http://www.cjr.org/ Columbia Journalism Review: Strong Press, Strong Democracy en Copyright 2010 Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:00:41 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=3.2 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss By Ryan Chittum I was highly critical of a William D. Cohan piece in the Times two weeks ago pleading for mercy for a convicted white-collar criminal. So it's nice to be able to applaud a Cohan piece this week: Frankly, the idea that Fuld was unaware of Repo 105 is not credible, especially as he was devoted to reducing the... http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/audit_notes_better_cohan_ernst.php http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/audit_notes_better_cohan_ernst.php The Audit Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:00:41 -0500 By Ryan Chittum http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/pittmanbloomberg_fed_lawsuit_s.php http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/pittmanbloomberg_fed_lawsuit_s.php The Audit Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:26:43 -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 Ryan Chittum Rarely will you see an aggregator state his business model so forthrightly as Michael Wolff, founder of Newser, does today in discussing publishers charging for news: Here at Newser, we're particular eager for the charge walls to go up. You’ll be able to pay to spend more of your time and effort reading the New York Times, or you... http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/newser_fly_on_the_wall_and_agg.php http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/newser_fly_on_the_wall_and_agg.php The Audit Fri, 19 Mar 2010 10:30:28 -0500 By Ryan Chittum Los Angeles Times columnist Michael Hiltzik pulls a non-Repo 105 angle out of the Valukas Report on Lehman Brothers' collapse: Its move into high-risk lending and the trampling of its own internal controls in the High Bubble years (emphasis mine): Lehman was not alone on Wall Street in deciding in 2006 to shift out of its old business model... http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/audit_notes_hiltzik_on_lehman.php http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/audit_notes_hiltzik_on_lehman.php The Audit Thu, 18 Mar 2010 19:52:19 -0500 By Ryan Chittum Will Judge William Pauley III now join Judge Jed Rakoff as one of the few heroes of the crisis? The Wall Street Journal makes an excellent catch today on a Pauley ruling that slapped down a chummy settlement between the SEC and Wall Street dismantling the separation of analysts from investment bankers imposed after the scandals of the previous... http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/another_new_york_judge_embarra.php http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/another_new_york_judge_embarra.php The Audit Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:07:45 -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 Ryan Chittum There are some real journalistic lapses in a New York Times column Tuesday that quoted anonymous sources about a Lehman Brothers whistleblower who tried to warn about the failing bank’s questionable accounting maneuvers, including one known as Repo 105. The problematic passage is here (emphasis mine): Lehman’s shell game didn’t come to light until June 2008, when a lower-level... http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/problems_in_an_nyt_column.php http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/problems_in_an_nyt_column.php The Audit Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:15:04 -0500 By Ryan Chittum Francine McKenna of Re: The Auditors weighs in on the Chittum/Carney fracas over Lehman prosecutions. She's on the side of the just here. Repo 105 is not off-balance sheet accounting but good old-fashioned “round-trip” transaction shenanigans. This was garden variety accounting manipulation by the highest levels of the corporation, accomplished with the acquiescence of the impotent... http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/audit_notes_alllehman_edition.php http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/audit_notes_alllehman_edition.php The Audit Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:55:13 -0500 By Ryan Chittum http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/reuters_is_excellent_in_diggin.php http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/reuters_is_excellent_in_diggin.php The Audit Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:28:44 -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 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 Ryan Chittum http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/wsj_on_a_new_municipal_move_yo.php http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/wsj_on_a_new_municipal_move_yo.php The Audit Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:41:40 -0500 By Ryan Chittum About the last thing we need now is a newspaper war, but Rupert Murdoch is Rupert Murdoch, so here we go. Crain's New York looks at the looming Battle for New York, for which the air war has already started. You can see why Rupert, bolstered by his Avatars and his Glenn Becks, thinks he has a lot to... http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/audit_notes_battle_of_nyc_fed.php http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/audit_notes_battle_of_nyc_fed.php The Audit Tue, 16 Mar 2010 20:38:09 -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