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Articles by Sasha Chavkin | Email the Author
Political ad windfall drives local TV consolidation
As a trend accelerates, industry and activists disagree about the consequences
By Sasha Chavkin May 15, 2013 at 02:55 PM
As campaign ads saturated the airwaves during the 2012 campaign, and piles of campaign cash buoyed stations' balance sheets, media... More
Will Wall Street’s cop go after dark money?
The campaign for the SEC to force disclosure of corporate political spending, explained.
By Sasha Chavkin May 3, 2013 at 06:50 AM
During the 2012 elections--and ever since--coverage of campaign finance has focused heavily on the role of "dark money": the unlimited... More
The Koch brothers’ media investment [UPDATED]
They are maneuvering to buy the Tribune chain. A look at Watchdog.org gives some clues about what that might mean
By Sasha Chavkin Apr 22, 2013 at 02:59 PM
On Sunday, a front-page story in The New York Times described the efforts of Charles and David Koch,... More
STOCK fraud?
Reporters miss a chance to expose Congress’s weak rationale for an ethics rule rollback
By Sasha Chavkin Apr 17, 2013 at 02:50 PM
On Monday, President Obama quietly signed a bill repealing the major provisions of the much-touted ethics law known as the... More
The return of the congressional junket
MoJo’s Andy Kroll shares his strategies for following the money in a post-Abramoff world
By Sasha Chavkin Apr 10, 2013 at 11:00 AM
* A "Fiesta de Golf," in which donors who will chip in a cool $50,000 get the chance to potentially... More
The GOP updates its media roadmap
In 2014 and 2016, changing strategies present new story lines
By Sasha Chavkin Mar 20, 2013 at 10:58 AM
On Monday, the Republican National Committee released a sweeping postmortem of the party's 2012 election losses and called for... More
Special interests and Obama’s political advocacy group
Here are four ways lobbyists and corporations can still influence Organizing for Action
By Sasha Chavkin Mar 13, 2013 at 03:10 PM
Tonight, President Obama will address the "founders summit" of Organizing for Action, the political advocacy group created to promote his... More
Immigration reform and private prison cash
Key lawmakers in the immigration debate are among the top recipients of campaign contributions from the prison industry
By Sasha Chavkin Feb 20, 2013 at 02:20 PM
As immigration reform picks up steam in Congress, conventional wisdom holds that a handful of key players are shaping the... More
Nate Silver defends contested post
His decision to omit outside spending still leads to an incomplete analysis
By Sasha Chavkin Feb 14, 2013 at 04:00 PM
On Tuesday, I wrote a post that raised questions about New York Times statistical ace Nate Silver's recent analysis of... More
Nate Silver’s odd omission (Updated)
A data-driven argument about an outside political spending group doesn’t include outside spending
By Sasha Chavkin Feb 12, 2013 at 10:50 AM
On Monday, The New York Times's resident oracle, Nate Silver, weighed in on an issue that CJR has been following... More
The money fight for the Republican Party
The launch of the Conservative Victory Fund signals a big outside spending battle—and story—is underway
By Sasha Chavkin Feb 5, 2013 at 06:50 AM
Last week, we wrote about how hard-right groups like the Club for Growth dominated outside spending in the last Republican... More
A ‘dark money’ push behind Obamacare?
Politico takes a close look at the backers of a new outreach effort
By Sasha Chavkin Feb 1, 2013 at 03:55 PM
This morning, Politico published a fascinating story about a new campaign to support implementation of the Affordable Care Act that... More
How super PACs succeeded in 2012
There’s one area where outside spenders won big: Republican primaries
By Sasha Chavkin Jan 30, 2013 at 02:50 PM
This post has been corrected. See note at bottom. After the Republican Party and its biggest super PAC and dark... More
Following the cash behind the new Congress
A guide to getting a (mostly) complete picture in the era of outside spending
By Sasha Chavkin Jan 11, 2013 at 11:00 AM
In simpler times, when donors were donors and PACs were PACs, campaign spending was easy to follow. A review of... More
The ‘Hell No’ caucus and primary cash
Politico looks at the incentives facing Rep. Tom Cotton and his new colleagues
By Sasha Chavkin Jan 10, 2013 at 11:00 AM
Earlier this week, Politico’s John VandeHei and Mike Allen wrote a smart story about what they described as the “Hell... More
The money behind the fiscal cliff hardliners
Plan B opponents drew major support from outside groups. What does that mean?
By Sasha Chavkin Jan 3, 2013 at 03:00 PM
The fiscal cliff deal reached on Tuesday reflects a depressing new routine in Washington, DC: the federal government lurching from... More
Snow job?
In the 2012 election, Denver broadcasters accepted an avalanche of political ads and the attendant windfall of revenue. Where did that money go, and what happens next time?
By Sasha Chavkin Jan 2, 2013 at 12:00 AM
Side by side, the two cartoon figures stride across the screen, their stick arms wrapped around massive boxes of gifts.... More
The least transparent Senators?
A counterintuitive campaign finance story doesn’t add up
By Sasha Chavkin Dec 20, 2012 at 02:50 PM
It seemed like a startling and politically powerful story. I was looking through campaign finance disclosures, and came upon a... More
Do super PACS have a right to lie?
In an unsettled legal environment, media’s role—and responsibilities—are central
By Sasha Chavkin Dec 17, 2012 at 06:50 AM
In a bitter campaign for the Florida State Senate this fall, incumbent Maria Sachs was pummeled with negative TV ads... More
The Ad Wars: Was outside money futile?
After Election Day, the press seizes on a new conventional wisdom
By Sasha Chavkin Nov 8, 2012 at 11:10 AM
Throughout the 2012 campaign, dozens of reporters and advocates kept a close eye on the flood of outside money that... More
‘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.
