretty Close to the Truth”

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 2, 2009 at 08:56 AM

MSNBC viewers have suffered no shortage of discussion of Todd Purdum's anonymous source-heavy Vanity Fair article exploring "the pheromonal reality"... More

Pilgrims or Progress?

A Harper’s editor’s stint as a cultural virologist

By Jane Kim   Jul 2, 2009 at 08:00 AM

And Then There's This: How Stories Live and Die in Viral Culture | By Bill Wasik | Viking Press |... More

Good News, For a Change

Non-profit consortium launches Investigative News Network

By Greg Marx   Jul 1, 2009 at 05:57 PM

With the near-daily drip of bleak news about the journalism world (today’s edition: Gannett reportedly plans to cut at least... More

WSJ Shows How Personal-Finance Pieces Ought to Be Done

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 1, 2009 at 05:21 PM

It's rare to read a genuinely good personal-finance story, so I was glad to see Karen Blumenthal's column in The... More

Senior Moment

By Clint Hendler   Jul 1, 2009 at 05:12 PM

The topic for tonight's opening segment on MSNBC's Hardball was Todd Purdum's Vanity Fair article on Sarah Palin, a story... More

Normalizing the Filibuster

The Senate’s peculiar institution gets taken for granted

By Greg Marx   Jul 1, 2009 at 04:22 PM

Yesterday, the Minnesota Supreme Court finally made official what had for months seemed a foregone conclusion: Al Franken will be... More

Jackson Coverage: Too Much? Not Enough (About “Exercise Regimen”)?

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 1, 2009 at 03:12 PM

Sixty-four percent of people polled for a Pew News Interest Index survey said there has been "too much" press coverage... More

NYT: Banks Gearing Up to Kill New Consumer-Protection Agency

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 1, 2009 at 02:57 PM

Continuing the theme of the press focusing on the lobbying efforts of the financial industry to keep the status quo,... More

Thomas: “Pattern of Controlling The Press”

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 1, 2009 at 01:04 PM

Helen Thomas, a White House briefing room vet and Hearst News Service columnist, to White House press secretary Robert Gibbs... More

The Economy Today: Happy New (Fiscal) Year

Economic headlines from California, Utah, North Dakota, and elsewhere

By Greg Marx   Jul 1, 2009 at 12:04 PM

The arrival of July brings the start of the fiscal year and a statutory deadline for new budgets in many... More

“Who will suffer?”

By Clint Hendler   Jul 1, 2009 at 10:30 AM

Last week, Lucy Dalglish, the executive director of the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press, gave a disquieting... More

NSF “Underwriting” Coverage…

And other controversies from the World Conference of Science Journalists

By Curtis Brainard   Jul 1, 2009 at 10:23 AM

LONDON — The sixth World Conference of Science Journalists got off to an enjoyably controversial start here on Tuesday afternoon.... More

ProPublica, Post Watchdog Senator’s TARP Meddling

By Ryan Chittum   Jul 1, 2009 at 09:33 AM

ProPublica and the Washington Post are making a nice little team this week. On Monday they wrote about how General... More

“Michael Jackson Will Only Die Once…”

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jul 1, 2009 at 09:30 AM

... is the number one "stupidest comment" uttered on TV (so far, I'd add) about Jackson's death, according to Jon... More

Ezra Klein Says It All

By Megan Garber   Jul 1, 2009 at 12:28 AM

To quote a tweet Ezra Klein just posted to his Twitter feed: "You know who I wish I had written... More