Wednesday, May 22, 2013. Last Update: Wed 6:05 PM EST

United States Project

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The money behind the fiscal cliff hardliners

Plan B opponents drew major support from outside groups. What does that mean?

The fiscal cliff deal reached on Tuesday reflects a depressing new routine in Washington, DC: the federal government lurching from... More

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Must-reads of 2012: politics

What you should have read (in case you didn’t)

As 2012 draws to a close, CJR writers brainstormed the year's best reads in their beats. From New York magazine,... More

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A political documentary that defies convention

How’s Your News? takes a skewed perspective on Campaign 2012

It’s the second-to-last day of the 2012 Republican National Convention, and the How’s Your News? news team has Michele... More

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Faces Congress doesn’t see

The “chained CPI” debate needs to step out of wonkland

This week The Washington Post reported results from its December poll with ABC, which took the public pulse on a... More

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How to fix the media ownership debate

A modest proposal for harnessing mergers
to boost local reporting

The debate over “who owns the media” is heating up again, and has already become stuck in a bit of... More

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The least transparent Senators?

A counterintuitive campaign finance story doesn’t add up

It seemed like a startling and politically powerful story. I was looking through campaign finance disclosures, and came upon a... More

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Beware Green Lantern thinking in gun policy coverage

The president isn’t as powerful as you think

In a riff inspired by the blogger Matthew Yglesias a few years ago, I proposed what I called the Green... More

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Needed: Sherpas to guide us through fiscal cliff panic

No one wants to hike middle-class rates, so why does some coverage pretend they might rise?

The Tax Policy Center—a joint project of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution—has a lineage that in Washington think... More

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Meet the Debt Fixers

A laurel to New York magazine

For weeks on end the dominant financial story has been: (A) the consequences of falling off the fiscal cliff;... More

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The media discover the ‘chained CPI’

And the more they dig, the rougher it looks

Except for Los Angeles Times columnist Michael Hiltzik, and a few stray media outlets here and there—The Providence Journal, The... More

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Do super PACS have a right to lie?

In an unsettled legal environment, media’s role—and responsibilities—are central

In a bitter campaign for the Florida State Senate this fall, incumbent Maria Sachs was pummeled with negative TV ads... More

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A thin Post piece on the cliff’s consequences

Article on purported impact of tax shift favors assumptions and anecdotes over data

Since election day, the so-called “fiscal cliff” has moved to the top of the political news agenda, and CJR has... More

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Addressing the asymmetry question

Factchecking is the wrong format

Factchecking made great strides during the 2012 campaign, but were those advances compromised by the pressure to maintain partisan balance?... More

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The making of a meme

Journos get on board the Let’s-Whack-Entitlements train

Shortly after the election, the MSM quickly turned from the presidential horse race to the “fiscal cliff.” And soon, news... More

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Big data, in the dark

Lack of transparency around campaigns’ use of data creates challenges for reporters

This fall, two compelling stories about politics and “big data” are playing out in the media. The first one you’ve... More

The New York Times told me to take this down

“If you wouldn’t mind using another publication to advertise your infringement tool, we’d appreciate it”

In AP, Rosen investigations, government makes criminals of reporters

“[A]s flagrant an assault on civil liberties as anything done by George W. Bush’s administration”

Jay Carney press briefing blues

“Reporters are increasingly skeptical about Carney’s demeanor and the veracity of some answers”

Jaron Lanier wants to build a new middle class on micropayments

A future where writers can gain wealth through a “freelance economy”

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