Culture
Small bites
Making big numbers more understandable
By Merrill Perlman Jun 17, 2013 at 03:00 PM
The wildfires are at it again: One near Colorado Springs was really big. How big? CNN said it was about... More
New math
Keeping numbers simpler
By Merrill Perlman Jun 10, 2013 at 02:28 PM
Last week, we talked about how the words used to express numbers can help (or confuse) readers. Now, let's talk... More
Countdown
Help with numbers
By Merrill Perlman Jun 3, 2013 at 03:00 PM
Math is hard for many people, though it's often not the numbers that cause so many problems, but the words... More
Between ‘us’ and ‘I’
Getting stuck on plurals
By Merrill Perlman May 28, 2013 at 03:00 PM
The editors were discussing a story about the health benefits of a particular type of cactus, and maybe others. The... More
Pleas-ing words
Prepositions and crime
By Merrill Perlman May 20, 2013 at 03:00 PM
One man "pleaded guilty to DWI." Another "pled guilty of DWI." A third "entered a plea of guilty to DWI... More
Beholding thinspiration
Slate’s decision to publish an image of a recovering anorexic is problematic
By Kira Goldenberg May 13, 2013 at 07:08 PM
In the latest post on its Behold photo blog, Slate waded into ongoing debates around "thinspo"--pro-anorexia imagery posted to foster... More
Grammar police
Zealousness over correctness
By Merrill Perlman May 13, 2013 at 03:00 PM
The New York Times recently posted an opinion piece and a short film about a "vigilante copy editor" who was... More
ESPN’s interchangeable women
To the Bristol brass, it’s the network, not the talent, that makes the star
By Robert Weintraub May 6, 2013 at 03:51 PM
In recent months, ESPN has taken a distinctly Bill Belichick-ian approach to its on-air talent, in particular its female announcers.... More
Letter perfect
Why English is so hard
By Merrill Perlman May 6, 2013 at 03:00 PM
The cashier at the fancy foods store was from Bosnia. "I have so much hard time with English," she said.... More
Language Corner
Plum loco
By Merrill Perlman May 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM
The witness, according to the news story, said the robbers were "plum crazy." Not unless they were robbing a green... More
Turn on, log in, opt out?
Morozov, Lanier, and others consider the future of the Internet
By Lauren Kirchner May 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM
At a tech conference in Lake Tahoe three years ago, Eric Schmidt gave a talk that included a startling statistic.... More
It doesn’t add up
A science writer questions the conventional wisdom of US-born STEM workers
By Beryl Lieff Benderly May 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM
Homegrown President Obama, seen here visiting at technical college in North Carolina, supports bringing more foreign STEM workers to... More
The natural
Red Smith made it look easy, even when it wasn’t
By Terence Smith May 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM
"Give us this day our daily plinth," my father, Red Smith, and his pal, Joe Palmer, the racing columnist,... More
Brief encounters
Short reviews of Fighting for the Press and America 1933
By James Boylan May 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM
Fighting for the Press: The Inside Story of the Pentagon Papers and Other Battles | By James C. Goodale |... More
Room for two
New Yorker, Grantland go head to head on Iditarod coverage
By Robert Weintraub Apr 30, 2013 at 02:50 PM
Certainly a thousand-mile race across the vast empty expanse of the Alaskan wilderness has room for two massive, longform articles... More
Woman’s work - The twisted reality of an Italian freelancer in Syria
Sourcing Trayvon Martin ‘photos’ from stormfront - Not a good idea, Business Insider
Elizabeth Warren, the antidote to CNBC - The senator schools the talking heads on bank regulation
Art Laffer + PR blitz = press failure - The media types up the retail lobby’s propaganda
Reuters’s global warming about-face - A survey shows the newswire ran 50 percent fewer stories on climate change after hiring a “skeptic”
Barack Obama: ‘those old times aren’t coming back’
“It used to be there were local newspapers everywhere. If you wanted to be a journalist, you could really make a good living working for your hometown paper”
The Guardian’s editor opens up on Reddit
Alan Rusbridger, editor of The Guardian, answered questions in an Ask Me Anything
The (almost) lost speech of Justice Anthony Kennedy
How his insightful remarks about the Constitution inadvertently make the case for a Supreme Court “media pool”
Fox News sues TVEyes for copyright infringement
Says subscription service sells access to its content without permission nor compensation
CJR's Guide to Online News Startups
ACEsTooHigh.com – Reporting on the science, education, and policy surrounding childhood trauma
Who Owns What
The Business of Digital Journalism
A report from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
Questions and exercises for journalism students.
