Press war Down Under

A mining mogul’s battle with an Australian media group shakes the industry

By Curtis Brainard   Jun 29, 2012 at 04:50 PM

Fairfax Limited, one of Australia’s largest media conglomerates, is at war with its largest individual shareholder, the world’s richest woman.... More

‘Turning point’ claims ‘in tatters’

After historic health care decision, some commentators set out on fruitless search for campaign narrative

By Brendan Nyhan   Jun 29, 2012 at 04:26 PM

Yesterday’s Supreme Court decision upholding most of the Affordable Care Act has vast implications for health policy in this country... More

A laurel to Denver’s Westword

Alt-weekly scours TV stations’ public files for details on political spending

By Liz Cox Barrett and Greg Marx   Jun 29, 2012 at 03:59 PM

For months now, CJR has been urging the FCC to improve public access to the “public inspection files” maintained... More

News Corp.’s digital divergence

While print media converges on TV news

By Felix Salmon   Jun 29, 2012 at 03:00 PM

There’s no secret why Rupert Murdoch is breaking News Corp into two pieces. Amy Chozick explains: News Corporation had evolved... More

Political money talks. PolitiFact Virginia listens—and then talks back

As campaign ads swamp the Commonwealth, site aims to “explain what the facts are”

By Tharon Giddens   Jun 29, 2012 at 01:18 PM

VIRGINIA — Need proof that Virginia is a battleground state in the 2012 election? In one recent week, the presidential... More

A fatal year

2012 on track to be the deadliest on record for journalists

By Curtis Brainard   Jun 29, 2012 at 06:50 AM

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago — With 72 journalists killed so far this year, 2012 is on pace to... More

How the US captured the real 9/11 mastermind

Terry McDermott and Josh Meyer take us deep inside the hunt for KSM

By Jordan Michael Smith   Jun 29, 2012 at 06:50 AM

The Hunt for KSM: Inside the Pursuit and Takedown of the Real 9/11 Mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed | By Terry... More

Audit Notes: Euro dissolution risk, Reuters tailed, Exxon and the press

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 28, 2012 at 11:56 PM

Simon Johnson, who has warned loudly for years about the critical danger posed by too-big-to-fail banks, as well as their... More

The Libor lie unravels

A big win for the business press

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 28, 2012 at 03:00 PM

Way back in September 2007, the Financial Times's Gillian Tett started raising questions about the benchmark London Interbank Offered Rate—Libor—a... More

Folks without Internet need news access too

US media outlets’ digital push fails the poorest residents

By Jesse Hardman   Jun 28, 2012 at 12:59 PM

From 2007 to 2009, I lived in Sri Lanka and co-edited a weekly newspaper. It was a simple news outlet,... More

Think before you tweet

CNN was first, but it didn’t win the morning

By Kira Goldenberg   Jun 28, 2012 at 12:22 PM

Today’s frenzied (social) media reaction to the Supreme Court’s decision on President Obama’s healthcare reform was, as many journalists have... More

Edward Luce charts America’s decline

Is the United States past its prime?

By Daniel Luzer   Jun 28, 2012 at 06:50 AM

Time to Start Thinking: America in the Age of Descent | By Edward Luce | Atlantic Monthly Press | 291... More

Audit Notes: News Corp. split edition

More on the implications of Murdoch’s move

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 27, 2012 at 08:06 PM

The Financial Times's John Gapper has the best take on what Rupert Murdoch's bustup of News Corporation means: Some US... More

The two David Carrs

A Times columnist rises to fame

By Michael Massing   Jun 27, 2012 at 05:22 PM

Since joining The New York Times in 2002, David Carr has become America’s most visible and influential writer on the... More

The Nora Ephron problem

The writer’s passing leaves big shoes to fill, but she inspired plenty of women to fill them

By Cyndi Stivers   Jun 27, 2012 at 05:14 PM

Before she felt bad about her neck, Nora Ephron felt bad about her breasts. When she was a 19-year-old virgin,... More

The new media narrative: ‘no-policy’ Romney

Three things reporters should remember as they press Romney for policy details

By Greg Marx   Jun 27, 2012 at 03:00 PM

Lately, Mitt Romney is losing his reputation in the media as a politician who constantly flip-flops from one policy position... More

Firings raise questions at Alabama Public Television

Many fear ‘new direction’ means conservative

By Erika Fry   Jun 27, 2012 at 11:07 AM

In May 2011, the Birmingham Business Journal named Allan Pizzato, the executive director of the recession-tested Alabama Public Television, “nonprofit... More

America’s forgotten war

Historian Troy Bickham revisits the War of 1812

By Jordan Michael Smith   Jun 27, 2012 at 06:50 AM

The Weight of Vengeance: The United States, the British Empire, and the War of 1812 | By Troy Bickham |... More

News Corp. ponders a split

Easing but not erasing the Murdoch discount

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 27, 2012 at 06:50 AM

Shareholders have been carping for years that Rupert Murdoch should get rid of his newspapers and focus on the real... More

Audit Notes: Gannett profits, Spiegel grilling, private equity

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 27, 2012 at 02:37 AM

At least Gannett is optimistic about the next few years, The Wall Street Journal reports (emphasis mine): Gannett, publisher of... More

Another recommended LAT read on campaign finance

The paper offers a timely look at the disclosure fight

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jun 26, 2012 at 05:15 PM

Last month, The Swing States Project singled out the good work of the Los Angeles Times’s Matea Gold and Joseph... More

Tomorrow meets its Kickstarter goal in hours

Former GOOD editors will make their dream mag

By Kira Goldenberg   Jun 26, 2012 at 03:03 PM

After GOOD magazine fired most of its editorial staff in early June, the axed staffers decided they wanted to produce... More

The tenuous claim of Israeli ‘pinkwashing’

The charge that a culture of tolerance works as a PR superweapon seems bogus

By Justin D. Martin   Jun 26, 2012 at 01:04 PM

JERUSALEM—Let’s dispense with the charge of “pinkwashing” that has been leveled against Israel. The word has come to stand for... More

Stories I’d like to see

The tax man who could change the 2012 campaign

By Steven Brill   Jun 26, 2012 at 10:56 AM

In his weekly “Stories I’d like to see” column, journalist and entrepreneur Steven Brill spotlights topics that, in his opinion,... More

Our polar backyard

Economist explores what a melting Arctic means to the world

By Curtis Brainard   Jun 26, 2012 at 08:00 AM

The Arctic is not under-covered. Some might even say the opposite is true. The polar bear has been “the poster... More

Bernanke goes mostly unheard on spending (UPDATED)

The press continues its spotty coverage of Fed’s fiscal views

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 26, 2012 at 06:50 AM

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, yet again, publicly called for spending (ADDING: deficit spending, I should say. Bernanke has talked... More

Par for the course

Putting golf terms in context

By Merrill Perlman   Jun 25, 2012 at 03:00 PM

Let’s say you’ve just arrived from another planet, with a mastery of English, but little exposure to the popular sport... More

Escape from Thailand: Epilogue

Plagiarizer gets his just deserts for asparagus dissertation

By Erika Fry   Jun 25, 2012 at 11:30 AM

In September, I wrote the long and unusual story of how I had become the subject of an arrest warrant... More

And that’s not the way it is

Former Nightline anchor reviews Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom

By Dave Marash   Jun 25, 2012 at 11:09 AM

HBO and Aaron Sorkin’s new series The Newsroom is all too explicitly about truth, justice and the posited nadir of... More

Explaining how Ohio ‘really works’

Columnist Thomas Suddes works in the political “lab” that is the Buckeye State

By T.C. Brown   Jun 25, 2012 at 11:00 AM

During the somewhat less frantic months of the presidential campaign season—between the primaries and the nominating conventions—the Swing States Project... More

Romney’s ‘job killer’ narrative: time for an X-ray

Some reporters are asking: Does Obamacare really destroy jobs?

By Trudy Lieberman   Jun 25, 2012 at 06:50 AM

ONNtv.com, which bills itself as Ohio’s channel for news, is one of the latest media outlets to casually pass along... More

The WSJ bakes a bogus trend

And ABC copies its grocery-store wedding cake story

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 25, 2012 at 06:50 AM

The Wall Street Journal has noticed that some people outside midtown Manhattan buy their wedding cakes from grocery stores: Now... More

Audit Notes: NYT CEO search, Private Prisons, Morozov

Sulzberger looks for a boss with tech experience

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 22, 2012 at 06:28 PM

Bloomberg News has new details on The New York Times Company's search for a CEO, which includes "aspirational" folks like... More

The best kickers of the week

By The Editors   Jun 22, 2012 at 04:44 PM

At the close of a week surely inspired by Dante's Inferno, here are our picks for the week's coolest endings.... More

Rio+20 side events become the main event

Does the summit deserve the scorn and indifference it has received from the media?

By James Fahn   Jun 22, 2012 at 03:15 PM

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil — Tragedy and farce. Those are the two general impressions conveyed by much of the world’s... More

The Kickstarter Chronicles

Recycling old interviews, questioning the American dream, and Catholic parents head to Burning Man

By Alysia Santo   Jun 22, 2012 at 03:00 PM

Each week, dozens of journalistic endeavors turn to Kickstarter for funding. Pitching media projects to this online community brings another... More

Driving the discourse in Detroit

As a region’s media landscape shifts, a public radio program fills a void

By Anna Clark   Jun 22, 2012 at 11:27 AM

During the somewhat less frantic months of the presidential campaign season—between the primaries and the nominating conventions—the Swing States Project... More

Whaddya know—advertising works!

The Times continues the conversation about Obamacare and public opinion

By Trudy Lieberman   Jun 22, 2012 at 11:09 AM

If anyone ever doubted that advertising works, the latest example of its persuasive power, documented in The New York Times... More

In Colorado Springs, inconsistent coverage of a colorful campaign

Gazette’s webcast interview demands follow-up, while KOAA’s “truth checks” deliver

By Mary Winter   Jun 22, 2012 at 07:43 AM

COLORADO — One of the most colorful and competitive GOP primary battles is being waged in the conservative bastion of... More

“Prophet of Katrina” stays put

Times-Picayune’s ace environment reporter sticks with Nola Media Group

By Curtis Brainard   Jun 22, 2012 at 06:50 AM

The man The New York Times called “a prophet of Katrina’s wrath” for his prescient coverage of New Orleans’ vulnerability... More

Bloomberg blows the whistle on the IRS

The agency hamstrings a program designed to bring in tips on tax evasion

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 22, 2012 at 06:50 AM

Bloomberg News has an eye-opening investigation into what we now know is the failed IRS Whistleblowers Program. That program is... More

Audit Notes: Smart Money, NYT CEO, sushi chefs and nola.com

Dow Jones lays off staff and goes all-digital with its personal-finance magazine

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 21, 2012 at 09:22 PM

Dow Jones is shutting down Smart Money magazine, laying off most of the staff and going to a digital-only format... More

Embracing the myth of the campaign wizard, again

The Jim Messina profile industry is part of a long tradition

By Walter Shapiro   Jun 21, 2012 at 05:18 PM

Maybe it began with the lionization in the press of the Irish Mafia that helped elect John Kennedy in 1960.... More

Audit Radio: Cleveland edition

Dean Starkman joins a panel of Ohio journalists on the future of newspapers

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 21, 2012 at 05:02 PM

Audit Chief Dean Starkman talked about the future of newspapers on Cleveland's NPR affiliate WCRN this morning. "Sound of Ideas"... More

Gladwell makes excuses for Lehrer

Undefined “conventions of blogging” a weak defense

By Curtis Brainard   Jun 21, 2012 at 03:00 PM

The media drama surrounding Jonah Lehrer continued Thursday with author Malcolm Gladwell offering a weak defense of his embattled colleague,... More

Reporting from the battlefield, uninsured

Freelancers on the frontlines operate with little to no institutional support

By Alysia Santo   Jun 21, 2012 at 01:40 PM

While covering the uprising against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, photojournalist Anton Hammerl was shot and killed in an... More

Building a multi-platform media for—and by—the public

Commercial broadcasters make for bad trustees. Let’s find another way

By Benjamin Lennett and Tom Glaisyer   Jun 21, 2012 at 06:50 AM

At first glance, the new rule approved last month by the Federal Communications Commission requiring local television broadcasters to make... More

Audit Notes: The U-6ers, Jamie’s corporate welfare, The Guardian’s future

The NYT looks at those with not enough work

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 21, 2012 at 06:50 AM

I like this Michael Cooper piece in The New York Times on the folks who don't show up in the... More

Harrisburg’s Patriot-News sits down with Romney

There are lessons here for campaign reporters and editors along future bus tour routes

By Ken Knelly   Jun 20, 2012 at 05:30 PM

PENNSYLVANIA — While campaigns and aligned PACs are raising and spending hundreds of millions of dollars, old-school, retail politics has... More

Rubio and Univision: Détente

Marco Rubio finally sits down with Jorge Ramos

By Erika Fry   Jun 20, 2012 at 03:00 PM

Just months ago, it seemed quite plausible that Florida’s much-in-the-news Hispanic Senator Marco Rubio might never speak to the Florida-based... More

How Jonah Lehrer should blog

The art of glossing the news

By Felix Salmon   Jun 20, 2012 at 12:53 PM

In the wake of the revelations that Jonah Lehrer is a serial self-plagiarist, Josh Levin declares that if you’re an... More

A laurel to WaPo’s debunking of ‘EPA drones’

David Fahrenthold chronicles the “life cycle of a falsehood”

By Liz Cox Barrett and Greg Marx   Jun 20, 2012 at 11:44 AM

Starting today, we’ll be bringing a venerable CJR tradition, Darts & Laurels, to The Swing States Project. Each Wednesday,... More

How creativity works? Not like that.

Science writer Jonah Lehrer accused of self-plagiarism

By Curtis Brainard   Jun 20, 2012 at 10:45 AM

The author of a recent book about how creativity works is finding out the hard way that the answer is... More

The failure to explain health reform

The public doesn’t understand it. Whose fault is that?

By Trudy Lieberman   Jun 20, 2012 at 06:51 AM

If the Supreme Court rules the health reform law or its central feature—the individual mandate requiring people to have health... More

Another A1 Times-Picayune press release

This time the publisher takes to the front page, eliding the gutting of his newsroom

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 20, 2012 at 06:50 AM

Not content with dominating the Times-Picayune's front page on Thursday with a press release from its editor, the paper ran... More

Audit Notes: Echoes of the 1930s, gilded bubble, access journalism

As Greece crumbles, extremism and violence rises

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 20, 2012 at 01:55 AM

On the echoes of the 1930s tip, the University of Athens's Aristides Hatzis writes in the Financial Times: Despite the... More

When ads attack in Virginia

Roanoke’s WSLS-TV, Hampton Roads’ Daily Press did more than repeat claims and counter-claims

By Tharon Giddens   Jun 19, 2012 at 04:45 PM

VIRGINIA — Turn on a local morning television newscast on any given day in Virginia and you’ll likely get a... More

He said, she said

Anyone can spread gossip with an iPhone, rather than depend on dishy columns

By Kira Goldenberg   Jun 19, 2012 at 02:45 PM

Gossip, according to longtime New York Post columnist Earl Wilson, is hearing something you like about someone you don’t. I... More

Why Romney looks more ‘confident’ in reporters’ eyes

It’s journalism-speak for “seeming more likely to win”

By Brendan Nyhan   Jun 19, 2012 at 12:05 PM

NEW HAMPSHIRE — One of the most frequent problems with campaign reporting is the way that journalists construct candidate-centric narratives... More

Stories I’d like to see

Votes and dollar signs, cancer cure-rate claims, present at the euro’s creation

By Steven Brill   Jun 19, 2012 at 11:31 AM

In his weekly “Stories I’d like to see” column, journalist and entrepreneur Steven Brill spotlights topics that, in his opinion,... More

Microsoft’s live-action press release

Journalists hype the software giant’s new tablet

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 19, 2012 at 08:00 AM

Yesterday, Microsoft got a bunch of tech journalists to go to Hollywood for what it promised would be a major... More

Q&A: teaching journalism in China

Yuen Ying Chan, a former New York Daily News reporter, on the j-schools she launched in Hong Kong and China

By Joseph Weber   Jun 19, 2012 at 06:50 AM

After 23 years working in New York City journalism, including a seven-year stint at the New York Daily News that... More

Digging in

The etymology of a “clawback”

By Merrill Perlman   Jun 19, 2012 at 06:50 AM

“Jamie Dimon: JPMorgan Will Likely Claw Back Pay From Responsible Executives,” the headline said. Dimon, JPMorgan’s chief executive, was telling... More

Rio+20 roundup

Coverage of the UN sustainable development summit revs up, or not

By Curtis Brainard   Jun 18, 2012 at 05:45 PM

Big, international summits geared toward protecting the environment and promoting sustainability just don’t have the cachet that they used to.... More

Live from Tampa and Charlotte: it’s NYT and BuzzFeed

We get what they get from this political convention reporting partnership—what’ll we get?

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jun 18, 2012 at 03:20 PM

One way to generate news during the ample down time at the Democratic and Republican National Conventions is to "frantically... More

Knight News Challenge winners announced

Six projects use online networks to help spread information

By Kira Goldenberg   Jun 18, 2012 at 01:50 PM

Geographically organized breaking news video aggregation, natural-disaster community Web portals, and a secure service for sensitive reporter-source contact are some... More

Beyond TV sound bites in the Silver State

There is a plethora of public affairs programming on Jim Rogers’s three Nevada TV stations

By Jay Jones   Jun 18, 2012 at 11:15 AM

During the somewhat less frantic months of the presidential campaign season—between the primaries and the nominating conventions—the Swing States Project... More

The brave new world of health insurance exchanges

It’s time to take a look at how they are working in Massachusetts and beyond

By Trudy Lieberman   Jun 18, 2012 at 11:05 AM

New York Times reporter Abby Goodnough’s piece last week about the health insurance exchange in Massachusetts is instructive—especially since other... More

Audit Notes: Very profitable staff cuts; Dimon’s crisis bet; Obama and trade

Time Inc. squeezes Sports Illustrated for more money

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 18, 2012 at 06:50 AM

Bloomberg's Edmund Lee gets a great quote from the editor of Time Incorporated's Sports Group, Terry McDonell, on why Sports... More

Tucker Carlson on the virtue of interruptions

We shouldn’t be surprised it was a Daily Caller reporter who interrupted Obama

By Greg Marx   Jun 15, 2012 at 04:30 PM

“Most speakers hate to be interrupted, but I enjoy it, having spent about 10 years in cable news getting interrupted... More

How the duel for Ohio played in the Buckeye State

Local news offers workmanlike coverage for workmanlike speeches—and one memorable metaphor

By T.C. Brown   Jun 15, 2012 at 03:27 PM

OHIO — The hype was heavy. Media outlets, locally and nationally, couldn’t resist billing Thursday’s speeches in the Buckeye State... More

Adrift in a sea of (no) coverage

For two years, little in the news about battle over National Ocean Policy

By Curtis Brainard   Jun 15, 2012 at 03:00 PM

Last October, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar called on the press to pay more attention to the Obama administration’s... More

Domain suffixes are the latest Web real estate

What will this mean for the media industry?

By Alysia Santo   Jun 15, 2012 at 02:50 PM

What do the words mail, love, cloud, and news have in common? They each have seven different entities proposing their... More

Sunlight’s Scout is a promising new tool

Service allows journalists to track activity in Congress, federal agencies, state legislatures

By Greg Marx   Jun 15, 2012 at 12:43 PM

The busy folks at Sunlight Labs recently unveiled a nifty new feature that should be useful for advocates, policy wonks,... More

Smart Post piece asks: Do campaign ads work?

Campaign cash is eye-popping, but impact at presidential level is likely limited

By Greg Marx   Jun 15, 2012 at 12:15 PM

I’m late to this, but The Washington Post’s Paul Farhi had a sharp piece the other day about the uses... More

The Times finds the people angle on Social Security

A human story clarifies a policy question

By Trudy Lieberman   Jun 15, 2012 at 11:15 AM

It was good to see The New York Times publish the kind of story we have been urging—one that describes... More

The Times-Picayune’s front-page press release

Advance Publication’s Alabama papers take even worse hits than New Orleans

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 15, 2012 at 06:50 AM

You know the backlash is serious when the Times-Picayune wraps itself in Katrina and puts a press release/editorial by the... More

Why can’t the press let politicians have principles?

Plus: HuffPost’s good work on campaign consultants, and a better way to cover gaffes

By Walter Shapiro   Jun 14, 2012 at 03:09 PM

No one—not even the love child of Horatio Alger and Ayn Rand—rivals campaign reporters when it comes to worshipping ambition.... More

Covering the animal within

Zoobiquity promotion belies activity in comparative medicine

By Curtis Brainard   Jun 14, 2012 at 03:00 PM

The promo machine for an upcoming book, Zoobiquity: What Animals Can Teach Us About Health and the Science of Healing,... More

Another case of the racy emails

Could we get some privacy please?

By Erika Fry   Jun 14, 2012 at 10:29 AM

Earlier this week, I wrote about media coverage surrounding the “racy emails” that led to Des Moines, IA, school superintendent... More

New Orleans meets the Hamster Wheel

The fall of the Times-Picayune

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 14, 2012 at 06:50 AM

The gutting of New Orleans beloved Times-Picayune and Advance Publications' plan to turn it into a sort of major market... More

Watch: Swing States Project staffer on coverage of gaffes, changes at GOOD, and Mitt’s Mormonism

Campaign coverage is “turning the candidates into sitcom characters”

By Liz Cox Barrett   Jun 14, 2012 at 06:50 AM

Earlier this week, Anna Clark, Michigan correspondent for CJR’s Swing States Project, appeared on bloggingheads.tv’s The Posner Show. Below, watch... More

Keeping journalism nonprofits vital

The Challenge Fund for Journalists released the results of a seven-year experiment

By Kira Goldenberg   Jun 14, 2012 at 06:44 AM

While it didn't find one magic solution, a new study did show that nonprofit media are most likely to remain... More

Audit Notes: Jamie’s juice, a new Glass Steagall, U-T San Diego

ProPublica documents JPMorgan Chase’s extensive ties to a docile Senate Banking Committee

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 13, 2012 at 07:57 PM

ProPublica has a sweet piece listing the connections between JPMorgan Chase and the Senate Banking Committee, which didn't exactly grill... More

Introducing Best Business Writing 2012

By Dean Starkman   Jun 13, 2012 at 04:00 PM

Columbia Journalism Review Books has just published Best Business Writing 2012, featuring pieces by Paul Krugman, Martin Wolf, Matt Taibbi,... More

The pen and the pump

Why are nations that rely on selling resources so often free-speech poor?

By Justin D. Martin   Jun 13, 2012 at 03:37 PM

Doha, Qatar—The rent goes up, the democracy goes down, or so they say. This small Arab Gulf nation is what... More

Do campaign gaffes matter? Not to voters

Overhyped gaffe coverage is a sign that editors should shift resources to other stories

By Brendan Nyhan   Jun 13, 2012 at 02:55 PM

Since Friday, the national political conversation has been dominated by a debate over the importance of President Obama’s statement, at... More

In Ohio, the money-in-politics story is rich

Reporters in Cleveland, Columbus, and Dayton follow the money

By T.C. Brown   Jun 13, 2012 at 11:00 AM

OHIO — The money being thrown at political campaigns and advertising here in Ohio is coming so fast and furious... More

Heresy on the bayou (updated)

Times-Picayune drops its restaurant critic

By Brent Cunningham   Jun 13, 2012 at 10:43 AM

More than the news that it would no longer publish every day; more than the rumor that those left in... More

Audit Notes: bad banks edition

Too big to behave or to fail

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 13, 2012 at 06:50 AM

Gretchen Morgenson writes about how the interest-rate swaps Wall Street encouraged government agencies to take out are costing governments billions... More

Douglas Brinkley talks Cronkite

An interview with the legendary newsman’s biographer

By Paul Starobin   Jun 13, 2012 at 06:50 AM

In Cronkite, his hefty new biography, author and historian Douglas Brinkley tackles the “most trusted man in America,” as newsman... More

Listen: CJR staffer on Politico and media criticism

“I understand why a[n] … outlet like Politico would focus primarily on the political implications, but I don’t think that represents real media criticism”

By Kira Goldenberg   Jun 12, 2012 at 04:59 PM

In his very first piece for CJR last week, intern Peter Sterne criticized Politico’s story that alleged a pro-Obama bias... More

Learning from others’ Kickstarter mistakes

Infographic compares successful projects with those that failed

By Alysia Santo   Jun 12, 2012 at 03:00 PM

Journalism professionals, professors, and students are taking their reporting proposals to Kickstarter, and for the past few months I’ve rounded... More

Dumb and dumber

How far can CNN sink?

By Michael Massing   Jun 12, 2012 at 02:50 PM

In April, CNN recorded its lowest monthly ratings in more than 10 years. In May, it recorded its lowest monthly... More

Don’t think pink

Isn’t it time “women’s issues” are just issues?

By Erika Fry   Jun 12, 2012 at 01:37 PM

Hey journalists, how do you navigate the “pink ghetto”? For starters, try changing the language used to describe topics traditionally... More

The word on the street: insecure

Listening to voters in Omaha’s Old Market

By Trudy Lieberman   Jun 12, 2012 at 12:23 PM

Last week I found myself in Omaha, at the city’s Old Market, hoping to visit with some of the locals... More

Stories I’d like to see

Spy vs. spy at NYU, troop suicides, NYSE-Nasdaq wars

By Steven Brill   Jun 12, 2012 at 10:50 AM

In his weekly “Stories I’d like to see” column, journalist and entrepreneur Steven Brill spotlights topics that, in his opinion,... More

Owens’s straw man army

A commentator takes 10 swings at paywalls, and misses each time

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 12, 2012 at 10:32 AM

Howard Owens's 5,200 word CJR riposte to David Simon on paywalls deserve a reply of its own (outside of its... More

The superintendent’s racy emails

Exposé or overexposure: Where’s the public-private line?

By Erika Fry   Jun 11, 2012 at 03:45 PM

In early May, Nancy Sebring, the superintendent of the Des Moines public school system, abruptly resigned; her resignation was accepted... More

Out of range

Everything from 1 to z

By Merrill Perlman   Jun 11, 2012 at 03:02 PM

We love to “range.” When describing a new shopping mall, for example, an article might say: “It has everything from... More

CNBC graphic of the day, Greek bond yield edition

Martin Wolf, the anti-CNBC, makes an appearance

By Felix Salmon   Jun 11, 2012 at 02:20 PM

Martin Wolf appeared on CNBC today, which is never a good idea. Between all the swishing noises and flashing... More

When it comes to Jeb Bush, ‘no’ is not enough

Memo to the media: He really doesn’t want to be vice president.

By Brian E. Crowley   Jun 11, 2012 at 11:03 AM

FLORIDA — Sitting across from Jeb Bush last week on the set of CBS This Morning, Charlie Rose asked: “You... More

Audit Notes: Decline of Labor Edition

Unions, inequality, and billionaires versus organized workers

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 8, 2012 at 07:57 PM

The New Yorker's John Cassidy writes a smart post on the aftermath of labor's big defeat in Wisconsin and what... More

NSF invests in literary science journalism

Creative nonfiction program seeks emerging writers

By Curtis Brainard   Jun 8, 2012 at 03:00 PM

The National Science Foundation (NSF) doubled down on literary science journalism this year. Actually, it quintupled down. In 2010, NSF... More

The Disingenuous WSJ Opinion Pages

Bogus arguments from Phil Gramm, Glenn Hubbard, and Peggy Noonan

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 8, 2012 at 11:02 AM

Phil Gramm and Columbia B-school Dean and Romney economic adviser Glenn Hubbard take to the op-ed pages of The Wall... More

Romney’s Religion

What should journalists do with the Mormon thing?

By Walter Shapiro   Jun 8, 2012 at 10:48 AM

“Surely, secularists are wrong when they ask believers to leave their religion at the door before entering the public square.”... More

What was CNN Money thinking?

A Q&A on retirement issues sows confusion

By Trudy Lieberman   Jun 8, 2012 at 07:00 AM

It’s hard to say what was the point of CNN Money’s latest contribution to the retirement debate. The site's Q&A... More

The Kickstarter Chronicles

Education in America, My Little Pony’s bronies, and paranormal investigations

By Alysia Santo   Jun 8, 2012 at 06:50 AM

Each week, dozens of journalistic endeavors turn to Kickstarter for funding. Pitching media projects to this online community brings another... More

Audit Notes: Whither The Guardian, Blodget breathes fire, CNBC flop

The New Statesman profiles editor Alan Rusbridger

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 8, 2012 at 01:52 AM

This long New Statesman profile of Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger, which also delves into the financial woes of his paper,... More

A ‘conversation convener’ in Charlotte

Fannie Flono, Charlotte Observer columnist and “sassy black woman,” talks about her public consideration of ideas

By Andria Krewson   Jun 7, 2012 at 02:50 PM

During the somewhat less frantic months of the presidential campaign season—between the primaries and the nominating conventions—the Swing States Project... More

A superb expose about an unsafe medical device

The OC Register lays bare a lax approval system that hurts patients

By Trudy Lieberman   Jun 7, 2012 at 11:25 AM

Tony Saavedra and Courtney Perkes, reporters for The Orange County Register, deserve a laurel for their superb piece about harmful... More

An eye on environmental justice

EHN series focuses on an under-covered angle on toxics

By Curtis Brainard   Jun 7, 2012 at 11:00 AM

A number of media reports in last year have examined the impacts of toxic pollution on communities, but few have... More

New Orleans and the future of news

Media policy matters, and journalists ought to weigh in

By Josh Stearns   Jun 7, 2012 at 06:50 AM

Last week’s announcement that the New Orleans Times-Picayune would be slashing its staff and cutting its print run to just... More

The Seattle Times sinks a local polluter

Investigating the sketchy background of a capsized ship’s owner

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 7, 2012 at 06:50 AM

Most business investigations focus on corporations and investors. And for good reason: They're the ones with the money and the... More

Audit Notes: Amazon turns on the A/C, Fairfax’s taxes, Ponzify

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 6, 2012 at 11:53 PM

The Morning Call's Spencer Soper follows up on his Amazon sweatshop investigation, and reports that the company has since spent... More

Salt Lake Tribune takes Grantham Prize

$75,000 award goes to series about threatened forests for second year in a row

By Curtis Brainard   Jun 6, 2012 at 03:10 PM

For the second year in a row “the world’s richest journalism prize” went to a series of articles about threatened... More

Award celebrates book-length journalism

The Helen Bernstein Award was accompanied by talk of investigative journalism’s future

By Peter Sterne   Jun 6, 2012 at 02:50 PM

Investigative journalists and their fans gathered at the New York Public Library’s flagship 42nd Street branch on Tuesday night to... More

Dark money targets Hispanics in Silver State

The law makes shining a light difficult, but reporters can do more than they have so far

By Jay Jones   Jun 6, 2012 at 11:10 AM

NEVADA — Here in swing state Nevada—the southern reaches of which are less than a five-hour drive from Mexico—Latinos make... More

The Sometimes Picayune

Want to damage New Orleans (again)? Decimate its newspaper

By Harry Shearer   Jun 6, 2012 at 06:50 AM

Here, for your reading pleasure, are two familiar cliches: 1. New Orleans is a unique city. 2. The newspaper business... More

Politico goes for ‘fair and balanced’

And it succeeds, in the Fox News sense

By Peter Sterne   Jun 6, 2012 at 06:50 AM

Last week, Politico rocked the insidery world of political journalism with an article, written by executive editor Jim VandeHei and... More

Audit Notes: that 1930s feeling, Facebook small fry, Carter’s Grove

Martin Wolf’s hair is on fire

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 5, 2012 at 08:21 PM

Martin Wolf's hair is on fire in the Financial Times: Suppose that in June 2007 you had been told that... More

GOOD Mag to be ‘a Reddit for social good’ (updated)

Ex-staffers at work on a new publication

By Alysia Santo   Jun 5, 2012 at 03:50 PM

GOOD magazine fired six of its nine-person editorial staff on Friday—and two others accepted buyouts—as part of a move from... More

David Cay Johnston’s excellent corporate-welfare column

What a proposed mall project illustrates about subsidizing developers

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 5, 2012 at 03:08 PM

Reuters's David Cay Johnston has a great column on corporate welfare that mixes reporting and analysis to show why subsidies... More

How David Simon is wrong about paywalls

Let me count the ways. Ten, in fact.

By Howard Owens   Jun 5, 2012 at 11:36 AM

David Simon is a talented writer and storyteller, but is he qualified to give advice to publishers about how to... More

Missing: Voters’ voices in Rep. McCotter story

Michigan reporters should stop ceding their hometown advantage and dig in

By Anna Clark   Jun 5, 2012 at 11:09 AM

MICHIGAN — Michigan political journalists have a big story on their hands: U.S. Rep. Thad McCotter, a five-term incumbent who... More

Stories I’d like to see

Old money, Yankee bunts, battling for veterans’ health insurance contracts

By Steven Brill   Jun 5, 2012 at 10:50 AM

In his weekly “Stories I’d like to see” column, journalist and entrepreneur Steven Brill spotlights topics that, in his opinion,... More

Empty pockets

A phrase with several meanings

By Merrill Perlman   Jun 5, 2012 at 06:50 AM

Max Crittenden posted on Language Corner’s Facebook page: I’m seeing some peculiar usage (misuse, to my mind) of the phrase... More

Audit Notes: seaside villas, paywall past, Citi fraud

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 5, 2012 at 12:30 AM

Line of the day goes to Bloomberg News for this gem from Robert Benmosche, CEO of government-owned AIG (emphasis mine):... More

Bank of America’s Merrill scandal reignites

The NYT reports former CEO Ken Lewis admits shareholders got bad information

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 4, 2012 at 03:00 PM

The New York Times's Gretchen Morgenson has a big story today on how Bank of America fooled shareholders into approving... More

When watchdog meets lapdog

The Times’s kill list story should be followed up on the ground

By Michael Massing   Jun 4, 2012 at 02:50 PM

The New York Times's report last week on the Obama administration's secret "kill list" of Al Qaeda suspects and the... More

In Thailand, moderate comments or go to jail

A new low in the Land of Smiles

By Erika Fry   Jun 4, 2012 at 11:00 AM

For 20 days in the 2010, a user comment, later deemed by Thai officials as offensive to the king, was... More

How to improve environmental coverage?

Project sets broad goals, learns to adapt

By Curtis Brainard   Jun 4, 2012 at 06:50 AM

Fixing the news is a tall order, or so the Project for Improved Environmental Coverage is learning. The effort launched... More

Trashed

Trying to get honest about America’s garbage problem

By Daniel Luzer   Jun 4, 2012 at 06:50 AM

Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair with Trash | By Edward Humes | Avery | 288 pages, $27.00 Humans have always... More

Uncovering an investigation in Ohio

The New Republic finds news that local papers hadn’t. Why did that happen, and how big a problem is it?

By T.C. Brown   Jun 1, 2012 at 03:18 PM

OHIO — In August 2011, The Blade of Toledo published an eyebrow-raising report: 16 employees of a Canton-based direct marketing... More

Responding to Shirky on the Washington Post

Transformation is required, and transformation takes investment

By Ryan Chittum   Jun 1, 2012 at 01:31 PM

Thanks to Clay Shirky for responding to my piece on the financialization of the Washington Post Company, which during the... More

The word on the street: frustrated

Listening to voters at a Pennsylvania Walmart

By Trudy Lieberman   Jun 1, 2012 at 11:00 AM

Last week a NBC News/Marist poll showed President Obama and Mitt Romney locked in a tight race in Florida and... More

How to cover the birthers? Denver Post shows what not to do

After paper asks readers for their “take,” radio host offers his

By Greg Marx   Jun 1, 2012 at 06:50 AM

On Thursday, CJR published pieces by Walter Shapiro and Brendan Nyhan that grapple with the question of how journalists can... More

CBS News hires M. Sanjayan

Lead scientist at The Nature Conservancy to cover science, environment

By Curtis Brainard   Jun 1, 2012 at 06:50 AM

Network news got a little better this month. CBS News announced in early May that it had hired M. Sanjayan,... More

The Lower Case

Headlines that editors probably wish they could take back

By The Editors   Jun 1, 2012 at 06:50 AM

Mother arrested after drowning —Houston Chronicle, 10/18/11 173 animals seized; 2 face cruelty charges —Bellingham (WA) World, 9/23/11 La. chimpanzees... More