Opinion

There Is an Open War on Facts and Truth. That’s Why We Need Accountability Reporting in Political Stories

There Is an Open War on Facts and Truth. That’s Why We Need Accountability Reporting in Political Stories

I’ll just say it: There is no returning to a pre-pandemic normal for journalists because the game has changed, whether news organizations want to recognize it or not.Three major developments…
Challenging Traditional Views of Objectivity Is Not a Call to Lower Standards But to Reexamine Them

Challenging Traditional Views of Objectivity Is Not a Call to Lower Standards But to Reexamine Them

The New York Times story about internal struggles at the ACLU. is an illustration of the futility of clinging to “objectivity.” It parallels the wrestling over the First Amendment and…
Post-Covid, Newsrooms Should Cover What’s Going Right in Indian Country, Too

Post-Covid, Newsrooms Should Cover What’s Going Right in Indian Country, Too

In late March, the Navajo Nation reported no new daily Covid-19 cases for the first time in six months. For the largest reservation in the U.S. — whose borders expand…
3 Steps Toward Making NPR More Inclusive and Diverse

3 Steps Toward Making NPR More Inclusive and Diverse

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, I worked at National Public Radio (NPR). First as an intern and later as an assistant editor and producer. Back then, my commute…
In Polarized Times, Local Papers Need to Lean Even Harder into Tough Issues

In Polarized Times, Local Papers Need to Lean Even Harder into Tough Issues

When I was 12, my buddy Robbie Davis and I went to see the movie “Titanic.” When my dad picked us up that evening, he asked us how we enjoyed…
Lukashenko’s Hijacking of the Free Press in Belarus

Lukashenko’s Hijacking of the Free Press in Belarus

The audacity of the Belarusian diversion of an international flight in order to arrest a dissident journalist rightly drew global headlines and global condemnation this week. But it’s not exactly…
For Visual Journalists, The Pandemic Was Creative Inspiration to Try Harder

For Visual Journalists, The Pandemic Was Creative Inspiration to Try Harder

The pandemic brought out the very best in my teammates.I’m the director of photo/video at the Star Tribune in Minneapolis. Throughout my 22 years at the paper, I’ve observed plenty…
Adam Toledo, Bodycam Footage, and Coverage of Police Shootings

Adam Toledo, Bodycam Footage, and Coverage of Police Shootings

I started the video at about 5:01 and just let it play, as part of my Exploring Fake News journalism class at Davidson College this past semester.The video was captured…
The Newsroom Is Dead. Long Live the Newsroom!

The Newsroom Is Dead. Long Live the Newsroom!

I asked a friend the other day if he was eager to get back to the newsroom we once shared. The publisher has indicated that the doors will reopen as…
The Old Normal Is Not the Normal Journalism Needs

The Old Normal Is Not the Normal Journalism Needs

George Floyd was alive the last time my newsroom was open.Think about that.So were a half million Americans and three-plus million citizens of the world, now lost to the plague…