Author

Melissa Ludtke

@MelissaLudtke

Melissa Ludtke was editor of Nieman Reports from 1998 to 2011.

Spring 2005: Introduction

Water is the essence of life, and its cleanliness, availability, and our use and abuse of it are stories meriting reporters’ and editors’ attention. Yet as Stuart Leavenworth, who covered…
March 15, 2005

Winter 2004: Words & Reflections Introduction

Can journalism survive in this era of punditry and attitude? If so, how?Nieman Reports posed this question about journalism’s future to 15 journalists who work in radio and television, at…
December 15, 2004

Winter 2004: Editorial Cartoons Introduction

Many newspapers have decided not to hire a full-time editorial cartoonist, but instead publish the readily available work of syndicated cartoonists. To explore what impact these decisions and other changing…
December 15, 2004

Journalist’s Trade “Africa: Stories to Be Told” Introduction (Fall 2004)

Africa is portrayed in the Western media by its extremes, observes Ugandan journalist Charles Onyango-Obbo, a managing editor with the Nation Media Group in Nairobi, Kenya. Stories about its civil…
September 15, 2004

Fall 2004: International Journalism Introduction

Foreign CorrespondenceWhile traditional Western foreign correspondents are decreasing in number at many news organizations, their work is not becoming extinct, but is “evolving into new forms,” argue John Maxwell Hamilton,…
September 15, 2004

Fall 2004: Words & Reflections Introduction

War and TerrorThe dangers and challenges to journalists who report on the war in Iraq have been amply demonstrated in threats to their safety, difficulties of establishing and maintaining trust…
September 15, 2004
The Unseen Is Made Visible

The Unseen Is Made Visible

Americans see photographs of military coffins, and repercussions follow.
June 15, 2004

Summer 2004: Journalist’s Trade Introduction

Watchdog reporting resides at the core of what journalism does. Its roots dig deeply into the common ground uniting the muckrakers’ unearthing of public and private scandals a century ago…
June 15, 2004

Summer 2004: International Journalism Introduction

The Bangkok Post managed to avoid Prime Minister Thaksin’s wrath “at a time when less august watchdogs within the Thai press were being systematically silenced,” says Philip J. Cunningham, who…
June 15, 2004

Summer 2004: Introduction

War and Terror“Government has no legitimate claim to sole control of secrecy decisions, even on matters of common defense,” Barton Gellman, a Washington Post project reporter observed when he spoke…
June 15, 2004