ISSUE

Fall 2024

Dear America

International journalists are hearing echoes. From countries around the world that have witnessed the rise of autocratic and populist leaders, they are watching the U.S. and warning of a characteristic of wounded democracies everywhere: an endangered free press.

This issue of Nieman Reports features insights from nine journalists abroad, offering advice to American reporters on preparing for attacks on press freedom.

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Cover

Dear America
Features

Dear America

Advice from areas of the world where press freedom is under attack
Ann Marie Lipinski

Articles

The Lonely Crusade Against Caste
Features

The Lonely Crusade Against Caste

To give a voice to India’s marginalized, Meena Kotwal launched The Mooknayak in 2021. Now, after four years of threats and abuse, she is afraid for her daughter and the…
Puja Changoiwala
December 5, 2024
Reporting on Empty
Features

Reporting on Empty

If the industry doesn’t provide for younger journalists, will they stay?
Marigo Farr
December 3, 2024
Unerased
Features

Unerased

Vladimir Putin’s government is trying to scrub critical journalism from the internet. The Russian Independent Media Archive is standing in its way.
Ann Cooper
November 30, 2024
Sunset in Baltimore
Features

Sunset in Baltimore

David Smith built a television empire on sensational, crime-saturated newscasts. Then he bought Maryland’s premier newspaper.
Marc Fisher
November 25, 2024
Mixed Signals
Features

Mixed Signals

FM radio kept the NPR system resilient well into the digital age. Now the lifeline is fraying.
Gabe Bullard
November 18, 2024
The Future of American Democracy Amid Deepening Polarization
Live @ Lippmann

The Future of American Democracy Amid Deepening Polarization

Harvard professor Archon Fung on the country’s political divisions and strategies for reaching across party lines.
November 15, 2024
Unraveling Misinformation About the Border
Niemans @ Work

Unraveling Misinformation About the Border

A few weeks before the U.S. election, I traveled to Wisconsin, the crucial battleground state some 1,500 miles away from what’s been described as a place where evil runs rampant,…
Alfredo Corchado
November 8, 2024
The Intersection of Two All-American Stories
Niemans @ Work

The Intersection of Two All-American Stories

The story of the Pullman porters is a gift that is still giving. The Black men who worked on George Pullman’s elegant sleeping cars for the century after the Civil War first…
Larry Tye
November 1, 2024
Picking Up Where Slain Journalists Leave Off
Sounding

Picking Up Where Slain Journalists Leave Off

For Sandrine Rigaud, NF ’25, a multicultural childhood opened a path to Forbidden Stories.
Sandrine Rigaud
October 31, 2024
What’s at Stake on the Ocean Floor
Visual Journalism

What’s at Stake on the Ocean Floor

As governments and mining companies push to extract minerals from the deep sea, conservationists — and nature — warn us of the potential long-lasting ramifications
Laurel Chor
August 5, 2024

Masthead

Publisher
Ann Marie Lipinski
Editor
Laura Colarusso
Managing Editor
Samantha Henry
Contributing Editor
Henry Chu
Assistant Editor
Megan Cattel
Design
Dan Zedek