Monday, May 20, 2013. Last Update: Mon 3:15 PM EST

Campaign Desk

In Ohio, a Spotlight on Super PAC Ads

As a new campaign urges stations to reject misleading ads, how sharp is the conflict between conscience and cash?

OHIO — There was no escaping the blizzard of negative television and radio advertising assaulting the eyes and ears of... More

Context, and Political Theater, in North Carolina

Why the press needs to tell the parts of the story Obama won’t

NORTH CAROLINA — As the results of the Super Tuesday primaries put Republican candidates in the headlines, President Obama is... More

When JFK made Santorum sick

The press was too slow to supply the larger context

It has been more than a week since Rick Santorum went on the Sunday talk circuit and made news by... More

NPR Rethinks Its Reporting

Will “he said/she said” go away for good?

Last week, NPR released a new ethics document that the blogosphere announced would end the “he said/she said” reporting the... More

The World’s Dumbest Press Conference

How coverage of Joe Arpaio’s birtherism threatens to make the myth worse

NEW HAMPSHIRE — Last Tuesday, the New America Foundation released a report (PDF) I co-authored with Georgia State's Jason Reifler... More

Romney and the “Mormon Moment”

Lots of fear and loathing from the pundit class

More than once this election cycle, it has been declared “The Mormon Moment.” Look no further than Broadway (The Book... More

A Laurel to the Toledo Blade

Paper challenges Romney on his manufacturing message

OHIO — There’s a well-known truism that you can’t have it both ways. But that’s never stopped politicians, especially in... More

In Michigan, Getting Beyond the ‘Class Divide’

HuffPost’s Blumenthal finds another good angle in the results

MICHIGAN — Election night demands instant coverage from reporters—not just to name a winner, but to define how voting patterns... More

More Dot-Connection Needed on ER Story

What we’re learning about hospitals, part two

Kaiser Health News has become very good at reporting on the marketing secrets of the nation’s hospitals. I was intrigued... More

Countering Misinformation: Tips for Journalists

Avoid negations, use graphics, and get the story right the first time!

This article was written by Brendan Nyhan and Jason Reifler. It is adapted from Misinformation and Fact-checking: Research Findings from... More

Who Opposed the Auto Bailouts?

Romney was hardly alone, despite what you read

MICHIGAN — Leading into today’s primary, Michigan journalists have focused on the bailouts for General Motors and Chrysler more than... More

A Medicare Memo to Campaign Reporters

Tailing Mitt on Medicare and Social Security, too

Dear Colleagues: I have just returned from a reporting trip to Southeast Arkansas, where the folks I visited have very... More

In Michigan, Coverage of Romney’s Speech Goes Beyond That Empty Stadium

But focus on local storylines obscures some important national angles

MICHIGAN — On Twitter and the Web Friday afternoon, it was clear what about Mitt Romney’s address to the Detroit... More

As Primary Nears, It’s Time to Dig Deep in Ohio

Blade’s strong story on housing crisis offers a good model

OHIO — As Republican frontrunners Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum parachute into the Buckeye State and clog the airwaves with... More

Pat Buchanan and His Enablers

Why did MSNBC hire him in the first place?

Last week, MSNBC fired Pat Buchanan following a four-month suspension. The proximate cause of his dismissal was the publishing of... More

Obama DOJ formally accuses journalist in leak case of committing crimes

Yet another serious escalation of the Obama administration’s attacks on press freedoms emerges

A rare peek into a Justice Department leak probe

Court documents in the Kim case reveal how deeply investigators explored the private communications of a working journalist — and raise the question of how often journalists have been investigated as closely as Rosen was in 2010

Reporter deemed ‘co-conspirator’ in leak case

The Reyes affidavit all but eliminates the traditional distinction in classified leak investigations between sources, who are bound by a non-disclosure agreement, and reporters, who are protected by the First Amendment as long as they do not commit a crime

How to legalize pot

“At some point you have to say, a law that people don’t obey is a bad law”

This is water

David Foster Wallace’s 2005 Kenyon commencement speech as a short film

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