As 2012 draws to a close, CJR writers brainstormed the year’s best reads in their beats.
“18 Tigers, 17 Lions, 8 Bears, 3 Cougars, 2 Wolves, 1 Baboon, 1 Macaque, and 1 Man Dead in Ohio,” by Chris Heath, from GQ, March 2012
“The Innocent Man,” by Pamela Colloff, from Texas Monthly, November 2012
“Joe Arridy was the happiest man on death row,” by Alan Prendergast, from Westword, September 20, 2012
“Cocaine Incorporated,” by Patrick Radden Keefe, from The New York Times Magazine, June 15, 2012
“Imaginary Monsters Chased Jonny Holden All His Life, Then a Real One Caught Him,” by Brantley Hargrove, from the Dallas Observer, September 27, 2012
“The NYPD Tapes Confirmed,” by Graham Rayman, from The Village Voice, March 7, 2012
“When Thugs and Hustlers Ruled Dark Alleys,” by Gianmarc Manzione, from The New York Times, November 8, 2012
“Adam Wheeler Went to Harvard,” by Jim Newell, from The Baffler, No. 20
“Throwaway People,” by Liliana Segura, from The Nation, May 28, 2012
“17 Days in November,” by Wright Thompson, from ESPN.com, September 10, 2012
“The Truce on Drugs,” by Benjamin Wallace-Wells, from New York, November 25, 2012
Justin Peters is editor-at-large of the Columbia Journalism Review.