For two days in late September, Bebe sold the crack cocaine rocks known as “Cookies” in the pouring rain—cold and alone. While other kids were in school that morning, Bebe spent his day … Read more
Pages from Gene Graham’s Nieman year sketchbook. Confession: I actually went to journalism school. And now I teach in one. But I’ve also spent plenty of time in newsrooms, a dual perspective critical … Read more
Parents assist children in a fourth grade math class. Photo by Bill Batson, The Omaha World-Herald. For at least a decade before The Omaha World-Herald published its five-part series “The Learning Gap,” … Read more
I don’t particularly like thinking about what I might do after I earn my master’s degree in journalism. J-school, for all the work and worry, is more fun than any job I’ve ever had. It feels like a great indulgence. Read more
A newsroom for journalism students. Photo courtesy Medill School of Journalism. Most of us know the frustration of desire outpacing ability. But what about coping with the reverse? What happens if you decide … Read more
A journalist in Zimbabwe, researching a story with ties to Sweden, needed to contact an investigative reporter in that Scandinavian country, though he knew no one there. In Montreal, a French-speaking reporter, working on an article about corporate sleuths, was … Read more
Most people instinctively want to teach others what they know. And journalists are no exception. It is our job, after all, to share with our readers, viewers and listeners what we discover in the course of our reporting. But many … Read more
Preferred Lies and Other Tales: Skimming the Cream of a Life in Sports Jack Whitaker Simon and Schuster. 272 Pages. $24.There is a movie scene that haunts just about every serious … Read more
Venezuelan reporter Carlos Subero constructed his own databases to analyze politicians’ performances. Swedish reporter Stefan Lisinski exposed questionable practices involving bankrupt companies by using a massive Swedish database of information on the companies and directors. Dutch journalist Marjan Agerbeek probed … Read more