Author Archive

Articles by Justin D. Martin | Email the Author

 

1. Behind the News

   How journalists helped stabilize a new Colombia

   August 29, 2012 11:13 AM

   BOGOTA, Colombia—Here are two headlines from two decades apart: A headline 20 years ago in the Milwaukee Journal—Who’s in charge: Colombia or Escobar? A July 2012 headline in USA Today—Colombia gets its first W hotel. For many years... Continue reading

2. Borders & Bylines

   The tenuous claim of Israeli ‘pinkwashing’

   June 26, 2012 01:04 PM

   JERUSALEM—Let’s dispense with the charge of “pinkwashing” that has been leveled against Israel. The word has come to stand for the claim that Israel officials use the nation’s relatively progressive stance on gay rights as a tool to distract journalists... Continue reading

3. Behind the News

   The pen and the pump

   June 13, 2012 03:37 PM

   Doha, Qatar—The rent goes up, the democracy goes down, or so they say. This small Arab Gulf nation is what political scientists refer to as a rentier state, generally defined as a government that receives at least 40 percent of... Continue reading

4. Behind the News

   On the Media silent on NPR retraction

   April 30, 2012 01:54 PM

   I rarely miss an episode of NPR’s On the Media, which is essential listening for information on media trends and best practices. When something gut-pummeling happens in the media world, I expect OTM to discuss it. My faith in the... Continue reading

5. Behind the News

   Loneliness at the Foreign ‘Bureau’

   April 23, 2012 02:18 PM

   The Washington Post has 16 foreign “bureaus,” and 12 of them consist of just a single reporter, according to the newspaper’s website. The four remaining bureaus all consist of two journalists. Is the Post using the word bureau... Continue reading

6. Behind the News

   Which Countries Jail the Most Journalists Per Capita?

   April 2, 2012 03:17 PM

   At the end of each year, the Committee to Protect Journalists counts the number of journalists imprisoned worldwide and lists the countries in which they’re locked up. These data are very helpful, but I think we can... Continue reading

7. Behind the News

   Denying Death

   March 26, 2012 11:34 AM

   While I’ve argued in this column that free speech in the world is trending toward expansion, a position I still maintain, governments nonetheless display a mushrooming fondness for thought control when it comes to the darker side of human... Continue reading

8. The News Frontier

   News Organizations That Haven’t Learned To Share

   March 7, 2012 04:54 PM

   The Economist does not let users of its free app share news items via e-mail, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, or anything else. An Economist representative told me over the phone that paid app users are permitted to share content, and that’s... Continue reading

9. Behind the News

   Story on Tiny Country A Giant Failure

   February 15, 2012 01:05 PM

   A recent 60 Minutes segment on the nation of Qatar was the most imprecise piece of journalism I can remember in the more than 20 years I’ve been watching the show. Bob Simon, who was assigned to the... Continue reading

10. Behind the News

    Why Aren’t More Arab Americans Working in Mainstream Journalism?

    January 31, 2012 11:21 AM

    There are anywhere between 3.5 and 5.1 million Americans of Arab descent, according to figures from the Arab American Institute, yet relatively few work in journalism full time. While meaningful estimates aren’t known, as journalism scholars that conduct demographic research... Continue reading

11. The News Frontier

    Twifficult

    January 6, 2012 02:02 PM

    I was alone on a drive from Maine to Massachusetts in early December when a crazy idea hit me. Listening to Christmas music along a snow-lined I-95, my epiphany was to write a letter to rockstar Pink and ask her... Continue reading

12. Behind the News

    A Presidential Debate Abroad?

    December 20, 2011 12:18 PM

    Every fourth fall, more Americans watch presidential debates than just about any other live event in the US but the Super Bowl. The contests are by far the most-watched political events in this country. More than 50 million Americans watched... Continue reading

13. Critical Eye

    Hell Yes to Hell No

    December 7, 2011 11:48 AM

    Hell No: Your Right to Dissent in 21st-Century America | By Michael Ratner & Margaret Ratner Kunstler | The New Press | 176 pages, $17.95 A number of twentieth-century legal decisions helped establish the US as having one of the... Continue reading

14. Behind the News

    How Do Journos Find Time to Fight Corrections?

    November 16, 2011 02:34 PM

    On November 8, I received a call in my office from a frustrated online editor at The Bangor Daily News, my local paper. He was upset that I was “flaming the paper on Twitter” by questioning its accuracy, something he... Continue reading

15. Behind the News

    Speech in Israel Is Not Free

    November 4, 2011 02:17 PM

    Both Israeli and US policymakers are fond of calling Israel and the United States likeminded democracies. “America has no better friend than Israel,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said to applause from a joint session of Congress in a 2011 address.... Continue reading

16. Campaign Desk

    A Grand Year for Free Speech

    October 21, 2011 04:52 PM

    Not since the disintegration of the Soviet Union have so many opponents of free expression quickly fallen from executive power. Countries like Tunisia and Libya weren’t just unwelcoming to journalists; these countries were routinely listed as among the worst... Continue reading

17. Behind the News

    Dear News Organizations: Stop Being Deadbeats

    September 23, 2011 10:58 AM

    If I paid my bills as slowly as many news organizations pay their freelancers, I’d be homeless, have a deactivated cell phone, and carry a credit score of about three. Many news organizations are quick to snatch up good freelance... Continue reading

18. Behind the News

    What Might an ‘American World Service’ Look Like?

    September 6, 2011 02:40 PM

    It is time for the US to follow the example of other modern democracies and provide citizens with a government-supported, twenty-four-hour news channel devoted to global news. After living in Cairo for two years, my wife and I recently... Continue reading

19. Behind the News

    How to Get Young People Interested in Global News

    August 16, 2011 03:14 PM

    For some time newsmakers and educators have stressed things like “civic duty” and being a “global citizen” in trying to convince young people to consume world news. The problem here is these entreaties couldn’t sound crustier to a nineteen-year-old—take it... Continue reading

20. Behind the News

    Apparently, Global News Orgs Don’t Commit Online Errors

    July 27, 2011 04:41 PM

    Far too many modern news organizations do not have public corrections policies or prominent corrections pages, something that has been well-stated at CJR. International news outlets are certainly no exception. It has been my experience, after reporting from... Continue reading

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