It’s a dirty job, but somebody has to do it. We should not kid ourselves by thinking that other people and institutions cannot gather and distribute crucial information. They can, they are, and they will. We are being backed into … Read more
The timing could not have been better. Several days after I was asked, as a Nieman Fellow, to write an article on the apparent lack of civility by British journalists, the Local Government Minister, Hilary Armstrong, reacted furiously while being … Read more
Freedom’s Voice: The Perilous Present and Uncertain Future of the First Amendment Robert D. Richards Brassey’s. 177 Pages. $23.95The New York Times knew what it was doing when it hired Yale … Read more
The Baltimore Afro-American, 1892-1950 Howard Farrar Greenwood Publishing Group 220 Pages. $59.95.Relatively little has been written about the struggle and rise to prominence of America’s most prodigious black newspapers. Now, with … Read more
In India, workers look like ants next to the giant ships being dismantled. Photo by Perry Thorsvik, The Baltimore Sun. Years ago I confronted the president of the Baltimore City Council, … Read more
Unlike other trades, crafts, or professions, the American press is constantly in your face in one form or another: in your eyes, your ears—and an increasing number of critics these days would add: “yes, goddamit, and also in your nose—they … Read more
In the following pages Nieman Reports continues its call for more watchdog reporting with an article by Murrey Marder cautioning that aggressive watchdog reporting does not require arrogance, an essay by Will Englund on the rewards … Read more
In a year when journalism is running wild on the Internet and the transgressions of the press have made headlines, e.g. CNN’s nerve gas broadcast, the fabricated stories in The New Republic and The Boston Globe, and the voice mail … Read more
Watching events in Jakarta, I felt the straps of my journalistic straitjacket loosening. The Indonesian government has announced the end of the licensing system. But is press freedom really dawning? I wonder. Fear of writing the truth has become such … Read more
