Nieman Reports

Spring 2001

Colombia: The War Against Journalists

Reporting on Colombia’s war is extremely dangerous for journalists. For what they publish and broadcast, reporters are threatened and harassed, kidnapped and beaten, driven into exile and murdered. Only in Algeria have more journalists been murdered during recent years in retaliation for the work they do.

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International Journalism: Columbia: The War Against Journalists

Spring 2001: Introduction

By Melissa Ludtke• International Journalism• March 15, 2001

Can What Ails Colombia Be Fixed?

By Linda Robinson• International Journalism• March 15, 2001

As the war intensifies and U.S. money is sent, the story hits Page One. Read more

Violence Against Journalists in Colombia

By Marylene Smeets• International Journalism• March 15, 2001

Impunity surrounds these crimes. Read more

Journalists Murdered, Attacked, Kidnapped and Threatened in Colombia

International Journalism• March 15, 2001

Between 1986 and 1995, 43 journalists were murdered in Colombia, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which suspects this number is an underestimate since many reported murders of provincial print and radio reporters could not be confirmed. Most … Read more

Truth in the Crossfire

By Jineth Bedoya Lima• International Journalism• March 15, 2001

In a brutal attack, ‘my truth…was dealt a mortal wound.’ Read more

Colombia’s War Takes Place on a Global Stage

By Ignacio G. Gómez• International Journalism• March 15, 2001

In exposing the roots and connections of violence, journalists risk their lives. Read more

In Colombia, Journalists Have Many Enemies

By Francisco Santos• International Journalism• March 15, 2001

‘The first and most damning effect is self-censorship.’ Read more

The Risks American Journalists Confront in Colombia

By Tod Robberson• International Journalism• March 15, 2001

Staying safe sometimes collides with aggressively reporting on the war. Read more

Spending Time on the Frontlines of Colombia’s War

By Linda Robinson• International Journalism• March 15, 2001

Taking personal risks is part of the job of a foreign correspondent. Read more

Frontline Images

By Steve Salisbury• International Journalism• March 15, 2001

All photos by Steve Salisbury.© At left, Colombian Marines patrol the Magdalena River in north central Colombia, one of the country’s most dangerous areas. At right, adolescent girls make up a significant part … Read more

Journalist's Trade: Reporting on the Economic Underbelly

Spring 2001: Reporting on the Economic Underbelly Introduction

By Melissa Ludtke• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2001

Lynda McDonnell, political editor for the St. Paul Pioneer-Press and former poverty reporter, finds much “ingenious, committed reporting” on the lives of the poor but also sees “missed opportunities.” Why? As McDonnell writes, “poverty and poor people don’t have … Read more

Neither Publishers nor Readers Clamor for Stories About the Poor

By Lynda McDonnell• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2001

Even so, the hard work of reporting about poverty has lasting value. Read more

Covering Race, Poverty and Class in the New Gilded Age

By Jonathan Kaufman• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2001

“So, what are you working on?” a friend asked me recently as we waited in line to see a movie. I told him about a story I was writing about racial tensions in an upper-middle-class suburb outside Washington, D.C.. “Oh, … Read more

Reporting About Poverty and Race Needs to Change

By Nick Kotz• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2001

Yet journalists too often convey only a one-dimensional sense of déjà vu. Read more

Forgotten Stories About Forgotten People

By Peter Edelman• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2001

‘Journalists could do a much better job reminding us of who we are supposed to be.’ Read more

Going Home to Rediscover Appalachia

By Diana Nelson Jones• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2001

A reporter tells the story of poverty by looking through a different lens. Read more

Carefully Choosing the Images of Poverty

By Steve Mellon• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2001

A photographer considers what message images will convey. Read more

‘The Price of Prosperity’

By Roland De Wolk• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2001

Journalists unearth stories beneath the veneer of wealth. Read more

Filling a Void Left By Mainstream Media

By Raj Jayadev• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2001

Young temporary workers in Silicon Valley write out of their own experience. Read more

These Pictures Are Not About the Photographer

By Harvey Wang• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2001

The camera documents humanity behind forgotten façades. Read more

Journalist's Trade: Tapping New Sources

Spring 2001: Tapping New Sources Introduction

By Melissa Ludtke• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2001

Richard C. Harwood teaches journalists strategies for finding valuable new sources. He describes how perspectives of people from various layers of civic life often go untapped by reporters and how, by tapping them, coverage of a community can be … Read more

Understanding the Community’s Civic Life

By Richard Harwood• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2001

Journalists’ tools include new questions and different sources. Read more

Civic Mapping Can Ignite a Reporter’s Curiosity

By Karen Lin Clark• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2001

At The San Diego Union-Tribune, community experiences become stories. Read more

Looking for Stories in All the ‘Third Places’

By John X. Miller• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2001

In Detroit, reporters use civic mapping to find new stories and sources. Read more

Finding a Path to Cross a Racial Divide

By Kathy Spurlock• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2001

Reporters began to listen rather than assume they knew what the story was. Read more

Journalist's Trade: Youth Journalism

Spring 2001: Youth Journalism Introduction

By Melissa Ludtke• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2001

Mark Goodman, director of the Student Press Law Center, laments the lessons about journalism and the First Amendment that young people are learning as adults censor what they write. “Professionals who fail to defend student press freedom will have only themselves to blame when young journalists they hire are one day as indifferent to the First Amendment as many working journalists are now to the problems confronted by the high-school press,” Goodman warns. Read more

Freedom of the Press Stops at the Schoolhouse Gate

By Mark Goodman• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2001

The consequences of student press censorship could be devastating. Read more

Creating a Network of Young Reporters

By Laurie Becklund• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2001

We’re still thinking about saving high-school newspapers. But, if we start now, they might be able to save us. Read more

Sparking a Passion for Journalism in High School

By Diana Mitsu Klos• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2001

A journalism association works to strengthen a tenuous but invaluable resource. Read more

Reporting Compelling Stories About Ordinary Teens

By Barbara Walsh• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2001

‘Pretend you’re an archeologist or an alien recording their world.’ Read more

Extraordinary Stories Emerge out of Daily Lives

By Katherine Cowy Kim• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2001

At Youth Outlook, diverse voices portray youthful experiences. Read more

Letting the Voices of Young Women Be Heard

By Celina De León• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2001

At Teen Voices, real-life experiences are the stuff of which stories are made. Read more

Journalist's Trade: Political Journalism

Spring 2001: Political Journalism Introduction

By Melissa Ludtke• Politics• March 15, 2001

Steve Nordlinger, a former reporter and editor at The (Baltimore) Sun, uses a Maryland example to illustrate how the media all but ignore coverage of Congressional races when incumbents run. Read more

When Incumbents Run in House Races, The Press Stays Home

By Steve Nordlinger• Politics• March 15, 2001

In Maryland, major news organizations ignored a close congressional race. Read more

Nieman Reports

Spring 2001

Colombia: The War Against Journalists

International Journalism: Columbia: The War Against Journalists

Journalist's Trade: Reporting on the Economic Underbelly

Journalist's Trade: Tapping New Sources

Journalist's Trade: Youth Journalism

Journalist's Trade: Political Journalism

Words & Reflections: Race and Content of News

By Melissa Ludtke

By Av Westin

By Claudia L. Pryor and Gregory M. Branch

By Erna Smith

By Arlene Notoro Morgan

By Arlene Notoro Morgan

By Angelo B. Henderson

By Steve Corrigan

By Margaret Bailey

By DeWayne Wickham

Words & Reflections: "The Elements of Journalism"

By Melissa Ludtke

By Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel

Words & Reflections: Book Reviews

By Melissa Ludtke

By Robert Jensen

By Anil Padmanabhan

Curator's Corner

By Bob Giles

Nieman Notes

By Peter Turnley

By Lois Fiore

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