tag:www.cjr.org,2011-09-12://4 2012-02-08T18:33:03Z Columbia Journalism Review: Strong Press, Strong Democracy Movable Type Pro 4.34-en tag:www.cjr.org,2012://4.29788 2012-02-08T17:47:47Z 2012-02-08T18:33:03Z

Why lifestyle pieces need context

Ben Adler I grew up in Park Slope, Brooklyn, so a headline on The New Yorker's homepage Monday, declaring "Park Slope is Dead," piqued my interest. Alas, the story contained no new information, only inaccurate riffing on something I already knew about: that Southpaw—a live-music club around the corner from my parents' house, where it replaced a 99 cent store in 2002—had tag:www.cjr.org,2012://4.29786 2012-02-08T16:31:51Z 2012-02-08T16:39:02Z

A trove of stories from the Facebook IPO

Steven Brill In his weekly “Stories I’d Like to See” column, journalist and entrepreneur Steven Brill spotlights topics that, in his opinion, have received insufficient media attention. This article was originally published on Reuters.com. Facebook’s landmark IPO filing suggests lots of meaty stories. Among them: 1. Facebook, third parties and data security: Embedded in the typically long recitation of “risk factors” designed tag:www.cjr.org,2012://4.29748 2012-02-01T17:46:35Z 2012-02-01T17:46:36Z

The Dodd-Frank effect, unions and private equity, and Newt’s expenses

Steven Brill In his weekly “Stories I’d Like to See” column, journalist and entrepreneur Steven Brill spotlights topics that, in his opinion, have received insufficient media attention. This article was originally published on Reuters.com. 1. The Dodd-Frank effect: Good, bad or both? Although the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the mega-agency created by the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory bill, has only been in existence tag:www.cjr.org,2012://4.29746 2012-02-01T17:37:54Z 2012-02-01T17:37:45Z

The first two years of OGIS

Erin Siegal http://www.cjr.org Last June in Las Vegas, Corinna Zarek told a ballroom full of investigative journalists at the annual Investigative Reporters and Editors conference that she was there to help. "We are the FOIA advocates!" she announced. "This independent office, within government, to help FOIA requesters and members of federal agencies resolve disputes before they lead to litigation!" I listened with hope. tag:www.cjr.org,2012://4.29742 2012-01-31T16:21:08Z 2012-02-01T18:33:59Z

Group remains underrepresented in US newsrooms

Justin D. Martin There are anywhere between 3.5 and 5.1 million Americans of Arab descent, according to figures from the Arab American Institute, yet relatively few work in journalism full time. While meaningful estimates aren’t known, as journalism scholars that conduct demographic research in American newsrooms do not typically tally newsmakers of Arab descent, the National Arab American Journalists Association counts around 250 tag:www.cjr.org,2012://4.29737 2012-01-30T18:46:53Z 2012-01-30T20:39:06Z

Law protecting journalists from searches didn’t anticipate cloud computing

Jonathan W. Peters http://www.cjr.org Cloud computing is all the rage. Traditionally, people had to store, manage and process data on a personal computer or local server. Cloud computing moves those functions to a remote server accessible from multiple locations. In turn, the cloud provider assumes the job of maintaining and backing up the data, and often it spreads the workload across a number of tag:www.cjr.org,2012://4.29714 2012-01-26T20:16:52Z 2012-01-26T21:09:58Z

What exactly are their “public interest obligations”?

Steven Waldman http://www.cjr.org Local television stations have now rallied against the key elements of the Federal Communications Commission’s media transparency proposal, which would require broadcasters to move their “public inspection files” out of their filing cabinets and onto the Internet. I described these proposals in detail here and here, but the surprising hostility from TV stations—news organizations—to this transparency plan raises a broader tag:www.cjr.org,2012://4.29695 2012-01-24T17:05:18Z 2012-01-25T05:21:22Z

More primary math, Boeing’s second chance, and DHS mission creep

Steven Brill In his weekly “Stories I’d Like to See” column, journalist and entrepreneur Steven Brill spotlights topics that, in his opinion, have received insufficient media attention. This article was originally published on Reuters.com. 1. Time to look at the late primary states and “favorite son” rules: Two weeks ago, I suggested a story examining how the new rules requiring more proportional tag:www.cjr.org,2012://4.29668 2012-01-17T21:28:15Z 2012-01-17T21:27:41Z

Campaign questions, the world’s worst government agency, and medical lobbies

Steven Brill In his weekly "Stories I'd Like to See" column, journalist and entrepreneur Steven Brill spotlights topics that, in his opinion, have received insufficient media attention. This article was originally published on Reuters.com. 1. Mitt’s tax bracket: Note to television producers or editors about to do interviews with Mitt Romney on the campaign trail: The tax rate for the lower-middle class tag:www.cjr.org,2012://4.27764 2012-01-12T18:04:10Z 2012-01-12T19:02:35Z

Journalists can do a better job reporting controversial numbers in disaster zones

Maura R. O'Connor Fifteen miles north of the National Palace in Port au Prince, along Haiti’s azure coastline, is a place called Titanyen. From Kreyol, this name translates to something like “less than nothing.” Titanyen feels practically barren, mostly dusty hills with some farmers herding animals. On one of these hills looms a large cross with strips of black cloth tied to it. tag:www.cjr.org,2012://4.27702 2012-01-02T22:48:36Z 2012-01-02T22:48:46Z

CJR's health and entitlements reporter picks her top stories from the past year

Trudy Lieberman Peter G. Peterson Goes to School: Organizations funded by Peter G. Peterson, a former Wall Street investment banker and long-time foe of Social Security, have had a powerful influence in shaping this year’s debate over Social Security. The media have liberally quoted representatives of these Peterson-funded groups. The website Remapping Debate took a deep look at one Peterson-funded activity—the creation tag:www.cjr.org,2012://4.26747 2012-01-02T11:00:51Z 2012-01-02T06:27:35Z

From AOL to HuffPo, Kirchner picks her top CJR stories from the past year

Lauren Kirchner Salon and Slate in the Way-Back Machine: When The Daily launched early this year—to great hype and then to great derision, as it turned out—we at CJR thought about previous trail-blazing publications that launched on formats that probably seemed new and risky at the time. I spoke with the founders of Salon and Slate, two of the first online-only magazines tag:www.cjr.org,2011://4.27714 2012-01-01T02:53:07Z 2012-01-01T09:50:29Z

Meet Chris Faraone, Occupy reporter for the Boston Phoenix

Justin Peters The week before Occupy Boston changed Chris Faraone's life, grassroots revolution was already on his mind. Faraone, who covers rap music and social injustice for the Boston Phoenix, had filed a 2000-word story about a progressive group called MassUniting, which had organized a series of flamboyant protests against Bank of America; Faraone called the group's efforts "a multilateral attack for tag:www.cjr.org,2011://4.27712 2011-12-30T19:41:38Z 2011-12-30T19:46:07Z

A foreign editor looks back in wonder at 2011

Thomas Nagorski On a weekend last January I sent Alex Marquardt, our newly minted Mideast correspondent, to cover a protest in Egypt. Tunisia’s long-time dictator, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, had fallen in stunningly fast fashion a week before, and together Alex and I had wondered whether something similar was stirring in the Egyptian capital. I really didn’t think so—certainly we didn’t tag:www.cjr.org,2011://4.27710 2011-12-30T01:10:21Z 2011-12-30T18:05:02Z

Shouldn’t TV news outlets be clearer about offering pay-for-play?

Steven Waldman http://www.cjr.org One of the most disturbing trends in local TV news is the persistence of “pay for play”—when local TV newscasts allow sponsors to dictate content. The Federal Communications Commission has proposed a rule that would make it easier for the public to see which stations are engaging in these and other deceptive or ethically dubious practices. The National Association of