http://www.cjr.org/ Columbia Journalism Review: Strong Press, Strong Democracy en Copyright 2010 Fri, 19 Mar 2010 11:48:25 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=3.2 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss By Trudy Lieberman Those who consider themselves Social Security mavens know the name Erskine Bowles. Bill Clinton’s former chief of staff, and currently president of the University of North Carolina system, Bowles has teamed up with former Wyoming Sen. Alan Simpson to head the newly created deficit reduction commission. The president tasked the commission with finding ways to reduce the federal deficit and... http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/social_securitys_code_words.php http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/social_securitys_code_words.php Campaign Desk Fri, 19 Mar 2010 11:48:25 -0500 By Holly Yeager Amid all the spinning and sparring over the Congressional Budget Office’s assessment of health care legislation, a couple of stories stand out for bringing much-needed context to the proceedings. The Washington Post did a smart analysis, pointing out what should be obvious but too often goes unsaid: despite all the hype around the 25-page "score" of the proposal, no... http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/scoring_the_cbo_score.php http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/scoring_the_cbo_score.php The Audit Fri, 19 Mar 2010 11:34:17 -0500 By Holly Yeager http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/tax_talk.php http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/tax_talk.php The Audit Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:09:17 -0500 By Toby Warner Fly Fishing with Darth Vader: And Other Adventures with Evangelical Wrestlers, Political Hitmen, and Jewish Cowboys | By Matt Labash | Simon & Schuster | 336 pages, $25.99 Matt Labash has a nose for sniffing out the strange and the strangely compelling American characters, particularly those knee-deep in the tragicomic spectacle of our national politics. Fly Fishing with Darth... http://www.cjr.org/page_views/hooking_the_big_ones.php http://www.cjr.org/page_views/hooking_the_big_ones.php Page Views Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:43:57 -0500 By Holly Yeager The Chamber of Commerce, that under-covered business behemoth, gets welcome attention from The Washington Post, which reports on the group’s big plans for the midterm elections. Modeled in part on Barack Obama's 2008 campaign juggernaut, the group has built a grass-roots operation known as Friends of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. It has a member... http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/audit_dc_notes_the_post_on_cha.php http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/audit_dc_notes_the_post_on_cha.php The Audit Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:07:32 -0500 By Trudy Lieberman The Associated Press has been an important voice in the health care debate. So it was disappointing to see its latest story: “HealthCare 101: A consumer primer on Obama’s bill.” There was nothing wrong with the premise of the piece, which tried to show how different stakeholders would fare under reform. In fact, for months we have been... http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/parsing_the_aps_health_care_pr.php http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/parsing_the_aps_health_care_pr.php Campaign Desk Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:31:19 -0500 By Holly Yeager CBS News is getting a lot of diggs, tweets and shares for its story on the latest national debt numbers from the Treasury Department. But, as is too often the case with reports about this big number, the piece doesn’t give readers a clue about what’s really going on. The headline sets the tone: National Debt Up $2 Trillion... http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/cbs_throws_debt_numbers_agains.php http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/cbs_throws_debt_numbers_agains.php The Audit Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:23:41 -0500 By Holly Yeager The Financial Times takes a look something that all too often gets treated like wallpaper in Washington, the persistent power of lobbyists. As Stephanie Kirchgaessner, my former colleague, explains: But little has changed in the way Washington works or the way the game is played. Despite attempts by the president to institute reform in the executive branch, lobbyists are... http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/audit_dc_notes_the_ft_looks_at.php http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/audit_dc_notes_the_ft_looks_at.php The Audit Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:02:13 -0500 By Greg Marx The dispatch from Strongsville, Ohio in today’s New York Times, about Barack Obama’s efforts to rally public support for his health care plan, is standard stuff: a recounting of what the president said, an explanation of his political strategy, and a dollop of cynicism to demonstrate the press knows how the game is played. (The story of a... http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/hesaid_shesaid_on_medicare.php http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/hesaid_shesaid_on_medicare.php Campaign Desk Tue, 16 Mar 2010 14:47:37 -0500 By Holly Yeager http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/post_30.php http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/post_30.php The Audit Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:55:26 -0500 By Trudy Lieberman The president has a sales job to do if he wants the American people to get behind whatever reform emerges from the congressional sausage grinder in the next few days. As part of his pitch, he has been flogging three terms guaranteed to resonate with the public—waste, fraud, and abuse. Who isn’t against waste? Nobody. Who isn’t against... http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/the_president_pushes_against_w.php http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/the_president_pushes_against_w.php Campaign Desk Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:10:25 -0500 By Greg Marx The editorial page of The Washington Post has a well-established reputation for its hawkish stance on fiscal matters, so it was no surprise that Fred Hiatt, the page’s editor, devoted his column yesterday to the deficit. But, in a twist, Hiatt was actually writing about Barack Obama’s “happiness deficit,” and how it’s affecting his presidency.... http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/why_so_serious.php http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/why_so_serious.php Campaign Desk Tue, 16 Mar 2010 11:28:19 -0500 By Holly Yeager http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/post_29.php http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/post_29.php The Audit Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:01:29 -0500 By Trudy Lieberman Before too many weeks pass, I want to comment on an illuminating Gray Matters column by Saul Friedman, an old hand at writing about issues of social justice, Medicare, and Social Security. Full disclosure here: Friedman taught me my first lessons in public interest journalism when I was a cub reporter at the Detroit Free Press and he covered... http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/is_the_past_prologue.php http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/is_the_past_prologue.php Campaign Desk Mon, 15 Mar 2010 10:51:17 -0500 By Greg Marx On Thursday afternoon, Gawker reported that Scott Brown—the Republican whose victory in a special election in Massachusetts has cost Democrats their Senate super-majority and complicated their legislative agenda—was named as a defendant in a 2000 defamation suit by a female campaign worker, who alleged in court papers that he had harassed her during his 1998 campaign for state... http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/how_to_cover_a_nonstory.php http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/how_to_cover_a_nonstory.php Campaign Desk Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:55:52 -0500