ISSUE

Winter 2015

The Offending Art

The Charlie Hebdo murders focused attention on the threat to Western satirists, but political cartoonists around the world are at risk. Some, such as cartoonists from Iran and China, live in exile so they can continue with their political commentary. Their status brings fresh urgency to longstanding questions around the limits of free speech, the role of satire as a form of dissent, and the relationship between political cartooning and journalism.

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Articles

Sounding

At Harvard, a Reporter Finds Hard Lessons on Diversity in Education​

Last fall, I sat in on a class at Harvard University filled with students who were working on graduate degrees in higher education. The professor posed a simple but enlightening…
Denise-Marie Ordway
March 24, 2015
For Online Publications, Data Is News
Books

For Online Publications, Data Is News

The Texas Tribune launched in late 2009 with a newsroom of veteran journalists and rising stars. And while that respected crew of reporters, editors, and columnists would go on to unearth…
Jake Batsell
March 24, 2015
Charlie Hebdo and Boko Haram: Parsing the Equivalency Debate
From the Curator

Charlie Hebdo and Boko Haram: Parsing the Equivalency Debate

The Facebook posting was striking, coming from a friend who writes powerfully about race and was now arguing against the University of Oklahoma’s expulsion of fraternity members for their racist…
Ann Marie Lipinski
March 24, 2015
At Fusion, Jane Spencer, NF ’13, brings together new media and a sense of public service
Niemans @ Work

At Fusion, Jane Spencer, NF ’13, brings together new media and a sense of public service

In Mexico City, where street harassment is notoriously aggressive, degrading catcalls are hurled at women on buses, sidewalks, and in their daily commutes.Last fall Fusion embarked on a project to…
Jane Spencer
March 24, 2015
A partnership created by Esquire’s Tyler Cabot, NF ’14, and Northeastern University empowers j-school students to tell old stories in new ways
Niemans @ Work

A partnership created by Esquire’s Tyler Cabot, NF ’14, and Northeastern University empowers j-school students to tell old stories in new ways

From the very beginning—the scrolls of maps marked with every police station, hospital, and border patrol outpost; the long discussions about satellite phones and kidnapping insurance; the phone call with…
Tyler Cabot
March 24, 2015
Niemans @ Work

2014 Visiting Fellow Samar Padmaker Halarnkar is building a data-driven site about India’s biggest challenges

Over the five months that I have been editor of IndiaSpend, a data-driven website that focuses on public interest journalism, our social media following has increased by about 600 percent, albeit…
Samar Padmaker Halarnkar
March 24, 2015
Jay Lauf of Quartz: The Homepage Isn’t Dead
Live @ Lippmann

Jay Lauf of Quartz: The Homepage Isn’t Dead

Jay Lauf found a way around trouble early in his career. He wanted to be a journalist but when he couldn’t find a job he took a position selling ads…
Jay Lauf
March 24, 2015
Bassem Youssef: The Joke Is Mightier than the Sword
Features

Bassem Youssef: The Joke Is Mightier than the Sword

When I was hosting my political satire show, “Al-Bernameg” (“The Program”), on Egyptian TV, I thought that making jokes made you immune to the risks many in the media faced.…
Bassem Youssef
March 24, 2015
The Offending Art: Political Cartooning after the Charlie Hebdo Attacks
Features

The Offending Art: Political Cartooning after the Charlie Hebdo Attacks

Philadelphia Daily News cartoonist Signe Wilkinson offered a multiple-choice test in 2010A black-robed, bearded figure hovers above Europe sprinkling drops of water, or maybe seeds, from a heart-shaped pouch. A…
Jonathan Guyer
March 24, 2015
A Blueprint for How to Make J-School Matter (Again)
Features

A Blueprint for How to Make J-School Matter (Again)

In the fall of 2000, I sat in the large seminar room at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism listening to a lecture about whether journalists should be allowed…
Amy Webb
March 19, 2015
Features

Four Lessons from Buying and Running the Outer Banks Sentinel

When I informed friends and colleagues I was leaving as associate director of the Pew Research Center’s Journalism Project to buy a weekly in North Carolina’s Outer Banks there were…
Mark Jurkowitz
March 18, 2015
Local Weeklies Are Covering the Communities Big Dailies Ignore
Features

Local Weeklies Are Covering the Communities Big Dailies Ignore

Intermission was over and the house lights were about to go down for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Brahms’s “German Requiem.” It was Saturday, October 4, 2014. Rebecca…
Barbara Selvin
March 18, 2015
In the Balkans, Whistle-Blowing News Outlets Struggle to Survive
Features

In the Balkans, Whistle-Blowing News Outlets Struggle to Survive

In August 2012, Jelena Krstović was one of the most influential people in Serbia. At just 30, she was a vice president of the country’s biggest privately owned company, Delta…
Vladimir Radomirovic
March 17, 2015
What Reporters Need to Know About Covering Net Neutrality
Watchdog

What Reporters Need to Know About Covering Net Neutrality

Imagine that the water in your home runs more slowly in the morning, when you most need it. Cooking, drinking, showering, and watering the garden are all possible, but they…
Michael Fitzgerald
March 16, 2015