Author Archive

Articles by David Cay Johnston | Email the Author

 

1. The Audit

   Wrongheaded and Incomplete on Incomes

   September 10, 2009 03:07 PM

   This morning’s page-one Wall Street Journal story on incomes in America contains many bungled facts and concepts in a single sentence, giving a false impression about income distribution in America. The piece follows the curious look at the... Continue reading

2. The Audit

   Welcome to the Jungle

   May 22, 2009 11:20 AM

   Reporter Dan Browning's piece on coming newsroom cuts at the St. Paul Pioneer-Press contains a curious detail that perhaps will encourage rigorous thinking in articles covering compensation. "The company said it wants... the elimination of merit pay...." Browning wrote,... Continue reading

3. Behind the News

   A Tale of Two Papers

   March 17, 2009 03:52 PM

   The starkly different ways in which two Hearst properties—the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the San Francisco Chronicle—have been informing readers of their financial woes tells a behind-the-scenes story of the Hearst family’s differing financial interests. As reported here <a... Continue reading

4. Behind the News

   A Great City Forced to Read Flackery

   February 25, 2009 03:56 PM

   The number-two story on the front page of SFGate.com Tuesday night, and evidently given prominent play in Wednesday's print version of the San Francisco Chronicle, is not a news story at all, but an unbylined "report." It is,... Continue reading

5. Campaign Desk

   Who’s Undercutting Obama?

   January 29, 2009 01:25 PM

   It’s 3 p.m. and the phone in the White House press secretary’s office is ringing. It rings and rings and rings. Eventually, a recorded voice asks callers to leave a message—followed by a second voice saying the voicemail box is... Continue reading

6. Feature

   Attitude Adjustment

   September 1, 2008 11:28 AM

   Like the air that sustains life, facts that would help hard-pressed consumers are all around us. Instead of gathering and delivering such facts, however, we often leave subscribers gasping for useful information. And so their numbers dwindle. Americans tend... Continue reading

7. Review

   My Facts, Your Facts

   July 31, 2008 09:00 AM

   Reader comments posted on digital news sites are often heavy on invective, hurled from noms d’Internet that allow people to disregard traditional norms of civil discourse. For many of these anonymous snipers, the reported facts are not facts at... Continue reading