United States Project
How to cover the birthers? Denver Post shows what not to do
After paper asks readers for their “take,” radio host offers his
By Greg Marx Jun 1, 2012 at 06:50 AM
On Thursday, CJR published pieces by Walter Shapiro and Brendan Nyhan that grapple with the question of how journalists can... More
Journalists: do no harm!
If you must cover the birthers, here’s an annotated how-to
By Brendan Nyhan May 31, 2012 at 01:19 PM
In a series of media interviews conducted before a Las Vegas fundraiser with presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, Donald... More
Things that go Trump in the night
The Donald’s birther circus recalls McCarthy’s “card-carrying Communists”
By Walter Shapiro May 31, 2012 at 12:02 PM
On February 9, 1950, a back-bench Wisconsin senator named Joseph McCarthy delivered an unheralded political speech to a Republican women’s... More
LA Times tries to unmask dark money donors
But story’s greatest virtue may be its look at where campaign cash goes
By Greg Marx May 30, 2012 at 04:11 PM
Earlier this week, Matea Gold and Joseph Tanfani of the Los Angeles Times teamed up for a sharp article about... More
What did we learn from coverage of Romney’s Philly school visit?
More reporters should have used Romney’s charter school stop as a teaching moment
By Ken Knelly May 29, 2012 at 04:40 PM
PENNSYLVANIA — At first glance, Mitt Romney's campaign appearance last Thursday at a West Philadelphia charter school seemed a bit... More
When a ‘birther’ story comes knocking
After congressman’s comments, a Denver TV station doesn’t let go
By Mary Winter May 25, 2012 at 02:50 PM
COLORADO — The so-called “birther” movement has emerged from hibernation, leaving media outlets this spring to figure out how best... More
Herald’s Caputo dives deep on diverging polls
Do other news organizations undermine their credibility when they don’t do the same?
By Brian E. Crowley May 24, 2012 at 04:25 PM
FLORIDA — Voters here have reason to be confused this week as they look at two polls, coming out one... More
Many stations don’t factcheck super PAC ads: survey
Conference highlights difference in attitudes between industry, watchdog groups
By Justin Peters May 24, 2012 at 03:37 PM
Many local television stations do not consistently evaluate the accuracy of the political ads they air, according to survey results... More
Outrage angle covered—now how about those gas price claims?
Here’s how the Denver Post and other battleground outlets can do better on the energy debate
By Liz Cox Barrett May 23, 2012 at 05:10 PM
Last week, the Denver Post ran a short “local news” piece headlined, “Political billboards in Colorado use energy policy to... More
What’s the swingiest state of them all?
By any measure, Colorado is at the center of the action in 2012
By Mary Winter May 22, 2012 at 03:00 PM
COLORADO — The term “swing state” is bandied about constantly in an election year, often without a clear explanation of... More
The over-covered image war
Journalists are exaggerating the risk that Mitt Romney will be “defined” early
By Brendan Nyhan May 21, 2012 at 10:50 AM
The message war in the presidential election got underway in earnest last week, with the Obama campaign releasing a new... More
The entirely predictable failure of Americans Elect
A little poli-sci—or just recent history—would have helped pundits avoid the hype
By Brendan Nyhan May 18, 2012 at 11:03 AM
On Thursday, the board of Americans Elect folded its presidential nominating process after the set of declared candidates repeatedly failed... More
The Obama camp serves up a Bain story
Some local outlets take the bait, while others offer a closer look
By Jay Jones May 18, 2012 at 07:31 AM
NEVADA — One of the moments in the 2012 presidential race that we all know was coming arrived this week:... More
Out of the living room, onto the trail
To gauge what’s really happening in the TV ad war, reporters need to talk to voters
By Walter Shapiro May 17, 2012 at 03:14 PM
The Living Room War was launched this week—the ferocious bombardment of attack ads that will make turning on a television... More
Debating Amendment One in North Carolina
Faced with an opportunity to lead civic discussion and take a stand, some papers fare better than others
By Andria Krewson May 16, 2012 at 03:30 PM
NORTH CAROLINA — Last week, North Carolina voters overwhelmingly passed Amendment One to the state constitution, defining marriage as between... 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?
What to do if you find a baby bird
Expert advice
Inside Google’s secret lab
We might deplore the practice, but posting pictures of our food online is a way to bring everyone to the table
How the ‘World’s 50 Best’ list changed the way elite restaurants do business
“Every time the restaurant switched up its format, it got plenty of accompanying media coverage that let judges know they needed to return to see what was going on”
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.
