Articles

“I think a strong argument can be made that the residents of [poorer] areas are severely disadvantaged—as citizens, as workers, as consumers—by the lack of serious coverage from television and…

Imaging Education: the Media and Schools in AmericaEdited by Gene I. MaeroffTeachers College Press. 240 Pages. $50 hc, $23.95 pb.In the winter 1997 edition of Nieman Reports, I issued the…

After years of self-satisfied isolation, Indonesia finds itself exposed on the world’s financial pages and, occasionally, on front pages. The last time journalists paid so much attention to this immense,…

Civility: Manners, Morals, and the Etiquette of DemocracyStephen L. CarterBasic Books. 338 Pages. $25.America is suffering from a lapse in civility, and the trouble is, according to Stephen Carter, we…

I’m not very good at prognostication, although I have had my moments. I predicted in January of 1992 that Bill Clinton would become president. (I have witnesses, I swear.) I…

From November 1936, when Life magazine’s first issue appeared, until it stopped publication as a weekly in 1972, 88 of the most innovative and revered photographers found, at one time…

News Is A VerbPete HamillLibrary of Contemporary Thought. 102 Pages. $8.95.In the flood of literature lamenting the demise of good journalism, this 102-page book is a small gem.I do not…

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,…

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,…

Freedom’s Voice: The Perilous Present and Uncertain Future of the First AmendmentRobert D. RichardsBrassey’s. 177 Pages. $23.95The New York Times knew what it was doing when it hired Yale Professor…