Monthly Archive
September 2012
The Oklahoman distributes a hit piece on Obama
Do a new owner’s deep pockets require a “trade-off”?
By Erika Fry Sep 28, 2012 at 05:12 PM
On September 20, The Washington Examiner, one of DC’s conservative newspapers, published “The Obama You Don’t Know,” a 10-part “Special... More
The Kickstarter Chronicles
Fiction, in serialized and small forms
By Sara Morrison Sep 28, 2012 at 02:50 PM
Each week, dozens of journalistic endeavors turn to Kickstarter for funding. Pitching media projects to this online community brings another... More
Pinning down Obama on Social Security
Where exactly does he stand?
By Trudy Lieberman Sep 28, 2012 at 11:14 AM
Liberals took comfort in the president’s speech to the AARP Friday when he promised to defend Social Security. But his... More
When Worlds Collide
NPR interns devoured by music-site trolls!
By Hazel Sheffield Sep 28, 2012 at 10:57 AM
Newsrooms tend to shield their interns from the rougher side of the news business. But this summer, two NPR interns... More
As campaigns cross Ohio, Romney stops to talk
Blade seeks tax plan clarity, while Plain Dealer revisits coal policy, auto bailout
By T.C. Brown Sep 28, 2012 at 06:50 AM
OHIO — Both presidential campaigns spent some of this week crawling across the Buckeye State, at one point campaigning within... More
Billionaires made from scratch? Hardly
Forbes spins a bogus Horatio Alger story about its 400 richest list
By Ryan Chittum Sep 28, 2012 at 06:50 AM
Forbes touts its annual list of the 400 richest U.S. billionaires as evidence "that the American dream is still... More
Audit Notes: NYT’s Web bonanza, Doctor on paywalls, capital gains taxes
The paper sells its stake in a jobs site for a stunning profit
By Ryan Chittum Sep 28, 2012 at 12:46 AM
The New York Times Company has sold its stake in the Indeed.com jobs site for $100 million profit, which ain't... More
In Florida, a poll grabs headlines—and raises questions
The situation for the GOP may not be as dire as Quinnipiac’s results suggest
By Brian E. Crowley Sep 27, 2012 at 04:05 PM
FLORIDA — Supporters of Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney woke up to some grim news Wednesday. According to a poll... More
Journalistic firebombs in the Middle East
Is our job to inform or inflame?
By Lawrence Pintak Sep 27, 2012 at 03:38 PM
The pen is mightier than the sword, but it is also far more lethal when manipulated irresponsibly. Consider Charb. There... More
Shoddy TV science coverage
CNN’s Gupta promises cancer cure, while PBS’s Michels delivers false balance on climate
By Curtis Brainard Sep 27, 2012 at 03:00 PM
It’s been a bad week and a half for coverage of science on television. Stories about cancer at CNN and... More
Guardian US’s award-winning interactive
The US-based offshoot comes into its own
By Anna Codrea-Rado Sep 27, 2012 at 12:30 PM
Data journalism and information visualization is a burgeoning field. Every week, Between the Spreadsheets will analyze, interrogate, and explore emerging... More
The Ad Wars: Super PACs not super? Not so fast
The Journal’s flawed logic on page one
By Sasha Chavkin Sep 27, 2012 at 11:00 AM
On Monday, The Wall Street Journal reached a bold conclusion on one of the central debates of the 2012 elections:... More
A clamor for air time in the Silver State
Chris Roman, GM of four Spanish-language TV stations in Nevada, on the messaging frenzy
By Jay Jones Sep 27, 2012 at 11:00 AM
NEVADA — In the Silver State, Chris Roman’s audience is being wooed and pursued. Roman is the general manager... More
Sree Tips
Social-media etiquette for journalists
By Sree Sreenivasan Sep 27, 2012 at 10:42 AM
Q: What’s the latest thinking on following back everyone who follows you on Twitter? Is this something we are... More
Smartphone money
The Journal on how phones are weighing more on family budgets
By Ryan Chittum Sep 27, 2012 at 06:50 AM
The Wall Street Journal is good to take a look at how smartphone bills are eating up a chunk of... More
Insiders and outsiders
How to move in and move up when you’re still the little guy. Or gal
By Ann Friedman Sep 27, 2012 at 06:50 AM
I've read a lot of advice about pitching individual features, but it seems like recurring features are even more valuable... More
Leaving the news
A news editor is moving on, but his nerves may not be
By Thomas Nagorski Sep 26, 2012 at 03:08 PM
A couple of weeks ago my phone rang—12:25 a.m. The assignment editor, Molly Hunter, was on the line. “This Benghazi... More
Brief Encounters
Short reviews of Anonymous in Their Own Names and At the Fights
By James Boylan Sep 26, 2012 at 11:18 AM
Anonymous in Their Own Names: Doris E. Fleischman, Ruth Hale, and Jane Grant | By Susan Henry | Vanderbilt University... More
How the phantom of ‘socialized medicine’ came to be
A Laurel to The New Yorker for exploring the roots of modern political consulting
By Trudy Lieberman Sep 26, 2012 at 11:00 AM
Jill Lepore deserves a Laurel for her engrossing tale of how political communications came to be so toxic. In... More
The capital gains preference
Why Mitt Romney’s taxes are so low and whether economics justifies it
By Ryan Chittum Sep 26, 2012 at 07:26 AM
Forbes, as Joe Nocera points out this morning, thinks that its list of the 400 richest US billionaires "instills confidence... More
First impressions of Quartz
Atlantic Media’s mobile-first business site looks great, acts “janky”
By Hazel Sheffield Sep 26, 2012 at 06:50 AM
Quartz, Atlantic Media’s mobile-first business site, launched on Monday afternoon following much fanfare this summer. Straight off, users responded to... More
The Ad Wars: The numbers don’t add up
When it comes to political ad spending, we don’t know as much as we think we do
By Sasha Chavkin Sep 25, 2012 at 03:15 PM
An extraordinary feature of the 2012 elections has been the barrage of outside money unleashed on America’s airwaves. Deep-pocketed groups... More
Muck Rack hosts a meetup with NBC News
With tips, chips, and a whole lot of live-tweeting
By Hazel Sheffield Sep 25, 2012 at 03:00 PM
Muck Rack, the startup that aggregates media tweets, hosted its first New York meetup at 30 Rock on Tuesday night... More
Stories I’d like to see
ProPublica’s prize-winning ways, and more questions about Ryan’s role
By Steven Brill Sep 25, 2012 at 11:03 AM
In his weekly “Stories I’d like to see” column, journalist and entrepreneur Steven Brill spotlights topics that, in his opinion,... More
Apparently not
The trouble with the apparent heart attack
By Merrill Perlman Sep 25, 2012 at 10:49 AM
The American Heart Association says that heart attacks kill about 1,200 people in the United States every day. In many... More
Audit Notes: newspaper war, inflation fears, executive pay
The Times-Picayune says it planned to go into Baton Rouge all along
By Ryan Chittum Sep 25, 2012 at 06:50 AM
The Times-Picayune plans to move into Baton Rouge to hit back at the Advocate's move into New Orleans. But publisher... More
Prepositions: the last word
Something to not put up with?
By Merrill Perlman Sep 24, 2012 at 03:00 PM
The purpose of last week’s posting was to warn against accepting supposedly famous quotations just because they’re repeated frequently. But... More
Patch launches its redesign on five sites
Its emphasis veers toward Facebook-like “groups” and away from news
By Kira Goldenberg Sep 24, 2012 at 02:50 PM
Patch’s redesign went live Sunday night in five Long Island towns, about three months after CJR posted a story on... More
Will Obama really ‘break the fever’?
Why more journalists should question the President’s second-term claims
By Brendan Nyhan Sep 24, 2012 at 11:10 AM
With the media focused on the horse race (and Mitt Romney's ongoing tactical miscues), the claims by President Obama and... More
Audit Notes: Digital First takedown, here comes the WSJ, debt and taxes
The Awl roughs up Journal Register’s flagship paper
By Ryan Chittum Sep 24, 2012 at 10:51 AM
Brett Sokol, writes one of the most brutal piece of media criticism I've read in a long time. He examines... More
The lying game
Is it ever okay to tell a whopper in the name of journalism?
By Jack Shafer Sep 24, 2012 at 10:49 AM
In 2007, investigative journalist Ken Silverstein went undercover to test Washington lobbyists’ taste for sleaze. Using an alias, Silverstein... More
Eureka! The media discovers Medicaid
And why that matters to the middle class
By Trudy Lieberman Sep 24, 2012 at 06:51 AM
Ah Medicaid! What can we say about it? Until the last couple of weeks, the press has said almost nothing.... More
Global warming coverage cools in Europe
Fewer European journalists are covering UN climate summits in person
By Caty Arevalo Sep 24, 2012 at 06:50 AM
Had the annual climate change summits sponsored by the United Nations fallen out of favor with Western journalists? That was... More
After VA Senate debate, how to cover Kaine’s gaffe?
While most outlets include some policy coverage, WashPost sticks with a strategy story
By Tharon Giddens Sep 21, 2012 at 04:08 PM
VIRGINIA — If you’ve heard one thing about Thursday’s hour-long debate in McLean between Senate candidates George Allen and Tim... More
The Newhouses strike back
The Times-Picayune goes to war with the encroaching Baton Rouge Advocate
By Ryan Chittum Sep 21, 2012 at 03:00 PM
After Advance Publications announced it would gut the still-profitable New Orleans Times-Picayune's newsroom and slash publication to three days a... More
The bogeyman is back!
The Columbia Daily Tribune digs up the $716 billion Medicare scare
By Trudy Lieberman Sep 21, 2012 at 01:14 PM
Aw come on! We would have thought by now the $716 billion Medicare bogeyman was dead and buried. Maybe not.... More
Why stop there?
Anna Wintour is not the next ambassador to Britain, but …
By The Editors Sep 21, 2012 at 11:15 AM
In June, Anna Wintour was (briefly) rumored to be under consideration by the Obama administration as its next ambassador... More
Mitt-o-phobia
The real reasons for harsh Romney coverage
By Walter Shapiro Sep 21, 2012 at 11:00 AM
Call it the Curse of Clint. Ever since Clint “Empty Chair” Eastwood stepped onto the Republican convention stage, Mitt Romney... More
The future of NFL Films looks bleak
With Steve Sabol’s untimely death, there’s no one to protect what he built from the cheapskates at NFL Network
By Robert Weintraub Sep 21, 2012 at 07:10 AM
Steve Sabol died on Tuesday from brain cancer at age 69. The president of, and artistic sensibility behind, NFL Films... More
CU students probe Denver ad buy records
Research reveals Obama’s advantage on the airwaves
By Mary Winter Sep 21, 2012 at 07:00 AM
COLORADO — Students from the University of Colorado are among the first journalists in this state to mine data from... More
As Senate ad war heats up, time for press to step up
Readers need closer scrutiny of campaign messages in Kaine-Allen contest
By Tharon Giddens Sep 20, 2012 at 03:00 PM
VIRGINIA — Presidential race advertising dominates swing state airwaves, but viewers in Virginia are also being bombarded with an influx... More
A laurel to The Denver Post
For strong editorial judgment in its coverage of the “47 percent” story
By Greg Marx Sep 20, 2012 at 03:00 PM
The secret video recording of Mitt Romney’s now-infamous “47 percent” comment went live on the Mother Jones website at... More
Alternative ending
Bruce R. Brugmann, one of the last of the alt-weekly lions, is calling it quits. Sort of.
By Danelle Morton Sep 20, 2012 at 11:55 AM
Bruce B. Brugmann is a stubborn guy who sticks to his point of view, even as the world he... More
In Ohio, barbs traded on China trade
Cincinnati Enquirer helps readers sort through a few
By T.C. Brown Sep 20, 2012 at 11:00 AM
OHIO — President Obama came back to the Buckeye State Monday for his 12th visit this year just as his... More
Knight News Challenge data winners announced
The second of this year’s three competition rounds focused on improving the collection and display of information
By Kira Goldenberg Sep 20, 2012 at 10:30 AM
Crowdsourced radiation measurements, a user-friendly organizing tool for community data, and a less confusing display of census information were among... More
The inflation bugaboo, back again for QE3
Scare stories on an expected uptick in price expectations
By Ryan Chittum Sep 20, 2012 at 06:50 AM
If you've followed the financial press or have seen Ron Paul talk in the last few years, you've heard all... More
When to blame your editor
How to handle the parts of your work that are outside your control
By Ann Friedman Sep 20, 2012 at 06:50 AM
Realtalk me on how to expand the kinds of things you write about. For example, I write about race and... More
Audit Notes: high-frequency trading, Ann Arbor news, SEC access
A whistleblower sparks a growing investigation, reports the WSJ
By Ryan Chittum Sep 20, 2012 at 02:25 AM
The Wall Street Journal has a good page-one story and scoop on a high-frequency trader turned whistleblower whose complaint has... More
New platform to connect journalists and publishers launches
Contently aggregates work across media outlets
By Hazel Sheffield Sep 19, 2012 at 04:35 PM
A new platform to help freelance journalists aggregate their work will be launched on Thursday. Contently aims to help journalists... More
ProPublica reporter gets the Treme treatment
The show’s third season will feature a character based on A.C. Thompson
By Sara Morrison Sep 19, 2012 at 03:38 PM
A.C. Thompson's reporting on transgressions by the New Orleans police force in the wake of Hurricane Katrina led to an... More
A timeline that isn’t boring
The New York Times reimagines a form to offer new perspective on driving deaths
By Anna Codrea-Rado Sep 19, 2012 at 02:50 PM
Timelines are generally considered the lowest form of data visualization, because displaying data chronologically doesn't tend to provide much journalist... More
The Ad Wars: How do we cover them?
CJR’s guide to the best sources
By Sasha Chavkin Sep 19, 2012 at 11:00 AM
With less than two months before Election Day, America’s airwaves are under full-scale bombardment. Voters in the crucial swing states... More
Have at it
Can’t draw? No problem
By Brent Cunningham Sep 19, 2012 at 10:47 AM
For years, Nik Kowsar managed to stay out of jail while building a reputation as Iran’s most infamous political... More
Audit Notes: ‘makers and takers’ edition
Romney’s “47 percent” comment continues to reverberate
By Ryan Chittum Sep 19, 2012 at 06:50 AM
A big part of the problem with Mitt Romney's "47 percent" characterization, as I wrote yesterday, is that it uses... More
Stories I’d like to see
The beef against ABC, and Romney as a debater
By Steven Brill Sep 18, 2012 at 04:58 PM
In his weekly “Stories I’d like to see” columnist, journalist and entrepreneur Steven Brill spotlights topics that, in his opinion,... More
Mitt Romney and the Lucky Duckies
A gaffe created in the Fox News/WSJ editorial page echo chamber
By Ryan Chittum Sep 18, 2012 at 03:28 PM
Who are the 47 percent, why were Mitt Romney's comments on them so wrong, and how did Romney come to... More
Internet Archive launches TV news database
Could be a great resource for searching and watching news clips … while it lasts
By Sara Morrison Sep 18, 2012 at 03:05 PM
Internet Archive, which hosts the Wayback Machine (very helpful to find now-dead websites or earlier versions of existing ones …... More
Village Voice shifts to ‘generic’ editorial strategy after fresh layoffs
Ex-editor in chief drove readers away, former staffer says
By Hazel Sheffield Sep 18, 2012 at 03:00 PM
The future of the Village Voice looks uncertain after two big losses—its editor in chief and its music critic—were announced... More
Jumping the gun on the Romney ‘47%’ video
In early coverage, reporters overstated the meaning and impact of Romney’s comments—and left out out key context
By Brendan Nyhan Sep 18, 2012 at 01:15 PM
NEW HAMPSHIRE — Yesterday, Mother Jones released a secretly-recorded video of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney making the following comments... More
Andrew Ross Sorkin mixes a message
One anti-Semitic protestor means what, exactly?
By Todd Gitlin Sep 18, 2012 at 12:24 PM
Andrew Ross Sorkin thinks Occupy Wall Street fizzled. Fair enough—he writes opinions, and in this one he has a lot... More
The oys of October
A longtime Boston Red Sox fan asks, Why does hometown coverage of the troubled team sound so damn gleeful?
By Jesse Sunenblick Sep 18, 2012 at 11:00 AM
“I don’t even go outside anymore,” David Ortiz, the slimmed-down slugger for the Boston Red Sox, was telling an... More
Take one for the team
Football season is upon us, and so are its tried and true clichés
By Robert Weintraub Sep 18, 2012 at 10:58 AM
There is so much to love about football’s 24/7 ubiquity on television, but there is one (and only one) downside:... More
Medicare: Where’s the evidence that vouchers save money?
The National Journal seeks some, and comes up empty
By Trudy Lieberman Sep 18, 2012 at 10:48 AM
Margot Sanger-Katz, a National Journal reporter who has been brave enough to question conventional wisdom surrounding health policy—she reported that... More
Audit Notes: News of the World’s thugs, Occupy impact, nonprofit news
Allegations that the paper’s gumshoes broke into houses looking for dirt
By Ryan Chittum Sep 18, 2012 at 06:50 AM
What could go wrong when a Murdoch newspaper employs axe-murder suspects? A lot, as we've already seen, and it may... More
The wrong kind of attention
Newsweek’s focus on provocative covers isn’t a solid digital-age strategy
By Kira Goldenberg Sep 17, 2012 at 04:11 PM
Talking about the relevance of magazine cover images feels comparable to mentioning that a newspaper story was “above the fold”—both... More
Put up or shut up
‘Famous’ quotes that aren’t
By Merrill Perlman Sep 17, 2012 at 03:00 PM
Your child’s grade school teacher has asked her to come up with some “famous quotations,” so, naturally, she goes right... More
Romney’s welfare ads: Whom do they affect?
A consensus about coded racial appeals may be only half right
By Greg Marx Sep 17, 2012 at 02:59 PM
Over the past month, many journalists have identified a new development in the presidential campaign: Mitt Romney’s decision to begin... More
Rocky Mountain fever
Gene Fowler’s Timber Line celebrates the chicanery and showmanship of the original Denver Post
By Justin Peters Sep 17, 2012 at 10:50 AM
In the winter of 1907, Denver showed the rest of the nation how to fight a newspaper war. The... More
The Post goes south on NAFTA
The paper ignores or glosses over Mexico trade’s effects on the US
By Ryan Chittum Sep 17, 2012 at 06:50 AM
The Washington Post rah-rah story on trade with Mexico last week left out key context for its American readers. The... More
How to recount a plague
A new documentary about AIDS is the best one in the past few years
By Alissa Quart Sep 17, 2012 at 06:50 AM
How to Survive A Plague is the best AIDS documentary I’ve seen. Why? Because it is important, yes, but... More
A laurel to FlackCheck.org
For its new guide to video factchecking on air and online
By Greg Marx Sep 14, 2012 at 05:50 PM
The recent journalistic debate about factchecking has prompted some compelling discussion about different strategies, different methods, and what works... More
USA Today’s 30th birthday bash
The paper promises to reinvent the news businesses amid crab cakes and blue champagne
By Michael Meyer Sep 14, 2012 at 03:26 PM
Thursday night, the Gannett Company gathered employees, friends, and family at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC, to celebrate... More
The Kickstarter Chronicles
Beauty pageants for seniors and case law books for zombies
By Sara Morrison Sep 14, 2012 at 02:50 PM
Each week, dozens of journalistic endeavors turn to Kickstarter for funding. Pitching media projects to this online community brings another... More
In Iowa, a ‘flag flap’ flop?
A controversy over handling of the flag draws coverage in Cedar Rapids
By Erika Fry Sep 14, 2012 at 02:50 PM
IOWA — Appearances by President Obama have become a bit old-hat in Iowa, one of the nation’s most contested swing... More
How super are the super PACs?
A decades-old rule will give more clout to official campaign cash over the next two months, but reporters have barely noticed
By Walter Shapiro Sep 14, 2012 at 11:15 AM
Like a crime boss in a pinstriped suit who is now hailed as a pillar of the community, super PACS... More
Open Bar
Tom and Jerry’s
By Sang Ngo Sep 14, 2012 at 10:35 AM
Tom and Jerry's 288 Elizabeth Street, New York, NY Year opened 1993 Distinguishing features A collection of mugs and bowls inscribed... More
The hamster wheel vs. the quality imperative
The real problem with JRC/Advance free model and the unappreciated benefit of a paywall
By Dean Starkman Sep 14, 2012 at 07:22 AM
…The great is rare; the dull quite common. But — and this is the genius of the online format... More
Audit Notes: Bloomberg eyes CMBS, newspaper optimism, Weil on bank books
Signs of froth return to commercial real estate lending
By Ryan Chittum Sep 14, 2012 at 06:50 AM
Bloomberg News is good to keep an eye on the securitization market for early signs of froth. It reports that... More
More coverage of US Muslims is needed
It’s up to journalists to provide the antidote to fear and ignorance, which is facts
By Jennifer Vanasco Sep 14, 2012 at 06:50 AM
In her column, Minority Reports, Jennifer Vanasco analyzes how the mainstream media covers social minorities. This week, Americans commemorated September... More
The press sours a bit on Apple
The company’s control of its narrative is loosened by leaks
By Ryan Chittum Sep 13, 2012 at 06:26 PM
One of my favorite sports as a critic is watching how the press liveblogs the periodic gadget announcements that Apple... More
It’s about the rider
Sports reporters flex their scientific muscle in Armstrong doping coverage
By Declan Fahy Sep 13, 2012 at 03:00 PM
The decision to strip Lance Armstrong of his Tour de France titles after he refused to continue fighting claims he... More
‘Serious, point-of-view journalism’?
A look at the most ambitious conservative news organization you’ve never heard of
By Justin Peters Sep 13, 2012 at 03:00 PM
At 4:45 on the final day of the Democratic National Convention, Kevin Palmer stands in the lobby of the Charlotte... More
James Brown estate case reporter slapped with subpoenas
The 60-year-old journalist believes South Carolina is attempting to hush her
By Hazel Sheffield Sep 13, 2012 at 02:32 PM
When the judges responsible for distributing the estate of the late musician James Brown started refusing freedom of information requests... More
Two new surveys shed light on trust and circulation of British press
Digital readership is combined with print numbers for the first time
By Hazel Sheffield Sep 13, 2012 at 01:23 PM
Two surveys released on Wednesday show the UK newspaper with the highest combined print and online readership is also the... More
Audit Notes: NYT and Bain, Dimon’s Comp Committee, 401(k)s
Too much focus on Romney, who left the company years before the alleged collusion
By Ryan Chittum Sep 13, 2012 at 11:30 AM
It's great that The New York Times is going aggressively after court documents in a big private-equity bid-rigging lawsuit, filing... More
No habla Español
The new Latino media universe is young, political, and all-American
By Ruth Samuelson Sep 13, 2012 at 11:24 AM
Lalo Alcaraz has always embraced the word pocho. It refers to Mexican-Americans who have lost their Mexican culture and... More
Journo, promote thyself
Use your personal website and Twitter feed to get people to read your stuff without annoying them
By Ann Friedman Sep 13, 2012 at 06:50 AM
My startup website depends on social media pickup for pageviews, so my reporters and I tweet and Facebook the hell... More
What a higher Retirement Age really means
A Social Security mini-primer
By Trudy Lieberman Sep 13, 2012 at 06:50 AM
The idea of raising the age at which workers can collect benefits from Social Security is very much in play.... More
Aggregation aggravation
Politico’s Maggie Haberman has a pretty liberal view of how much to quote when aggregating. Should she be more conservative?
By Sara Morrison Sep 12, 2012 at 07:30 PM
How much aggregation is too much? It's been years since aggregator extraordinaire Huffington Post entered the online media fray, and... More
Putting crime on Chicago Tribune’s map
Crime may not pay, but it does display
By Anna Codrea-Rado Sep 12, 2012 at 07:00 PM
Data journalism and information visualization is a burgeoning field. Every week, Between the Spreadsheets will analyze, interrogate, and explore emerging... More
Letters to the Editor
Readers respond to our July/August issue
By The Editors Sep 12, 2012 at 11:00 AM
Gyno-mite Your list of “40 women who changed the media business in the past 40 years” (CJR, July/August) is impressive... More
Journal Register opens the kimono a bit
CEO John Paton gives us some hard numbers
By Ryan Chittum Sep 12, 2012 at 06:50 AM
One of my biggest criticisms of Journal Register Company and Digital First Media has been how it has cherry-picked financial... More
Open letter to John Paton, CEO of Digital First Media
In the wake of the Journal Register’s second Chapter 11 filing, Bill Grueskin writes a “Dear John” letter about its failed digital strategy
By Bill Grueskin Sep 12, 2012 at 06:50 AM
Dear John, You and I have never met, but we have corresponded—a bit testily at times (more on that later).... More
Swap mete
One word confused with another
By Merrill Perlman Sep 12, 2012 at 06:50 AM
Today, we’re going to list some words and phrases that are often used when another is meant. These are not... More
Audit Notes: Amazon and antitrust, techspeak, ‘Peter Drucker with an Afro’
The DOJ’s ebook settlement could enable anticompetitive behavior
By Ryan Chittum Sep 12, 2012 at 01:33 AM
The Los Angeles Times's Michael Hiltzik gets it on Amazon and the Justice Department's seriously misguided antitrust lawsuit against book... More
Homicide Watch revs back up
Kickstarter cash in hand, the site will restart this fall as a student-reporting project
By Brent Cunningham Sep 11, 2012 at 12:32 PM
College students who want to learn crime reporting, 21st-century style, from two pioneers of the genre should get their résumés... More
What does ‘healthier’ mean?
Coverage of organic-food study plays loose with the term
By Curtis Brainard Sep 11, 2012 at 11:30 AM
“Healthier” is a word the media often use without enough care, and that shortcoming was on full display during last... More
ProPublica ‘pull[s] back the curtain’
Justin Elliott shines light on a dark money group in Ohio; reporters there should take note
By T.C. Brown Sep 11, 2012 at 11:15 AM
OHIO — Shadowy outside groups dropping cash into political races has been a recurrent theme this year in Ohio, as... More
Fighting words
How war reporters can resist the loaded language of their beat
By Judith Matloff Sep 11, 2012 at 10:56 AM
Last year, I visited Bogotá, Colombia, to teach a seminar on conflict reporting. Afterward, a soldier missing two legs and... More
Stories I’d like to see
Tracking the battleground wars
By Steven Brill Sep 11, 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
Medicare ‘bankruptcy’: CNN gets it right
The network fact-checks a frequent talking point, and does it well
By Trudy Lieberman Sep 11, 2012 at 07:10 AM
Hooray for CNN.com, for fact checking the often-heard claim of Medicare’s “impending” bankruptcy. CNN’s contribution sets a high bar, and... More
Et tu, Ryan?
Ryan Lizza’s dubious Bill Clinton quote
By Todd Gitlin Sep 11, 2012 at 07:00 AM
Ryan Lizza is one of the most perceptive political journalists going. His reporting on Barack Obama’s White House thinking, earlier... More
Audit Notes: Bain’s LBOs, Star Tribune, Wolff on JRC
ProPublica reports that the “turnaround artist” narrative is off
By Ryan Chittum Sep 11, 2012 at 06:50 AM
ProPublica's Jesse Eisinger looks at Mitt Romney and Bain Capital, calling into question the narrative that it was largely about... More
Recommendations from journalism profs
CJR asked eight J-school professors what they wished they’d read and listened to before starting out
By Hazel Sheffield Sep 10, 2012 at 04:02 PM
The Columbia campus is suddenly flooded with new students, some of them young journalists about to embark on the 10-month... More
Keeping facts at the forefront
The Detroit News walks readers through Romney’s “new message” on the auto bailouts
By Anna Clark Sep 10, 2012 at 03:30 PM
DETROIT — Political rhetoric about the 2008-2009 federal loans to the auto industry has ratcheted up in recent days. At... More
What I saw on 9/11
“I wanted to record everything”
By Nicholas Spangler Sep 10, 2012 at 03:30 PM
On September 11, 2001, Nicholas Spangler was a journalism student covering a primary election in downtown New York. He heard... More
By the lake
A meditation on journalism as a record of who we are
By Richard Wald Sep 10, 2012 at 03:30 PM
Last week, in the Science Times section of The New York Times, at the bottom of Page 3, there was... More
Medicare spending: Do Obama and Romney see eye-to-eye?
Matthew Yglesias has a flawed but useful argument
By Trudy Lieberman Sep 10, 2012 at 11:00 AM
Several days ago, Matthew Yglesias dug deeply into the Medicare weeds, arguing in Slate that Obama and Ryan basically agree... More
Talking trash
What’s more important, human dignity or freedom of speech?
By Aryeh Neier Sep 10, 2012 at 11:00 AM
The lead article in the sports section of the July 1 New York Times was about an Italian football... More
Audit Notes: WSJ Live, scot free, Martin Feldstein
Lucrative video streams soar at the Journal
By Ryan Chittum Sep 10, 2012 at 06:50 AM
Wall Street Journal deputy managing editor Alan Murray says the paper's WSJ Live video efforts are growing at a torrid... More
The Facebook blame game
The NYT’s Sorkin shifts focus from the bankers
By Ryan Chittum Sep 8, 2012 at 02:38 AM
Like Jon Weil, I've got little sympathy for the folks who speculated on Facebook at $38, thinking it would double... More
The Kickstarter Chronicles
A few words to the wise
By Sara Morrison Sep 7, 2012 at 03:15 PM
Each week, dozens of journalistic endeavors turn to Kickstarter for funding. Pitching media projects to this online community brings another... More
A reporter in Ohio goes on the attack over drones
Fox 19’s Ben Swann makes waves with tough questions for president about kill list
By T.C. Brown Sep 7, 2012 at 03:00 PM
OHIO — While it’s rare for a local television reporter to score a one-on-one interview with the president of the... More
At home with the PPL in Charlotte
The grassroots and the establishment create a media workspace at the convention
By Andria Krewson Sep 7, 2012 at 12:07 PM
CHARLOTTE — On the top floor of Packard Place, a 1920s-era building five blocks from the site of the Democratic... More
Identity crisis
Journatic’s short-lived editorial director Mike Fourcher weighs in
By Hazel Sheffield Sep 7, 2012 at 11:00 AM
In July, just 10 weeks after he started work as the editorial director of Journatic, Mike Fourcher announced on... More
After Charlotte: baffled by the horse race
A provocative NYT article prompts an extra dose of journalistic humility
By Walter Shapiro Sep 7, 2012 at 10:54 AM
CHARLOTTE — During Barack Obama’s acceptance speech, I was simultaneously live-blogging for Yahoo News, tweeting my reactions (“The Lincoln line... More
Audit Notes: Journal Register, Clinton and ‘can’t find workers,’ AP flop
The bankrupt company’s owner isn’t doing well itself
By Ryan Chittum Sep 7, 2012 at 06:50 AM
Read Martin Langeveld's super-sharp take for the Nieman Lab on what the Journal Register bankruptcy means and what might be... More
ICYMI: tweet chats
Building a community 140 characters at a time
By Sara Morrison Sep 7, 2012 at 06:50 AM
Twitter is useful for many things, but its 140-character limit means conversation isn't easily one of them. That doesn't mean... More
LGBT coverage worth a shout-out
The mainstream media much improved its coverage in recent years
By Jennifer Vanasco Sep 7, 2012 at 06:50 AM
In her column, Minority Reports, Jennifer Vanasco analyzes how the mainstream media covers social minorities. Every week in Minority Reports,... More
Under the influence
Brokaw has a “tired and emotional” moment
By Sara Morrison Sep 6, 2012 at 06:15 PM
This morning, Tom Brokaw went on Morning Joe and seemed a little out of it (you can watch the video... More
Yao Ming and the elephant massacre
Recent coverage of the African poaching crisis strikes at supply and demand
By Curtis Brainard Sep 6, 2012 at 04:45 PM
After weeks of the media mostly failing to realize why basketball star Yao Ming’s trip to Kenya was fairly important... More
When factcheckers get trigger-happy
A checklist to help journalists decide when to take aim
By Brendan Nyhan Sep 6, 2012 at 04:10 PM
Is there such a thing as too much factchecking? Factcheck.org described former President Bill Clinton's speech to the Democratic convention... More
To follow the political money: a wonderful tool
And Virginia’s newsrooms are under-using it
By Tharon Giddens Sep 6, 2012 at 03:29 PM
VIRGINIA—It might have been overwhelming for any newsroom to try to track the political advertising cash flowing into the Commonwealth... More
Journal Register, future-of-news star, is bankrupt again
Takeaways for the newspaper business
By Ryan Chittum Sep 6, 2012 at 12:05 PM
Yesterday, John Paton announced that Journal Register Company is filing for bankruptcy for the second time in three years. That’s... More
CJR Audio: investing in local news startups
Talking shop with investor/ publishers Alice Rogoff (Alaska Dispatch) and Vincent LoVoi (This Land Press)
By Michael Meyer Sep 6, 2012 at 11:00 AM
In most of the startup world, capital is everything. It costs money to build an institution and sustain its growth... More
Tale of the tape … so far
Lessons for a year of scrutinizing campaign coverage
By The Editors Sep 6, 2012 at 10:56 AM
In two months, Americans will elect a president and determine who controls Congress. We’ve been tracking the coverage of... More
The word on the street: disillusioned
Listening to voters talk Medicare in Pennsylvania
By Trudy Lieberman Sep 6, 2012 at 06:54 AM
Over the weekend, I visited an Italian festival in Scranton, PA, where the crowd, mostly older and white, had gathered... More
Audit Notes: NYT yacht coverage, Diluted tech stocks, CNBC
How stock options obscure what companies like Facebook are really worth
By Ryan Chittum Sep 6, 2012 at 06:50 AM
The New York Times takes a tough look at a pressing issue in our struggling economy: "How to Keep Yachting... More
The rules of the freelance game
Tips for pitching like a pro and double-dipping story ideas without going the full Jonah Lehrer
By Ann Friedman Sep 6, 2012 at 06:50 AM
Aside from the general advice of networking and putting yourself out there, how do I break into freelancing? What makes... More
Conventions create climate coverage
While ScienceDebate.org gets some answers
By Curtis Brainard Sep 5, 2012 at 06:00 PM
The presidential candidates are still treating it like a back-burner issue, but the Republican and Democratic national conventions incited a... More
Designing data
Creating informative beauty out of wind and bears
By Anna Codrea-Rado Sep 5, 2012 at 05:30 PM
Data journalism and information visualization is a burgeoning field. Every week, Between the Spreadsheets will analyze, interrogate, and explore emerging... More
Stupid hat tricks
In which CJR’s Justin Peters wears a crown to the convention to see if he can get interviewed
By Justin Peters Sep 5, 2012 at 04:40 PM
CHARLOTTE — The DNC, like the RNC before it, is a locus for stupid hats. As the convention proceedings kicked... More
Democratic convention swag: Who’s paying?
A look into the tote bag offers some clues
By Andria Krewson Sep 5, 2012 at 03:20 PM
CHARLOTTE — In the spirit of CJR’s 2008 list of swag from the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota,... More
Why Fox is essential viewing
It’s a Republican barometer
By Michael Massing Sep 5, 2012 at 03:16 PM
The Republican convention brought more evidence of The New York Times’s soft spot for Fox News. On Friday, the paper... More
Stories I’d like to see
Polling the power of campaign lies, security ideas for 9/11′s 11th, stimulus stories
By Steven Brill Sep 5, 2012 at 11:12 AM
In his weekly “Stories I’d like to see” column, journalist and entrepreneur Steven Brill spotlights topics that, in his opinion,... More
Reddit gets an edit
Benji Lanyado has created a way to sort through the “link spaghetti”
By Sara Morrison Sep 5, 2012 at 11:00 AM
In case you didn't get it from President Obama's site-crashing visit or Poynter's four-times-tweeted since August 30 article that hailed... More
Audit Notes: blame the borrowers, Walmart cashiers, newspaper prices
The Democratic Party platform on mortgage issues
By Ryan Chittum Sep 5, 2012 at 11:00 AM
Henry Blodget somehow thinks that "everyone has spent the last five years trying to blame the housing crash on every... More
Will the Daily Bugle survive?
How the most endangered journalism species — the newspaper — might prevent extinction
By Stephen B. Shepard Sep 5, 2012 at 12:00 AM
Excerpted from Deadlines and Disruption, by Stephen B. Shepard, published by McGraw-Hill, © 2012 With the traditional business model collapsing,... More
Failing geometry
The once-mighty triangle of publisher-audience-advertiser, long the basis for success in the media business, is now shaky. So let’s consider transformation …
By Clay Shirky Sep 5, 2012 at 12:00 AM
In 1830, a publisher named Lynde Walter launched a Boston paper called The Boston Evening Transcript. Transcript’s most important... More
Long may it wave
The traditional banner ad isn’t dead; it just transforms to fit the latest digital fashions — and the demands (lots of demands) from marketers
By Simon Dumenco Sep 5, 2012 at 12:00 AM
Fifteen years ago, when I was an editor at New York magazine, I had a little side project: I got... More
Made for you and me
In Tulsa, This Land Press is defying news-startup orthodoxy and betting that its community will pay for quality journalism — not eventually, but right now
By Michael Meyer Sep 5, 2012 at 12:00 AM
Across the street from a Fastenal hardware store in the shadow of Tulsa’s aging art-deco skyline, the staff of... More
What’s the best model for a digital news business?
Let’s compare three well-funded local news startups - with very distinct fates
By C.W. Anderson Sep 5, 2012 at 12:00 AM
Too often, conversations about the evolution of media seem to pit defensive, old-school journalists against arrogant, tech-savvy upstarts. But in... More
The genuine article
What is the atomic unit of journalistic storytelling?
By Kira Goldenberg Sep 5, 2012 at 12:00 AM
The news story is suffering an identity crisis. For a century at least, it was secure in the knowledge that... More
Murder Inc.
A crime-news website tells the story of every DC homicide
By Brent Cunningham Sep 5, 2012 at 12:00 AM
Laura Norton Amico spent the summer trying to find a newsroom in Washington, DC, to take over Homicide Watch,... More
Journalism by numbers
It’s time to embrace the growing influence of real-time data on the media business
By Emily Bell Sep 5, 2012 at 12:00 AM
Everywhere we go, everything we do, we send signals. Simple acts create streams of data, whether it is crossing... More
By the people
For better and worse, the Sacramento Press lets the readers write the news
By Sara Morrison Sep 5, 2012 at 12:00 AM
Thirty-one-year-old Ben Ilfeld launched Sacramento Press in October 2008, with the goal of making hyperlocal news and information an interactive... More
Perks, not paywalls
The Voice of San Diego’s new membership strategy ties funding to “family”
By Hazel Sheffield Sep 5, 2012 at 12:00 AM
According to its motto, the Voice of San Diego is “irreverent, honest and engaging” in its pursuit of community news.... More
App pupil
USC Annenberg journalism professor Robert Hernandez rounds up great tools for gathering and presenting news
By Robert Hernandez Sep 5, 2012 at 12:00 AM
Robert Hernandez may be a professor, but he considers himself “a hackademic” who encourages digital journalists and technologists to share... More
Oft-kicked Charlotte kicks off right
Swing State Project’s NC correspondent considers the view of her home city from the inside and out
By Andria Krewson Sep 4, 2012 at 04:00 PM
CHARLOTTE — This wasn’t the plan. Just about ten weeks ago, the Democratic National Convention organizers still planned to kick... More
Speeding up the factcheck cycle
The response to Paul Ryan’s misleading speech was swift and stern—except in the next morning’s front-page stories. Can journalists change that?
By Justin Peters Sep 4, 2012 at 11:00 AM
On Wednesday night, at the Republican National Convention, vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan gave a speech that was eloquent, exciting,... More
Opening Shot
Drawing attention to the decline in local accountability reporting
By The Editors Sep 4, 2012 at 12:29 AM
The current media revolution has brought many encouraging changes, but also a worrisome decline in accountability reporting, especially at... More
Is journalism’s future bright?
CJR elicits opinions
By The Editors Sep 4, 2012 at 12:28 AM
For the past few years, journalists bemoaned the bleak state of their industry. Conferences and meetings were somber affairs full... More
Instagram on the trail
More media are experimenting with use of the app as a news tool
By Hazel Sheffield Sep 4, 2012 at 12:27 AM
When AP staff photographer Evan Vucci downloaded Instagram, a photo-sharing app, on his iPhone before the Iowa caucus in January,... More
The boy in the bubble
Ezra Klein rewrites the role of Washington wunderkind
By Matt Welch Sep 4, 2012 at 12:26 AM
He’s impossibly young, infuriatingly accomplished, and impressively wonky. In a town full of journalistic flop sweat, he glides instead... More
The YouTube campaign
Not everyone trying video streaming will still be doing so in four years time, but the disruption this time feels real
By Emily Bell Sep 4, 2012 at 12:26 AM
It is not easy to know if you have just witnessed a ‘seminal moment,’ particularly in the fluid and dystopian... More
Local television and the Dodgers-Red Sox trade
Are the Dodgers loading up on stars in advance of a new local TV deal?
By Robert Weintraub Sep 4, 2012 at 12:26 AM
The words “local television” conjure images of infomercials, Seinfeld reruns, and lame repartee on cheesy newscasts, infomercials. But local television... More
Kasich, out of context
After HuffPost’s story makes the Ohio governor’s words appear inflammatory, an update won’t do
By T.C. Brown Sep 4, 2012 at 12:26 AM
OHIO — A side story with an Ohio connection at last week’s GOP convention set off a brief crossfire in... More
Language Corner
Few grudges
By Merrill Perlman Sep 4, 2012 at 12:24 AM
“Grudge,” from an old German word meaning “lament,” is a lot of fun to say. The noun “grudge” means “hostility... More
Special report: the future of media
(this minute, at least!)
By The Editors Sep 4, 2012 at 12:20 AM
With journalism’s methods, business models, and even role models being redefined on a daily basis, it can be tough to... More
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Woman’s work - The twisted reality of an Italian freelancer in Syria
Sourcing Trayvon Martin ‘photos’ from stormfront - Not a good idea, Business Insider
Elizabeth Warren, the antidote to CNBC - The senator schools the talking heads on bank regulation
Art Laffer + PR blitz = press failure - The media types up the retail lobby’s propaganda
Reuters’s global warming about-face - A survey shows the newswire ran 50 percent fewer stories on climate change after hiring a “skeptic”
Barack Obama: ‘those old times aren’t coming back’
“It used to be there were local newspapers everywhere. If you wanted to be a journalist, you could really make a good living working for your hometown paper”
The Guardian’s editor opens up on Reddit
Alan Rusbridger, editor of The Guardian, answered questions in an Ask Me Anything
The (almost) lost speech of Justice Anthony Kennedy
How his insightful remarks about the Constitution inadvertently make the case for a Supreme Court “media pool”
Fox News sues TVEyes for copyright infringement
Says subscription service sells access to its content without permission nor compensation
CJR's Guide to Online News Startups
ACEsTooHigh.com – Reporting on the science, education, and policy surrounding childhood trauma
Who Owns What
The Business of Digital Journalism
A report from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
Questions and exercises for journalism students.
