last June, I traveled to Ghana for the first time. For most of my life, I wanted no connection to the dark continent. I had been convinced, by whom or what I don’t know, that the American in my … Read more
The more I read about Tara Reade’s story, the less I know about her sexual assault allegation against Joe Biden. That’s a problem, not just for Reade but for every serious journalistic attempt to litigate decades-old … Read more
For the third time now, I have watched a TV anchor choke up and weep on camera during a live, stressful interview with a Covid-19 victim or family survivor. That tells me that reporters, editors and anchors are beginning to … Read more
The effects of COVID-19 are already being framed as an “extinction event” for journalism, causing dozens of news outlets to collapse around the world. Tens of thousands of newsroom jobs have been … Read more
As Patrick Marley moved down the queue of voters lined up near a high school in Madison, some of his interviewees had to shout. Six feet apart is not ideal for a personal conversation about politics, especially on the … Read more
On April 3, Mandy Jenkins paused from her work as general manager of The Compass Experiment — a partnership between Google and McClatchy to explore new business models for local news — to take a call. She had to be … Read more
A longtime journalist who wrote his first investigation on a sturdy Olivetti typewriter, I, a streetwise dinosaur, 10 years ago teamed up with millenials to launch the very small online, nonprofit publication IDL-Reporteros. My hope was to make it a … Read more
When Australian investigative journalist Nick McKenzie arrived at his desk one morning in 2014, he was surprised to find a bunch of flowers had been sent up from the mailroom. “In the flowers there was a note that said, ‘There … Read more
I spent my childhood in a tiny pink house in suburban Chicago, surrounded by noise. The television blared theme songs from my grandmother’s soap operas. My grandfather’s fire department scanner interrupted with scratchy reports of people in distress. Aunties entered … Read more
Before the coronavirus pandemic gripped the world, people in Milwaukee had another unprecedented preoccupation: the 2020 Democratic National Convention. The four-day event—still slated to take place here, though postponed from July to August because of the … Read more
