MSM: port in a storm

And social media was not as useful as I’d thought it’d be

By Dean Starkman   Oct 31, 2012 at 07:35 AM

Sandy was the first natural disaster I can remember experiencing not as a reporter but as Joe Reader/Viewer. (I’ve... More

Bloomberg digs up more on Romney’s tax avoidance

This loophole used the Mormon church’s tax-exempt status to defer bills

By Ryan Chittum   Oct 31, 2012 at 06:50 AM

Mitt Romney won’t release his tax returns beyond two years in which he was already actively campaigning for president, and... More

Sandy’s climate context

Why generalizing about extreme weather helps no one

By Curtis Brainard   Oct 30, 2012 at 04:15 PM

It should come as no surprise that as Hurricane Sandy spiraled up the eastern seaboard, a variety of media outlets... More

Pundits versus probabilities

The misguided backlash against Nate Silver

By Brendan Nyhan   Oct 30, 2012 at 02:50 PM

Who will win the presidential election next Tuesday? Until recently, the market for analysis of questions like these has been... More

Stories I’d like to see

Hurricanes and utilities, keeping Time, and delving into the bureaucracy

By Steven Brill   Oct 30, 2012 at 11:05 AM

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

The ‘downright dangerous’ Paul Krugman

CNBC’s Becky Quick thinks, wrongly, the economist is alone in debunking “fiscal crisis”

By Ryan Chittum   Oct 30, 2012 at 06:50 AM

This summer, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman went on CNBC to talk about his book and ended up getting... More

Newsrooms’ digital Sandy coverage

Outlets are pulling out all the stops

By Hazel Sheffield   Oct 29, 2012 at 05:24 PM

Several big news services have put public service ahead of profit by doing away with their paywalls for the duration... More

The Frankenstorm exception

Will lowered paywalls mean new customers?

By Kira Goldenberg   Oct 29, 2012 at 04:25 PM

At a Poynter ethics forum last week, Pew’s Tom Rosenstiel noted that one source of print journalism’s ongoing woes is... More

Send Candidates for The Best Business Writing 2013

Our 2nd annual compilation of business journalism’s best is closing soon; send us stuff

By Dean Starkman   Oct 29, 2012 at 11:19 AM

Hi Internet, This spring, we launched with Columbia University Press the first of what we hope will be a long-running... More

Audit Notes: inequality denial, AIG’s CEO, private equity

WSJ op-ed pushes the false notion that the rich haven’t pulled away from everyone else

By Ryan Chittum   Oct 29, 2012 at 06:50 AM

The New Republic's Timothy Noah and The Atlantic's Matthew O'Brien demolish a Wall Street Journal op-ed by Kevin "Dow 36,000"... More

Jenny McCarthy as a Sun-Times columnist?

Science writers are skeptical, though McCarthy won’t promote a fake link between vaccines and autism there

By Jennifer Vanasco   Oct 29, 2012 at 06:50 AM

In her column, Minority Reports, Jennifer Vanasco analyzes how the mainstream media covers social minorities. The Chicago Sun-Times created controversy... More

CNN says women vote with their hormones

The Twitterverse goes mental

By Hazel Sheffield   Oct 26, 2012 at 03:00 PM

It took seven hours of Internet backlash on Wednesday night for the Internet to convince CNN that an article it... More

The most potent spin: lies campaigns tell themselves

Plus: is a split between the popular vote and Electoral College really so rare?

By Walter Shapiro   Oct 26, 2012 at 03:00 PM

DENVER — The dirty secret of campaign journalism for the next 11 days is that there is no way for... More

Appending Larry

Google’s “premature release” spins off another viral meme — and an ethical question

By Sara Morrison   Oct 26, 2012 at 02:50 PM

A recent Reuters article on Google's prematurely released earnings report noted that a Twitter parody account was created to mock... More

The universality of health reporting

Lessons from five European journalists

By Trudy Lieberman   Oct 26, 2012 at 02:50 PM

Last week 112 journalists and academics from 12 countries met in Athens to talk about health reporting—the nitty-gritty of engaging... More

The Ad Wars: a laurel to the Sunlight Foundation

Report brings scrutiny to new political ad database

By Sasha Chavkin   Oct 26, 2012 at 01:40 PM

In an important victory for transparency advocates, the Federal Communications Commission recently began requiring broadcasters to post the files... More

Journalism ethics in a digital age

A Poynter conference this week provoked good discussion but presupposed an old definition of journalism

By Kira Goldenberg   Oct 26, 2012 at 01:13 PM

On Tuesday, in the midst of wonky Poynter conference dialogue about how to reimagine journalism ethics for a digital age,... More

Pass the #popcorn

ICYMI: Buzzfeed’s copyranter defends his right to republish

By Sara Morrison   Oct 26, 2012 at 12:45 PM

According to a recent Pew study, 15 percent of adults online use Twitter — 8 percent daily. I’m pretty sure... More

The 4th Estate corrects its numbers

A widely covered infographic released on Thursday didn’t quite get its facts straight

By Teo Soares   Oct 26, 2012 at 12:20 PM

That journalism struggles with racial diversity is old news, but a study released on Thursday by The 4th Estate tried... More

The paywall prevents a deeper downturn at the NYT

Digital subs keep a weak earnings report from turning into a disastrous one

By Ryan Chittum   Oct 26, 2012 at 12:12 PM

New York Times Company shares plummeted Thursday as ad revenues were worse than expected, pushing down profits from a year... More

Cancer made Lance Armstrong hard to hate

It also made it easy for sports writers to ignore those pesky doping allegations

By Robert Weintraub   Oct 26, 2012 at 11:45 AM

The final ace was pulled from Lance Armstrong’s house of cards Monday when the International Cycling Union (UCI) stripped Armstrong... More

The momentum behind a misleading narrative

Why reporters have been getting the polls wrong in the presidential race

By Brendan Nyhan   Oct 26, 2012 at 11:00 AM

On Thursday night, Politico beat a retreat in the great momentum debate of 2012. The site's Glenn Thrush and Jennifer... More

Ask Obama This: Will we have to be older to get Medicare?

We know about Romney’s vouchers, but the president is quiet on the subject of raising eligibility

By Trudy Lieberman   Oct 26, 2012 at 06:51 AM

Over the final days of the campaign, CJR is running a series of pieces under the headline “Ask Obama This”... More

Audit Notes: NYT scoop, Freddie’s anti-stimulus, Wired on making stuff

Riches for the family of a top Chinese official

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

The New York Times David Barboza gets a huge scoop on corruption in China, reporting that the family of the... More

When McGovern met Mailer

Revisiting an unjustly forgotten account of the 1972 political conventions

By Jordan Michael Smith   Oct 26, 2012 at 06:50 AM

When former U.S. Senator George McGovern died in late October, he was valorized as the rare decent man working in... More

Junkets masquerading as prizes

To avoid conflicts of interest, read the fine print

By Curtis Brainard   Oct 25, 2012 at 05:15 PM

With dwindling support for travel in most newsrooms, journalists may be tempted to apply for one of the many prizes... More

Stories I’d like to see

New election economy, voter fraud billboards, NY skyscrapers 2.0

By Steven Brill   Oct 25, 2012 at 03:00 PM

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

In Ohio, campaign coverage is anti-social

Reporting on candidates’ social media strategies is largely absent in key battleground

By T.C. Brown   Oct 25, 2012 at 03:00 PM

OHIO — Anyone even remotely plugged into the 21st century is well aware that the presidential campaigns, and to a... More

Imprisoned Ethiopian reporter wins a Courage in Journalism award

Reeyot Alemu, Azerbaijani reporter Khadija Ismayilova and Palestinian Asmaa al-Ghoul were honored by the International Women’s Media Foundation

By Mohammed Ademo   Oct 25, 2012 at 12:34 PM

Imprisoned Ethiopian Columnist Reeyot Alemu was honored with a Courage in Journalism Award at a luncheon in New York on... More

HuffPost launches a platform for user-generated reporting

“Firsthand” to premiere “a new type of comment”

By Hazel Sheffield   Oct 25, 2012 at 11:00 AM

An October 1 editorial from Arianna Huffington announced The Huffington Post’s latest development in user engagement: Firsthand. Developed using a... More

Audit Notes: dethroning DeMarco, the cult of disruption, China trade

The FT reports Obama plans a big housing policy change if re-elected

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

The Financial Times's Shahien Nasiripour reports that the Obama administration is quietly telling activists that it will replace Fannie Mae/Freddie... More

Managing your archive

What to do with the clips from assignments gone by

By Ann Friedman   Oct 25, 2012 at 06:50 AM

Here's a topic from Getting Shit Together 101: writing samples. How does one correctly mail them, hard-copy style? Is sending... More

A data dream team

One example of how academic researchers and journalists can work together on data projects

By Anna Codrea-Rado   Oct 24, 2012 at 03:15 PM

Data journalism and information visualization is a burgeoning field. Every week, Between the Spreadsheets will analyze, interrogate, and explore emerging... More

Ask Obama This: Can you imagine criminal justice reform?

A nearly forgotten topic that impacts the budget, families, and communities

By Farai Chideya   Oct 24, 2012 at 03:12 PM

Over the final days of the campaign, CJR is publishing a series of pieces under the headline “Ask Obama This”... More

‘Pittsburgh is getting pounded’ by ads

Top priority race for parties is disturbingly low on local TV news radar

By Ken Knelly   Oct 24, 2012 at 11:10 AM

PENNSYLVANIA — Don’t cry for Pennsylvania. “Save the tears for Pennsylvania’s TV stations passed over by the presidential race,” advised... More

Ask Obama and Romney this: What about climate change?

Schieffer misses media’s last chance to pop the question on a big stage

By Curtis Brainard   Oct 24, 2012 at 11:00 AM

Over the final days of the campaign, CJR is running a series of pieces under the headline “Ask Obama This”... More

Did the financial blogosphere go away?

Whither the econobloggers

By Felix Salmon   Oct 24, 2012 at 06:50 AM

Tadas Viskanta and Josh Brown ask today where all the finance bloggers went. Both of them reckon that there’s been... More

Newsweek and the (relative) health of print mags

Not all is dark for the industry

By Ryan Chittum   Oct 24, 2012 at 06:50 AM

News that Newsweek is exiting print was hardly surprising coming two years after the Washington Post Company unloaded it for... More

The Ad Wars: Obama’s special message in Spanish

A review of Obama’s and Romney’s Spanish-language TV ads finds contrasts in style, strategy, and sophistication

By Sasha Chavkin   Oct 23, 2012 at 04:35 PM

Barack Obama gazes directly into the camera and speaks in his warmest baritone. “In the young people known as the... More

Pulitzer Prize Board announces three new members

Steve Coll, Quiara Alegria Hudes, and Aminda Marques Gonzalez to join

By Hazel Sheffield   Oct 23, 2012 at 04:20 PM

Columbia University announced today that three new members are joining the Pulitzer Prize Board. Steve Coll, who has worked at... More

Let Detroit do what?

New interest in an old Op-Ed

By Mike Hoyt   Oct 23, 2012 at 12:50 PM

What is the most viewed story on The New York Times website right now? It's an Op-Ed piece from nearly... More

Ask Obama and Romney this: Where is Africa?

An enormous opportunity for the US could slip past

By Howard W. French   Oct 23, 2012 at 11:26 AM

Over the final days of the campaign, CJR is running a series of pieces under the headline “Ask Obama This”... More

BBC in crisis over a shelved pedophile investigation

Newsnight accused of a coverup after they dropped the case

By Hazel Sheffield   Oct 23, 2012 at 11:20 AM

When it emerged, a year after his death, that popular UK television personality Jimmy Saville may have molested hundreds of... More

Debunking the ‘war on coal,’ take two

The AP gets it right the second time around

By Curtis Brainard   Oct 23, 2012 at 11:00 AM

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Such was The Associated Press’s approach this month to explaining the... More

Audit Notes: What’s Social Security worth?, another CNBC ‘poll,’ Greg Smith

An excellent personal-finance story from the Journal

By Ryan Chittum   Oct 23, 2012 at 06:50 AM

What would Social Security coverage look like if the press covered it more like personal finance reporters cover IRAs and... More

Fact-checking at The New Yorker

An excerpt from The Art of Making Magazines

By Peter Canby   Oct 23, 2012 at 06:50 AM

Last month, Columbia Journalism Review Books and Columbia University Press released The Art of Making Magazines: On Being an Editor... More

‘Hi, Mark!’

The Newspaper Guild welcomes The New York Times’s new CEO

By Sara Morrison   Oct 22, 2012 at 06:20 PM

Mark Thompson began work today as the new CEO of The New York Times, and the Newspaper Guild was there... More

Covering the search for noncitizen voters

AP’s Ivan Moreno won well-deserved praise for staying on the (incredible shrinking) story in Colorado

By Mary Winter   Oct 22, 2012 at 04:45 PM

COLORADO — A young Associated Press reporter has won accolades for staying on the story of the search for noncitizen... More

However you want

Who’s on first?

By Merrill Perlman   Oct 22, 2012 at 03:16 PM

A Florida correspondent writes: My boss is obsessed with Strunk & White, and so tells me that I can never... More

Ask Obama and Romney This: What if China squares off with Japan?

An emerging, and little discussed, dilemma

By Howard W. French   Oct 22, 2012 at 11:00 AM

Over the final days of the campaign, CJR is running a series of pieces under the headline “Ask Obama This”... More

Audit Notes: advising Obama, the leverage incentive, Jack Welch

The NYT looks at the insider/outsider roles of Anita Dunn

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

The New York Times had an excellent story this weekend on Anita Dunn, the Obama adviser who's got one foot... More

Artists from around the world to report for new site

Creative Times Reports will publish dispatches from abroad

By Hazel Sheffield   Oct 22, 2012 at 06:50 AM

A new website, Creative Time Reports, gives artists from around the world a platform for commentary and analysis on current... More

Pass the #popcorn

ICYMI: Matt Sullivan’s announcement pits Felix Salmon against Foster Kamer

By Sara Morrison   Oct 19, 2012 at 05:41 PM

According to a recent Pew study, 15 percent of adults online use Twitter — 8 percent daily. I’ve yet to... More

Scare-mongering from CBS

Bad reporting on Social Security—again

By Trudy Lieberman   Oct 19, 2012 at 02:51 PM

The other night CBS Evening News brought forth another gloom and doom story about Social Security. Like others from the... More

How could voters still be undecided? Try asking them

Plus, why this veteran campaign correspondent is focused on swing-state polls

By Walter Shapiro   Oct 19, 2012 at 01:23 PM

They may be the most publicly maligned minority group in America, a subset of the electorate that is ridiculed with... More

Turner’s turnaround

LA Times columnist learns that evaluating electric vehicles is harder than it seems

By Curtis Brainard   Oct 19, 2012 at 11:00 AM

Twice in the past six months, the media have gotten carried away with stories portraying electric vehicles as unreservedly bad... More

In Florida, debate night isn’t front-page news

Editors at Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post defend decision on Senate race coverage

By Brian E. Crowley   Oct 19, 2012 at 11:00 AM

FLORIDA — One of the shameful things about Florida’s US Senate race is that the two candidates, Democratic incumbent Bill... More

Awash in ads in Roanoke

At WDBJ, welcome transparency and a commitment to coverage—but room for improvement, too

By Tharon Giddens   Oct 19, 2012 at 07:00 AM

VIRGINIA — Much is always expected of those graced with favor. And when you consider that Virginia television stations this... More

A CEO’s high-flying standards

Bloomberg reports on Abercrombie & Fitch’s Michael Jeffries

By Ryan Chittum   Oct 19, 2012 at 06:50 AM

We've seen $87,000 rugs and $6,000 shower curtains. But this fascinating Bloomberg story on Abercrombie & Fitch's CEO Michael Jeffries... More

Covering the candidates on women

As Obama and Romney try to secure the female vote, reporting quality varies

By Jennifer Vanasco   Oct 19, 2012 at 06:50 AM

In her column, Minority Reports, Jennifer Vanasco analyzes how the mainstream media covers social minorities. During the second Presidential debate... More

Newsweek is dead … long live Newsweek?

The end of its print run may not be all doom and gloom

By Sara Morrison   Oct 18, 2012 at 03:48 PM

As has been reported all over the place today, Newsweek/The Daily Beast editor in chief Tina Brown and CEO Baba... More

The ‘Man in the Middle’ hits a healthcare Catch-22

Å family falls through a gap in Obamacare

By Trudy Lieberman   Oct 18, 2012 at 03:12 PM

Ever since the Great Health Reform Debate, we have kept in touch with Jeremy Devor, an engineering assistant in the... More

Are newspaper audiences really shrinking?

A dialogue with Alan Mutter

By Dean Starkman   Oct 18, 2012 at 03:00 PM

Alan Mutter’s post the other day—"The incredible shrinking newspaper audience"—got me thinking: is the newspaper audience really shrinking? So... More

Laurels to Politico and National Journal

For exposing the shady side of the campaign-industrial complex

By Greg Marx   Oct 18, 2012 at 11:30 AM

Back in April, an excellent column by Walter Shapiro here at CJR urged reporters on the money-in-politics beat to... More

The vilification of electric vehicles

Media botch full explanation of the latest research

By Curtis Brainard   Oct 18, 2012 at 11:00 AM

When comparing electric vehicles (EVs) to gas-powered vehicles, most studies have focused on the electricity or fuel consumed while driving,... More

The tweet life

How journalists can reap the benefits of Twitter without falling into its traps

By Ann Friedman   Oct 18, 2012 at 06:50 AM

How can I get more Twitter followers? —Gabriel Arana Twitter has become indispensable for journalists. Not because it’s the best... More

Study shows UK newspapers are still sexist

78 percent of front-page articles are written by men

By Hazel Sheffield   Oct 18, 2012 at 06:50 AM

The UK media is still dominated by sexist stereotypes and run by male journalists, according to a front page story... More

More than a photograph

The best data visualizations aren’t always online

By Anna Codrea-Rado   Oct 17, 2012 at 05:00 PM

Data journalism and information visualization is a burgeoning field. Every week, Between the Spreadsheets will analyze, interrogate, and explore emerging... More

In MI-11, a candidate ducks, but can’t avoid coverage

Detroit Free Press digs in to Bentivolio’s background, though local outlets can do more on the money beat

By Anna Clark   Oct 17, 2012 at 03:00 PM

MICHIGAN — Reporters covering the US congressional campaign for Michigan’s 11th district have a truly unusual story on their hands.... More

Hey, big spender

Virginia’s Senate race is drawing major outside spending—Bob Perry’s million bucks included. Reporters here have more to do

By Tharon Giddens   Oct 17, 2012 at 12:10 PM

VIRGINIA — A millionaire homebuilder and frequent conservative political donor from Texas has contributed $1 million to the Virginia Senate... More

When factchecking goes ‘gray’

Two Denver news outlets made similar dissections of an attack ad but arrived at not-so-similar conclusions

By Mary Winter   Oct 17, 2012 at 06:50 AM

COLORADO — Denver’s two dominant media outlets—The Denver Post and 9NEWS KUSA television—recently conducted factchecks on a 6th Congressional District... More

Technology gives deaf journalists more options

It’s easier than ever to interview sources, says freelance journalist Lisa Goldstein

By Janice Arenofsky   Oct 17, 2012 at 06:50 AM

When Pittsburgh journalist Lisa A. Goldstein signs onto an instant messaging program, the 39-year-old freelancer is doing so not only... More

Fisching for attention

CNN didn’t need to give anti-gay activist Bryan Fischer airtime

By Sara Morrison   Oct 16, 2012 at 05:30 PM

You'd think there would be little to criticize about Southern Poverty Law Center's "Mix It Up at Lunch Day" project,... More

Tuesdays with Andrew

Changing up a Dealbook ritual

By Dean Starkman   Oct 16, 2012 at 04:54 PM

An Andrew Ross Sorkin column is beginning to take on a ritualistic feel. Sorkin is The New York Times... More

The good news about organics

And why the media tend to ignore it

By Curtis Brainard   Oct 16, 2012 at 04:00 PM

In the long-running debate about whether organic food is more healthy and nutritious than the conventional variety, the press has... More

CMJ hosts a panel on ‘Music Journalism Exploded’

Editors from Billboard, MTV, and SPIN contribute

By Hazel Sheffield   Oct 16, 2012 at 03:50 PM

Every October, New York City welcomes a circus of music industry professionals for a week of conferences, showcases, and parties... More

Stories I’d like to see

Electoral legal minefields, baseball contracts, and airline woes

By Steven Brill   Oct 16, 2012 at 03:38 PM

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

The Ad Wars: Is the IRS throwing in the towel on political nonprofits?

Politico identifies thirteen “social welfare” groups misleading the IRS

By Sasha Chavkin   Oct 16, 2012 at 03:00 PM

On Monday, Politico published a powerful investigation of so-called “social welfare” groups that mislead the Internal Revenue Service about their... More

Nevada media pillory Oceguera attack ad

An “outrageous” ad in a House race raises questions—including whether starting a controversy was the aim

By Jay Jones   Oct 16, 2012 at 02:50 PM

NEVADA — Here in the Silver State, John Oceguera isn’t a household name—although, as the Democratic nominee for the House... More

All good debate coverage is local?

Failings of the national press not mirrored in NH

By Brendan Nyhan   Oct 16, 2012 at 11:00 AM

NEW HAMPSHIRE — If you cover politics for a national publication, the story of the debates so far has been... More

Career advice

On the fast track to ‘careen’

By Merrill Perlman   Oct 16, 2012 at 06:50 AM

Two accidents, two verbs: In New Jersey, “The car careened down the street and smashed into several parked cars before... More

Santa Barbara is getting a nonprofit investigative newsroom

A Knight grant is funding the launch of a new journalism initiative

By Hazel Sheffield   Oct 16, 2012 at 06:50 AM

A few years ago, a small team of journalists based in Santa Barbara, CA, starting sharing ideas on how address... More

The word on the street: worried

In New Hampshire voters are fretting about…everything

By Trudy Lieberman   Oct 15, 2012 at 03:11 PM

Continuing our Town Hall tours—in which CJR talks to voters, partly to encourage other journalists to do so, too—I visited... More

MSN.com launches news service

MSN News is built for Windows 8 and Internet Explorer 10

By Hazel Sheffield   Oct 15, 2012 at 11:00 AM

It’s only three months since Microsoft sold its stake in MSNBC.com, the news site it produced for 16 years in... More

Audit Notes: a missing foreclosure figure, Denton, Brookes

How many “boomerang” buyers are there again? Gawker’s secret sauce, etc

By Dean Starkman   Oct 15, 2012 at 07:05 AM

This Wall Street Journal story says buyers who went through foreclosure are already back in the market, buying houses again.They’re... More

Audit Notes: Google antitrust, the NYT on entrenched elites

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

Reuters scoops that the Federal Trade Commission is leaning toward filing antitrust charges against Google for abusing its search monopoly... More

Covering BSA’s anti-gay stance

In the most recent incident, quality of media coverage drastically differed

By Jennifer Vanasco   Oct 15, 2012 at 06:50 AM

In her column, Minority Reports, Jennifer Vanasco analyzes how the mainstream media covers social minorities. Every few months, a story... More

Pass the #popcorn

ICYMI: New York Times Magazine’s Andrew Goldman tweet-battles several female writers

By Sara Morrison   Oct 12, 2012 at 06:05 PM

According to a recent Pew study, 15 percent of adults online use Twitter — 8 percent daily. I’ve yet to... More

The Ad Wars: how to expose a dishonest ‘Social Welfare’ group

Telling the IRS one thing, then doing another

By Sasha Chavkin   Oct 12, 2012 at 03:34 PM

We all know that in the 2012 election season, outside groups fueled by unlimited checks from wealthy donors have been... More

As ads flood Ohio House race, will coverage keep up?

A review finds some solid work, but there’s room for more enterprising journalism

By T.C. Brown   Oct 12, 2012 at 03:14 PM

OHIO — The donnybrook in northeast Ohio between two Congressional incumbents grappling to keep their jobs has become a leading... More

TNR causes trouble for coal baron

Exposé on pressuring employees to make campaign contributions stirs inquiry

By Curtis Brainard   Oct 12, 2012 at 03:00 PM

The New Republic stirred up a bit of trouble for coal baron Robert Murray by revealing the aggressiveness with which... More

LinkedIn launches a new blogging platform

Contributors include Obama, Romney, and Arianna Huffington

By Hazel Sheffield   Oct 12, 2012 at 11:00 AM

LinkedIn has expanded beyond its roots as a professional connections network to include a blogging platform for 150 influential thinkers,... More

Hey coach, lighten up!

Steve Spurrier and his coaching cohorts get pissy with the press

By Robert Weintraub   Oct 12, 2012 at 07:00 AM

Steve Spurrier, the wisecrackin’ ol’ ballcoach at the University of South Carolina, has the Gamecocks in rarefied air. After... More

The NYT unseals a private-equity scoop

Emails between executives look like antitrust smoking guns

By Ryan Chittum   Oct 12, 2012 at 06:50 AM

A tip of The Audit's green eyeshade to The New York Times for fighting to get this look inside the... More

Does Cuba matter? Not to national media

But some reporters in South Florida find stories that go beyond clichés

By Brian E. Crowley   Oct 12, 2012 at 06:49 AM

FLORIDA — Does Cuba really matter? If asked that question by a reporter, both President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney... More

A Web survey isn’t a poll, CNBC

The network’s tweet creates a misleading media narrative on the veep debate

By Ryan Chittum   Oct 12, 2012 at 03:57 AM

Whoever was running the CNBC Twitter feed last night didn't know the difference between a scientific poll and a Web... More

Burying the lede

“I’m in journalism school. Am I an idiot?” That depends

By Sara Morrison   Oct 11, 2012 at 04:40 PM

This American Life host Ira Glass recently did an “Ask Me Anything” on Reddit. “Sound_Sop” asked him: “It’s 2012 and... More

Denver Post ducks the $716 billion question

Real-time factchecking is hard, but coverage of House debate was just too thin

By Mary Winter   Oct 11, 2012 at 03:20 PM

COLORADO — Political reporting has become an even tougher job, as journalists face demands both to report the news faster... More

Jackpot lost

Is a $75K prize or better training more likely to improve environmental coverage?

By Curtis Brainard   Oct 11, 2012 at 03:00 PM

The backers of one of journalism’s richest awards are bringing the prize to an end, betting that professional development, rather... More

Google exec, AllThingsD team discuss journalism’s future

The trio spoke at a 92Y event

By Kira Goldenberg   Oct 11, 2012 at 02:50 PM

Apparently, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt does an impressive “Gangnam Style” dance but, he said from 92nd Street Y’s stage on... More

Audit Notes: fraud without fraudsters edition

Wells Fargo and JPMorgan shareholders, not executives, held accountable

By Ryan Chittum   Oct 11, 2012 at 12:21 PM

The Wall Street Journal fronts news that the feds are suing Wells Fargo for a decade of mortgage fraud that... More

Time to head to the track

With voting underway, there’s nothing wrong with providing the horse race coverage readers crave

By Walter Shapiro   Oct 11, 2012 at 11:00 AM

DES MOINES — These days, the phrase “horse-race journalism” is often accompanied by the same sneering tone that 1950s intellectuals... More

Essential tools of the trade

Here’s a quick, crowdsourced guide to the most useful everyday tools for the modern journalist

By Ann Friedman   Oct 11, 2012 at 06:50 AM

I love to read about the latest and greatest apps and gadgets but, when I do, I have two overwhelming... More

Ask Obama This: What about housing?

What went wrong with the administration’s mortgage policies

By Ryan Chittum   Oct 11, 2012 at 06:50 AM

Over the final month of the campaign, CJR will run a series of posts under the headline “Ask Obama This”... More

The politics of data

Data visualizations can have agendas

By Anna Codrea-Rado   Oct 10, 2012 at 07:50 PM

Data journalism and information visualization is a burgeoning field. Every week, Between the Spreadsheets will analyze, interrogate, and explore emerging... More

Conspiracy Jack

Welch, fleeing Fortune and Reuters, takes his nonsense to the WSJ editorial page

By Felix Salmon   Oct 10, 2012 at 05:15 PM

Why has Jack Welch doubled down on the false, inflammatory, and slanderous tweet that he sent out five minutes after... More

Ask Romney This: What will you do about
the Middle East?

Vague slogans won’t do the job. What about specifics?

By Lawrence Pintak   Oct 10, 2012 at 11:47 AM

Over the final month of the campaign, CJR will run a series of posts under the headline “Ask Obama This”... More

Stories I’d like to see

Hiding the debate rules, a tin cup for wounded vets, and the Bear Stearns legacy

By Steven Brill   Oct 10, 2012 at 11:30 AM

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

Columbia J-school dean stepping down

Nicholas Lemann will have served 10 years in the role

By Kira Goldenberg   Oct 10, 2012 at 07:07 AM

Nicholas Lemann, dean of Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism, will be stepping down at the end of the current academic... More

Healthcare—reform in Great Britain vs. the USA:
part two

A conversation between CJR’s Trudy Lieberman and Chris Smyth, health reporter for The Times of London

By Trudy Lieberman   Oct 10, 2012 at 06:50 AM

A while back Trudy Lieberman sat down with Chris Smyth, the health correspondent for The Times of London, who was... More

Audit Notes: The FT’s prospects, another victimized billionaire, Bain & Co.

By Ryan Chittum   Oct 10, 2012 at 06:50 AM

Michael Wolff writes in The Guardian about the Financial Times's prospects now that Pearson CEO Marjorie Scardino, a booster of... More

U-T San Diego CEO accused of threatening city official over vote

Voice of San Diego reports on the daily paper’s “uncomfortably strident stance”

By Hazel Sheffield   Oct 9, 2012 at 02:39 PM

This article has been changed to clarify that an August 9 email was first obtained by KPBS/Investigative NewSource. The investigative... More

Neutron Jack: ‘I quit!’

Welch ends Fortune and Reuters contracts after tough coverage

By Ryan Chittum   Oct 9, 2012 at 01:51 PM

I've long wondered why business magazines run Jack Welch's columns. BusinessWeek ran it for years but stopped a month after... More

Audit Notes: BLS BS, another print turnaround forecast, deficits

The LAT and CNBC let Jack Welch frame the jobs numbers

By Ryan Chittum   Oct 9, 2012 at 12:15 PM

Don't miss Brendan Nyhan's excellent review of coverage of the unemployment-numbers conspiracy theory kicked off by Jack Welch on Friday.... More

The Lower Case

Headlines that editors probably wish they could take back

By The Editors   Oct 9, 2012 at 11:15 AM

- Erie Times-News, 6/13/12 - BBCNews.com, 6/12/12 - The Des Moines Register, 7/5/12 - Brand Republic News, 7/5/12 - Bellingham... More

The value of skepticism

Why science reporters should question research

By Curtis Brainard   Oct 9, 2012 at 11:00 AM

Skepticism has earned a bad name in recent years thanks to those who doubt the consensus that human industry is... More

Healthcare in Great Britain vs. healthcare in the USA: part one

A conversation with Chris Smyth, health reporter for The Times of London

By Trudy Lieberman   Oct 9, 2012 at 07:00 AM

Not long ago I sat down with Chris Smyth, a health journalist for The Times of London, who was traveling... More

Forward-looking

Ways of telling the future

By Merrill Perlman   Oct 9, 2012 at 06:50 AM

We have weather “forecasts,” budget “projections,” attempts at earthquake “predictions.” Most dictionaries say those are all synonyms for one another.... More

The debate: Some healthcare ‘facts’ that
shouldn’t stand

Reporters did good fact checking, but also left falsehoods on the table

By Trudy Lieberman   Oct 8, 2012 at 03:00 PM

There was no shortage of media fact checking after last week’s presidential debate, much of it focused on healthcare, much... More

Covering the role of coal in Virginia

Coal is central to the campaign message war and money story here—but reporting has not kept up

By Tharon Giddens   Oct 8, 2012 at 03:00 PM

VIRGINIA — Mitt Romney likes coal. A lot. And the coal industry in Virginia likes Romney back. Unfortunately, there’s not... More

Enabling the jobs report conspiracy theory

The consequences of careless coverage of Friday’s unemployment numbers

By Brendan Nyhan   Oct 8, 2012 at 12:15 PM

NEW HAMPSHIRE — Media ethics pop quiz: When conspiracy theories started circulating on Twitter claiming that Friday's jobs report had... More

Facing up to the high cost of free news

Is there a quality argument to support the digital ads-only model?

By Dean Starkman   Oct 8, 2012 at 11:27 AM

Pretty soon, proponents of free digital news will have to own up to the implications of their model. The... More

Darts and Laurels

That’s sick

By Hazel Sheffield   Oct 8, 2012 at 11:00 AM

The Daily Caller drew some odd conclusions from a June survey of physicians, when it published a report with... More

The Ad Wars: The strange silence on foreign policy

In presidential campaign ads, there have been 22 mentions of jobs for every reference to Iraq and Afghanistan wars

By Sasha Chavkin   Oct 8, 2012 at 10:45 AM

In past elections, the critical threshold for presidential candidates was the commander-in-chief test: whether Americans felt they could trust them... More

New Yorker writers dish about their craft

An event with The Moth saw writers telling “tales out of school”

By Abby Ohlheiser   Oct 8, 2012 at 06:50 AM

The New Yorker Festival brought back its collaboration with The Moth again on Friday for “Tales out of School 4,”... More

Jack Welch and anti-business sentiment

The former GE CEO, still a business press hero

By Ryan Chittum   Oct 8, 2012 at 06:50 AM

Former GE CEO Jack Welch made waves last week claiming—with zero evidence—that the Obama administration manipulated the unemployment report that... More

How to cover the horse race?

Ohio’s press-watchers weigh in on the contest between campaigns and reporters

By T.C. Brown   Oct 5, 2012 at 03:00 PM

OHIO — With just a month to go before the election, the presidential campaigns are in the homestretch, an apt... More

Bleacher Report and the race to the bottom

SF Weekly rips Turner Broadcasting’s nearly $200 million purchase

By Ryan Chittum   Oct 5, 2012 at 01:32 PM

Bleacher Report is a sort of Demand Media of sports, a content farm engineered to get search engine visits with... More

Parting Shots

Death, where is their sting?

By The Editors   Oct 5, 2012 at 11:33 AM

The world of American letters is considerably poorer now than just one year ago. Last December was Christopher Hitchens’s final... More

Audit Notes: Romney and taxes, prison phone racket, WSJ

The Atlantic eyes the Republican’s corporate tax plan

By Ryan Chittum   Oct 5, 2012 at 06:50 AM

Nobody can figure out what exactly Mitt Romney wants to do with taxes. His plan is mathematically impossible, and Wednesday... More

Ask Obama This: Where’s your short-term jobs plan?

A missed chance at the debate creates an important opportunity for reporters on the trail

By Greg Marx   Oct 5, 2012 at 06:50 AM

Over the final month of the campaign, CJR will run a series of posts under the headline “Ask Obama This”... More

No debate about environment

Hopes for questions about climate, public lands fall flat

By Curtis Brainard   Oct 4, 2012 at 04:00 PM

The presidential candidates didn’t talk about the environment during their first debate on Wednesday. Nobody really expected them to; they... More

Balancing the personal and the professional

Make yourself into a brand

By Ann Friedman   Oct 4, 2012 at 11:14 AM

My online presence is sharply divided between a professional wordpress, a bloggy wordpress, a tumblr, a professional twitter, and personal... More

The Ad Wars: From every source, a different number

What should reporters do to provide the best information to their audience?

By Sasha Chavkin   Oct 4, 2012 at 11:00 AM

Tracking campaign ads in the 2012 elections is no easy feat. Between the flurry of spots from the Obama and... More

Beyond ‘Deep Throat’

Reporters find themselves in odd situations

By Marla Jo Fisher   Oct 4, 2012 at 11:00 AM

Eric Zorn, columnist, Chicago Tribune I covered a nudist convention for the Tribune in a health club. Going with... More

Audit Notes: Mansion, inequality and the crash, FT on Schneiderman

By Ryan Chittum   Oct 4, 2012 at 06:50 AM

The business press continues to roll out the 0.1 percent porn. Now it's The Wall Street Journal launching a new... More

Social media fails the ‘47 percent’ video taper

Did the anonymous source need Mother Jones?

By Hazel Sheffield   Oct 4, 2012 at 06:50 AM

When Mother Jones premiered the now-infamous 47 percent video on September 17, it received two million views in 24 hours... More

Newsweek’s latest blunder

“Transcription error” mars special commemorative issue

By Sara Morrison   Oct 4, 2012 at 06:50 AM

It seems like only yesterday that we were paying tribute to Newsweek with our July/August magazine cover. Alas, in the... More

Forbes’s myth of the Reagan boom

A columnist’s misleading economic history

By Ryan Chittum   Oct 3, 2012 at 06:40 PM

Peter Ferrara, currently of the climate-change denying Heartland Institute and formerly of Jack Abramoff's payroll and the Reagan and Bush... More

Medicare costs: Are electronic records the solution—or the problem?

A Laurel to the Center for Public Integrity for an expose on “upcoding”

By Trudy Lieberman   Oct 3, 2012 at 03:00 PM

Electronic billing has been promoted as a big cost savings for healthcare. But is it? The Center for Public... More

Elementary data

Even for small news outlets, creating data visualizations can be as easy as learning the ABCs

By Anna Codrea-Rado   Oct 3, 2012 at 03:00 PM

Data journalism and information visualization is a burgeoning field. Every week, Between the Spreadsheets will analyze, interrogate, and explore emerging... More

BPI’s beef with ABC News

‘Pink slime’ defamation suit a long shot, media report

By Curtis Brainard   Oct 3, 2012 at 12:00 PM

The maker of “lean, finely textured beef,” which critics call “pink slime,” is unlikely to prevail in a defamation lawsuit... More

Breaking the pack journalism paradigm

What would happen if reporters covered debates without access to the spin?

By Brendan Nyhan   Oct 3, 2012 at 11:10 AM

NEW HAMPSHIRE — As tonight's presidential debate approaches, the chattering classes are pondering whether it will change the dynamics of... More

Last lick?

A fudgsicle fan can’t escape his past

By The Editors   Oct 3, 2012 at 10:49 AM

On a hot August day in 1995, a Baltimore Sun photographer snapped this picture of three-year-old John Boias. It... More

Debate advice: Turn off Twitter

To hear like a voter you have to listen

By Walter Shapiro   Oct 3, 2012 at 06:55 AM

As we get ready for the Demolition Derby in Denver (aka the Mile High Mud Wrestle), I want to return... More

Audit Notes: Insert hospice joke here, Web pagination, too big to value

The Washington Post diversifies its business into end-of-life care

By Ryan Chittum   Oct 3, 2012 at 06:50 AM

The Washington Post is getting into the hospice business, which prompted a few too many obvious jokes about death and... More

Michigan media on voter fraud

The story in the state so far—and what’s missing from it

By Anna Clark   Oct 2, 2012 at 03:00 PM

MICHIGAN — In Michigan, the political landscape tends to be divided by—well, by landscape. East and West, rural and urban,... More

Covering Occupy and the Tea Party

Dig in and dive deep, Todd Gitlin says

By Jared Malsin   Oct 2, 2012 at 02:50 PM

With the nation’s political media gripped by electoral fever in the run up to the presidential election, perhaps now is... More

Stories I’d like to see

Tales of a TARP built to benefit bankers, and waiting for CEOs to pay the price

By Steven Brill   Oct 2, 2012 at 11:11 AM

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

Protecting the polls in North Carolina

As voter fraud allegations swirl, North Carolinians need deep, focused reporting

By Andria Krewson   Oct 2, 2012 at 11:00 AM

NORTH CAROLINA — While North Carolina may not be “that important to the electoral math” of the presidential race, according... More

TMI

How are we managing the daily flood of information?

By Michael Schudson and Katherine Fink   Oct 2, 2012 at 10:52 AM

Information overload goes back at least to Ecclesiastes—“of making many books there is no end.” And according to historian Ann... More

Romney’s gift to reporters

A Bloomberg investigation details yet another aspect of the candidate’s tax avoidance

By Ryan Chittum   Oct 2, 2012 at 07:50 AM

The decision by Republicans to run a super-wealthy former financier for president four years into a serious economic downturn triggered... More

Audit Notes: wincing with WSJ, Golden Dawn, energy-market manipulation

Treasury candidates and Journal art

By Ryan Chittum   Oct 2, 2012 at 06:50 AM

The Wall Street Journal reports that President Obama is trying to fire up the base with trial balloons on who... More

Mayhem porn

Coverage of the suicide aired on Fox News highlights the media’s treatment of death as entertainment

By Caitlin Dewey   Oct 1, 2012 at 05:25 PM

In the minutes after Fox News accidentally aired footage of a carjacking suspect's suicide last Friday—"That didn't belong on TV,"... More

The word on the street: Divided

Massachusetts voters talk about Medicare, and their Senate race

By Trudy Lieberman   Oct 1, 2012 at 03:26 PM

Last week I journeyed up to New England to see what voters thought of the debate over Medicare, for another... More

‘They’ said so

Pronouns without sex

By Merrill Perlman   Oct 1, 2012 at 03:02 PM

Whenever anyone who loves language wants to start a robust discussion, they have only to mention “gender-neutral pronouns,” such as... More

Tributes pour in for Sulzberger

Here are places to read about the former New York Times publisher, whose death was announced last weekend

By Hazel Sheffield   Oct 1, 2012 at 02:01 PM

The New York Times announced the death of Arthur “Punch” Sulzberger, chairman and chief executive of the company for 34... More

Hard Numbers

Who do you trust?

By Sara Morrison   Oct 1, 2012 at 11:13 AM

193 pages in the Supreme Court’s Affordable Care Act decision 2 pages of the decision CNN and Fox News producers... More

Press digs into anti-GMO study

Reporters thwart scientists’ attempt to prevent scrutiny

By Curtis Brainard   Oct 1, 2012 at 11:00 AM

A paper claiming that a diet of genetically modified corn and/or a widely used weed killer increased the likelihood of... More

Audit Notes: inside the Fed, few use Twitter, entitled ‘job creators’

By Ryan Chittum   Oct 1, 2012 at 06:50 AM

The Wall Street Journal takes us inside how Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke convinced his colleagues to go all in on... More