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How do you cover a story that isn’t?
The world’s media are all over Watertown, but the story is gone
By Justin Peters Apr 19, 2013 at 04:15 PM
Update, April 21, 2013: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was discovered on Friday night, hiding inside a boat in the backyard of a... More
As Boston bombing story unfolds, a stellar showing from local TV
WBZ, WHDH deliver balanced, nuanced, comprehensive reporting amid a crisis
By Justin Peters Apr 19, 2013 at 11:00 AM
BOSTON, MA -- Last night was possibly the biggest, most confusing news night in Boston history. Around 5:15pm, the FBI... More
Boston Phoenix, down in flames
The death of a stellar weekly
By Justin Peters Mar 14, 2013 at 06:16 PM
On Thursday afternoon, Boston Phoenix publisher Stephen Mindich announced that the 47-year-old alt-weekly would cease publication effective immediately. The past... More
Fait inaccompli
Why the world failed to rebuild Haiti after the earthquake
By Justin Peters Jan 2, 2013 at 12:00 AM
On March 31, 2010, almost three months after an earthquake devastated Port-au-Prince, the capital city of the poorest nation... More
Must-reads of 2012: crime
Monsters, thugs, and hustlers
By Justin Peters Dec 28, 2012 at 06:50 AM
As 2012 draws to a close, CJR writers brainstormed the year's best reads in their beats. "18 Tigers, 17 Lions,... More
A political documentary that defies convention
How’s Your News? takes a skewed perspective on Campaign 2012
By Justin Peters Dec 24, 2012 at 06:50 AM
It’s the second-to-last day of the 2012 Republican National Convention, and the How’s Your News? news team has Michele... More
The future’s so bright …
How to save the world while paying people with beer and hugs
By Justin Peters Nov 1, 2012 at 12:00 AM
In early 2012, a musician named Amanda Palmer took to Kickstarter to ask her fans for $100,000. Palmer, a... More
Rocky Mountain fever
Gene Fowler’s Timber Line celebrates the chicanery and showmanship of the original Denver Post
By Justin Peters Sep 17, 2012 at 10:50 AM
In the winter of 1907, Denver showed the rest of the nation how to fight a newspaper war. The... More
‘Serious, point-of-view journalism’?
A look at the most ambitious conservative news organization you’ve never heard of
By Justin Peters Sep 13, 2012 at 03:00 PM
At 4:45 on the final day of the Democratic National Convention, Kevin Palmer stands in the lobby of the Charlotte... More
Stupid hat tricks
In which CJR’s Justin Peters wears a crown to the convention to see if he can get interviewed
By Justin Peters Sep 5, 2012 at 04:40 PM
CHARLOTTE — The DNC, like the RNC before it, is a locus for stupid hats. As the convention proceedings kicked... More
Speeding up the factcheck cycle
The response to Paul Ryan’s misleading speech was swift and stern—except in the next morning’s front-page stories. Can journalists change that?
By Justin Peters Sep 4, 2012 at 11:00 AM
On Wednesday night, at the Republican National Convention, vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan gave a speech that was eloquent, exciting,... More
One last night on the outskirts in Tampa
Welsh cakes, a protest that wasn’t, and the rest of the scene from the RNC
By Justin Peters Aug 31, 2012 at 08:48 AM
This post has been updated. TAMPA — It's 6:30 p.m. on the final night of the Republican National Convention, and... More
How ‘half true’ happens
Our correspondent sits in as PolitiFact editors rate Nikki Haley’s claim
By Justin Peters Aug 30, 2012 at 04:09 PM
TAMPA — “Perhaps if we all ignore PolitiFact, they'll eventually go away," went the lede of a Weekly Standard story... More
A celebration of access in Tampa
Conventions are about getting in to the place worth being
By Justin Peters Aug 29, 2012 at 11:00 AM
TAMPA — It only took me two minutes to get kicked out of Liberty Plaza. Liberty Plaza, sponsored by various... More
Old time, real time
What if Jessica Mitford had been on Twitter?*
By Justin Peters Aug 15, 2012 at 11:08 AM
*Mitford's tweets are actual quotes. More
Required skimming: literary criticism
Keep abreast of what the bookish thinkers are thinking
By Justin Peters Aug 3, 2012 at 06:50 AM
This month, CJR presents “Required Skimming,” a daily miniguide to our staffers' beats and obsessions, ranging from finance to food.... More
Blinded by the fight
In a new book on poverty in America, the authors’ lectures undercut their message
By Justin Peters Jul 24, 2012 at 10:54 AM
In 2009, reporter Chris Hedges and cartoonist Joe Sacco set out to capture the state of American desperation. Over the... More
Many stations don’t factcheck super PAC ads: survey
Conference highlights difference in attitudes between industry, watchdog groups
By Justin Peters May 24, 2012 at 03:37 PM
Many local television stations do not consistently evaluate the accuracy of the political ads they air, according to survey results... More
What Warren Buffett sees in local newspapers
Despite it all, small papers can still turn a profit
By Justin Peters May 18, 2012 at 01:26 PM
On Thursday, Warren Buffett announced he will spend $142 million to purchase 63 local and regional newspapers from the Richmond,... More
Huffvideo
placeholder for the video of Mike Shapiro’s interview with Arianna Huffington
By Justin Peters Apr 19, 2012 at 01:30 PM
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‘See you on the other side’ - Meet Jessica Lum, a terminally ill 25-year-old who chose to spend what little time she had practicing journalism
#Realtalk: This is the best moment to be in journalism - The old stuff isn’t coming back, but that’s okay
Streams of consciousness - Millennials expect a steady diet of quick-hit, social-media-mediated bits and bytes. What does that mean for journalism?
Sticking with the truth - How ‘balanced’ coverage helped sustain the bogus claim that childhood vaccines can cause autism
An ink-stained stretch - Can Aaron Kushner save the Orange County Register—and the newspaper industry?
This is the best moment to be in journalism (25)
The WSJ editorial page hits rock bottom (19)
The completist guide to Star Trek
Matt Yglesias watched every Star Trek movie and every episode of every TV show in the franchise
The uncomfortable questions not raised by Benghazi
The press and Congress are asking the wrong questions
Rob Ford in ‘crack cocaine’ video scandal
A video that appears to show Toronto’s mayor smoking crack is being shopped around by a group of Somali men involved in the drug trade
Why the underwear-bomber leak infuriated the Obama administration
The threat of even grander leaks
CJR's Guide to Online News Startups
Uptown Messenger – Hyperlocal news for a neighborhood in New Orleans
Who Owns What
The Business of Digital Journalism
A report from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
Questions and exercises for journalism students.
















