ISSUE

Fall 2008

21st Century Muckrakers: Staying Local, Digging Deep

On this point, editors, reporters and newspaper readers agree. In a time of cutbacks and a shrinking news hole, at a moment when print is in peril and digital is dominant, watchdog and investigative reporting must remain at the core of journalism’s mission. In this third part of our 21st Century Muckrakers project, editors and reporters speak to how metro and regional newspapers are confronting the enormous challenges of today and offer clues to where this kind of reporting will likely be headed tomorrow.

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Articles

Opinion

The Internet: How It Changes Everything About Journalism

‘What was once an important role—making editorial choices—starts to feel more like a bottleneck in the system.’
Joshua Benton
October 10, 2008
Opinion

Reporting on the White House From the Outside In

‘If reporters entrusted to cover the White House know we are in the midst of a “truth-deficient” environment, what is the most responsible way to do our work?’
Amy Goldstein
October 10, 2008
Opinion

Editorial Cartooning: Tradition, Timidity and Transition

Missing from a lot of cartooning ‘is Mauldin’s sense of righteous indignation.’
Chris Lamb
October 10, 2008
Opinion

TV News: When the Networks Were In Their Prime

During the 1960’s and 1970’s, the CBS Washington bureau—including Roger Mudd, who now writes about it—led the way for broadcast journalism.
Bill Wheatley
October 10, 2008
Opinion

The Life and Times of a Female Foreign Correspondent

A British reporter writes about reporting from war zones and overseas assignments—and adds marriage and motherhood into the mix.
Mary Jordan
October 10, 2008
Opinion

Finger-Wagging at Journalists Doesn’t Illuminate the Problem

‘What we need—and this attempt doesn’t satisfy—is insight into how all of this happened.’
Doug Struck
October 10, 2008
Opinion

Connecting the Threads of Democracy and Journalism

‘Too often, the decision—based on expedience and expenditure—to publish what is popular or entertaining trumps what is necessary.’
Gerald B. Jordan
October 10, 2008
From the Curator

Making Change While Retaining Our Core Mission

Curators have expanded the program through the years ‘to confront the challenges brought about by societal and technological changes that affect journalism.’
Bob Giles
September 15, 2008
Uncategorized

Graphic Art as Political Commentary

The arresting images (above and below) created by Zimbabwean graphic artist Chaz Maviyane-Davies are editorial comments presented as art.Stifled by racial discrimination in white minority-ruled Rhodesia, Maviyane-Davies went into exile…
Chaz Maviyane-Davies
September 15, 2008
Uncategorized

The Emotional Tug of the Zimbabwean Story

‘I’ve fallen hard for the country and for its people and ache to go back. And when I am there, I feel more challenged as a reporter than I’ve felt…
Tracy McVeigh
September 15, 2008
Opinion

Correcting the Errors of Our Ways

‘By ignoring readers’ pleas for accuracy and accountability, journalists are losing the most valuable asset: their credibility.’
Greg Brock
September 15, 2008
21st Century Muckrakers

Fall 2008: Introduction

On this point, editors, reporters and newspaper readers agree. In a time of cutbacks and a shrinking news hole, at a moment when print is in peril and digital is…
Melissa Ludtke
September 15, 2008
21st Century Muckrakers

Investigative Reporting: Keeping It Relevant, Keeping It Local

‘Our story selection is attuned to answering the question a reader might ask: How does this affect me?’
Paul D’Ambrosio
September 15, 2008
21st Century Muckrakers

Making Firm a Newspaper’s Focus on Investigative Reporting

‘In an age when our critics love to crow that news is an undifferentiated commodity available anywhere, investigative reporting clearly isn’t.’
David Boardman
September 15, 2008
21st Century Muckrakers

Investing in Watchdog Reporting

‘… the Journal Sentinel has built a 10-person Watchdog Team with a robust Web presence called Watchdog Online.’
Mark Katches
September 15, 2008
21st Century Muckrakers

Investigative Talent Departs After Awards Come In

The Blade’s commitment to investigative reporting endures despite the loss of key reporters to larger news organizations with better pay.
Dave Murray
September 15, 2008
Nieman Notes

The Rights and Responsibilities of Journalists

In his new book, Anthony Lewis offers a ‘cogent, yet complete accounting of some of the most searing issues that have faced journalists over the past decade.’
Joel Kaplan
September 15, 2008
Uncategorized

Zimbabwe: Telling the Story, Reporting the News

‘The finer points of journalism have, regrettably, had to be compromised in the desperate battle for access to information. This is guerrilla journalism ….’
Wilf Mbanga
September 15, 2008
Uncategorized

In Zimbabwe, Courage Is the Journalist’s Companion

‘What Mugabe did not want the press to report was how he was using systematic state torture and violence against blacks opposed to his rule.’
Andrew Meldrum
September 15, 2008
21st Century Muckrakers

Team Reporting on a Watchdog Project

Tensions surfaced as an investigative team produced a six-part series amid pressures of a downsized newsroom.
Darren Barbee
September 15, 2008
21st Century Muckrakers

From Idea, to Beat Reporting, to Investigative Project

At the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the I-team created a new strategy to make certain that watchdog journalism is featured in the newspaper.
Lois Norder
September 15, 2008
21st Century Muckrakers

Joining Forces to Produce Public Service Journalism

‘By using a model like this one, we can more effectively use our staff to do investigative journalism that holds government institutions accountable.’
David Ledford
September 15, 2008
21st Century Muckrakers

Needed: A Leader to Champion the Cause

In restructuring The Post and Courier’s newsroom, the top editor strengthened the focus on investigative journalism in the newspaper and on the Web.
Doug Pardue
September 15, 2008
21st Century Muckrakers

Remembering the Value of Investigative Journalism

A newspaper editor describes six newsroom strategies that ensure that watchdog reporting thrives—even at news organizations where resources are limited.
Rex Smith
September 15, 2008
Opinion

Public Service Pulitzers: How These Stories Were Told

Reporters’ experiences ‘remind journalists why they are in their business and inform the rest of the world how the mission of the press fits into society.’
Elizabeth Mehren
September 15, 2008
Nieman Notes

Georgian Journalists Send Word of Their Fate

‘The situation is insane.… My friends—both journalists—were killed in Ossetia. Just confirmed that..am devastated..’
Karl Idsvoog
September 15, 2008
21st Century Muckrakers

Changing Circumstances Delay An Investigation—and Lead to a New Approach

With The Blade’s I-team no longer functioning, the paper’s only investigative reporter now partners with beat reporters to do watchdog stories.
Steve Eder
September 15, 2008
21st Century Muckrakers

Nurturing Newsroom Talent With Local Investigations

‘For projects, the newspaper now typically links a lead investigative reporter with beat reporters.’
Michael Sallah
September 15, 2008
21st Century Muckrakers

Connecting Congressional Earmarks With Campaign Contributions

An investigative reporter creates a database of earmarks revealing the relationship between wasteful spending and political favors.
David Heath
September 15, 2008
21st Century Muckrakers

Employing Different Strategies With Two Projects

‘… investigative reporting can be just as effective at revealing why something did happen as it can be in documenting how something could happen.’
Ron Menchaca
September 15, 2008
21st Century Muckrakers

Finding Support for a Lengthy Mission

To do this investigative story, ‘we needed the total investment of our editors, our newspaper’s publisher and, in turn, Hearst Corporation executives.’
Brendan Lyons
September 15, 2008
21st Century Muckrakers

When Fierce Competitors Join the Same Team

North Carolina’s leading newspapers now publish each other’s investigative work ‘as prominently as we would have had we reported them ourselves.’
Gary Schwab
September 15, 2008
21st Century Muckrakers

The Benefits of Computer-Assisted Reporting

‘… in this day of easily accessible data, computer expertise can be a great equalizer.’
Jason Method
September 15, 2008
Opinion

The Missourian: A Unique Approach to Teaching Journalism

‘All journalism schools have trouble reconciling vocational goals and academic needs, and the conflict was felt first and most sharply at Missouri.’
Philip Meyer
September 15, 2008
21st Century Muckrakers

Investigative Reporting: Strategies for Its Survival

New funding mechanisms and newsroom changes are needed if watchdog journalism is to thrive in small and midmarket news organizations.
Edward Wasserman
September 15, 2008
Nieman Notes

The Rights and Responsibilities of Journalists

In his new book, Anthony Lewis offers a ‘cogent, yet complete accounting of some of the most searing issues that have faced journalists over the past decade.’
Joel Kaplan
September 15, 2008
Opinion

Journalists and Neighbors: Mehren and Harris

Now for a little truth-and-disclosure. Roy Harris is both a friend and a neighbor. He and I met 10 years ago on a fundraising walk for our local wildlife rescue…
Elizabeth Mehren
September 15, 2008
21st Century Muckrakers

Public Investigator: Transforming Tips Into Stories

Two reporters use quick-hit, watchdog journalism to investigate local issues—and blog about what they do.
Ellen Gabler
September 15, 2008