Author

Melissa Ludtke

@MelissaLudtke

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

Summer 2003: Watchdog Reporting Introduction

As part of the Nieman Foundation’s Watchdog Journalism Project, Nieman Reports is featuring two articles about watchdog reporting. In the first, Deborah Henley, executive editor of The (Delaware) News Journal,…
June 15, 2003

Summer 2003: Introduction

It’s always been a tug-of-war between secretive government officials and those whose job it is—the press—to hold them and their actions accountable. In peaceful times, no elected leaders, no appointed…
June 15, 2003

Summer 2003: Medical Reporting Introduction

“The chasm between medical journalists and physicians appears mostly to be one of ignorance rather than conflicting interests or malice,” writes Terry L. Schraeder, who for 10 years worked as…
June 15, 2003

Summer 2003: Words & Reflections Introduction

Is it possible for truth to exist in journalism? This question resides at the core of “The Press Effect: Politicians and the Stories That Shape the Political World,” a book…
June 15, 2003

Spring 2003: Introduction

The December election of South Korea’s new president, Roh Moo-hyun, writes In-Yong Rhee, a news commentator for Seoul’s Munwha Broadcasting Corporation and current Nieman Fellow, was a “victory of the…
March 15, 2003

Spring 2003: Words & Reflections Introduction

Journalists Testifying at War Crimes TribunalsShould journalists who cover war be required to testify before tribunals in which cases involving those accused of war crimes are heard? A December 2002…
March 15, 2003

Spring 2003: Journalist’s Trade Introduction

As New England bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times, Elizabeth Mehren reports for West Coast readers on the region’s newsworthy events. In her story opening our series of articles…
March 15, 2003

Spring 2003: Introduction

Few topics receive more media attention today than the topic of health. Yet, in the view of some journalists, many of the stories being told about health are not ones…
March 15, 2003

Winter 2002: Introduction

Four decades ago reporting on the environment was what Paul Rogers, natural resources and environment writer at the San Jose Mercury News, calls “a fringe pursuit.” He writes that “the…
December 15, 2002

Winter 2002: Journalist’s Trade Introduction

“To teach the craft of journalism is a worthy goal but clearly insufficient in this new world and within the setting of a great university,” Lee C. Bollinger, the new…
December 15, 2002