http://www.cjr.org/ en Copyright 2009 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:55:13 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=3.2 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Greg Marx We may, thankfully, be putting Pitneygate behind us. But reading through press coverage of President Obama’s town hall meeting on health care reform yesterday, one could be forgiven for thinking that the episode is still weighing on the minds of the Washington press corps. Nico Pitney, of course, is the national editor of The Huffington Post, who made... http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/more_pitneygate_fallout.php http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/more_pitneygate_fallout.php Campaign Desk Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:55:13 -0500 Greg Marx The New York Times leads its print edition with a dispatch about the latest victim of the recession: summer school. The federal government has been urging local school districts to use some of the $100 billion in education funding provided by the stimulus bill to maintain summer programs, but most districts have used the money for other purposes. As... http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/the_economy_today_schools_out.php http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/the_economy_today_schools_out.php Campaign Desk Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:40:00 -0500 Greg Marx Yesterday, the Minnesota Supreme Court finally made official what had for months seemed a foregone conclusion: Al Franken will be the state’s next senator. The reason this matters outside of Minnesota, of course, is that Franken’s win, following on the heels of Arlen Specter’s defection from the Republican Party, gives Democrats sixty votes in the upper house, and thus the... http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/normalizing_the_filibuster.php http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/normalizing_the_filibuster.php Campaign Desk Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:22:21 -0500 Greg Marx The arrival of July brings the start of the fiscal year and a statutory deadline for new budgets in many states. USA Today rounds up action from around the country and notes New Jersey, Massachusetts and Wisconsin were among the states to meet the deadline, using a mix of spending cuts and tax hikes to make up for... http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/the_economy_today_happy_new_fi.php http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/the_economy_today_happy_new_fi.php Campaign Desk Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:04:27 -0500 Clint Hendler This morning, attendees of the Personal Democracy Forum Conference, an annual event for people interested in the intersection of politics, government, and online technology, were treated to discussions with three of the Obama administration’s biggest lights in government information and communication policy. Just before nine o’clock, Macon Phillips, the White House’s chief of new media, took the... http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/a_morning_of_egov.php http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/a_morning_of_egov.php Campaign Desk Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:54:31 -0500 Trudy Lieberman Sen. Barbara Boxer was defiant. As Campaign Desk reported recently, the gentle lady from California said in no uncertain terms that if the Congressional Budget Office did not give the Senate the numbers it was looking for in estimating savings from preventive care, she, for one, would not follow the CBO’s advice: “We’re going to look at OMB... http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/memo_to_sen_barbara_boxerand_j.php http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/memo_to_sen_barbara_boxerand_j.php Campaign Desk Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:20:47 -0500 Katia Bachko National papers continue to lead with the Madoff sentencing. Yesterday, Judge Danny Chin sentenced the Ponzi schemer to the maximum 150 years in prison. In consumer economic news, USA Today reports that credit-card companies have raised interest and balance-transfer rates as a result of the new credit card reform enacted by the White... http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/the_economy_today_solar_big_ba.php http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/the_economy_today_solar_big_ba.php Campaign Desk Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:13:58 -0500 Katia Bachko The Wall Street Journal reports that consumer confidence is up for the fifth month in a row. This report is coupled with another survey which says that the personal savings rate grew to 6.9 percent this May, up from 5.6 percent in April. The indicators represent divergent prospects for the economy: consumer optimism is good, but if that’s... http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/the_economy_today_its_all_happ.php http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/the_economy_today_its_all_happ.php Campaign Desk Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:58:06 -0500 Trudy Lieberman Over the next few months, health reform will succeed or fail based on a few major flashpoints that will shape any new program, including the financing of health insurance and access to medical care itself. This is the third of a series of occasional posts that will explore these flashpoints, and how the media is explaining them to the public.... http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/health_care_flashpoints_2.php http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/health_care_flashpoints_2.php Campaign Desk Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:00:00 -0500 Jane Kim In national headlines, USA Today notes that federal stimulus spending slowed last week compared to any weeks in May, and compared also to the average amount the government has spent since the stimulus package was signed in February. Federal agencies allocated about $5.2 billion in new stimulus aid for projects last week. This follows complaints about the pace... http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/the_economy_today_half_a_loaf.php http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/the_economy_today_half_a_loaf.php Campaign Desk Fri, 26 Jun 2009 09:42:13 -0500 Katia Bachko The Mark Sanford affair story affords plentiful opportunities for practitioners and observers of journalism and politics. It allows for the making of jokes, the calling of names, and the partisan schadenfreude. But we wanted to look at how the Palmetto State’s editorial columnists are handling the affair. After all, while Sanford may be primo... http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/sanfords_flight_of_fancy.php http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/sanfords_flight_of_fancy.php Campaign Desk Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:21:38 -0500 Jane Kim In national headlines, USA Today reports that “less than one-half of 1%” of the money set aside for highway repair and construction has been distributed, according to the federal transportation department. Predictably, Republicans are saying there’s too much red tape, while Democrats are calling for more patience. The two sides will get to air their thoughts at... http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/the_economy_today_stimulating.php http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/the_economy_today_stimulating.php Campaign Desk Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:40:12 -0500 Katia Bachko Yesterday’s presidential presser added another installment to the Annals of Questions That Make News. Last April, it was Jeff Zeleny’s multipart question that made waves. This time around, The Huffington Post’s Nico Pitney did the honors, with a question that was essentially requested by the White House itself. This is how the exchange between President Obama and... http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/planted_questions.php http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/planted_questions.php Campaign Desk Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:27:43 -0500 Katia Bachko A tough job market is pushing some workers to take on second jobs, USA Today reports. According to various surveys, the number of Americans who are working a second job has risen this year. An AARP survey found that almost one fifth of Americans ages 45 to 54 took on a second job. But moonlight also takes a... http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/the_economy_today_moonlighting.php http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/the_economy_today_moonlighting.php Campaign Desk Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:02:29 -0500 Trudy Lieberman This past year’s health discussion has been remarkable for the narrow range of ideas and opinions that have floated down to the man on the street. Journalists have sought out the same organizations and sources for their stories, offering up what has become the conventional wisdom for reform. To bring more voices into the conversation, our Excluded Voices series will... http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/excluded_voices_6.php http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/excluded_voices_6.php Campaign Desk Wed, 24 Jun 2009 05:30:54 -0500