January/February 2013

Articles

‘Survival of the wrongest’

How personal-health journalism ignores the fundamental pitfalls baked into all scientific research and serves up a daily diet of unreliable information

By David H. Freedman Jan 2, 2013 at 12:00 AM

In late 2011, in a nearly 6,000-word article in The New York Times Magazine, health writer Tara Parker-Pope laid... More

Chemical reaction

HuffPost’s Cara Santa Maria wants to ‘Talk Nerdy’ to you

By Fred Schruers Jan 2, 2013 at 12:00 AM

The tattoo on Cara Santa Maria’s inner right forearm isn’t exactly the kind of ink drunken sailors get. “Yeah,... More

Safe at the plate?

Every few months, an outbreak of foodborne illness roils the nation. But a byzantine regulatory system and a patchwork approach to coverage in depleted newsrooms ensures the press is always playing catch-up on the food-safety story.

By Helena Bottemiller Jan 2, 2013 at 12:00 AM

Editors’ Note: Bottemiller’s bio should have mentioned that her employer, Food Safety News, is published by the law firm... More

Another round of Cosmos

An American popular scientist in the Carl Sagan tradition, Neil deGrasse Tyson explains why he tweets, and why the US needs to rediscover its space mojo

By Curtis Brainard Jan 2, 2013 at 12:00 AM

When it comes to making science popular and accessible, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson does it all. He’s the director... More

My space

Internet visionary Esther Dyson is ready for liftoff

By Cyndi Stivers Jan 2, 2013 at 12:00 AM

Esther Dyson always figured she would ride a rocket one day. As the daughter of renowned physicist Freeman Dyson,... More

Snow job?

In the 2012 election, Denver broadcasters accepted an avalanche of political ads and the attendant windfall of revenue. Where did that money go, and what happens next time?

By Sasha Chavkin Jan 2, 2013 at 12:00 AM

Side by side, the two cartoon figures stride across the screen, their stick arms wrapped around massive boxes of gifts.... More

Fundamental objections

Reporters in Pakistan’s lawless tribal areas are under threat, underpaid, and overwhelmed

By Kiran Nazish Jan 2, 2013 at 12:00 AM

Thirty seconds into a phone conversation, Hamid’s voice shifted from polite to brusque. “No, I cannot look into this,”... More

Power vacuum

Working in Sierra Leone is a constant search for current and currency

By Simon Akam Jan 2, 2013 at 12:00 AM

About two years ago, I took a position as a freelance correspondent for Reuters in the West African nation... More

Where truth is a hard cell

Although seen as modern and West-leaning, Turkey leads the world in jailing journalists

By Stephen Franklin Jan 2, 2013 at 12:00 AM

Award-winning investigative reporter Ahmet Sik is no stranger to danger. In 1998, he was hospitalized after a pro-police mob,... More

Staying alive

That’s the challenge for reporters covering the ultraviolent drug cartels in Mexico — but at least now they’re getting tips from their Colombian colleagues

By Judith Matloff Jan 2, 2013 at 12:00 AM

The 20 Mexican journalists had flown to the border of Guatemala to discuss how to report on drug activities... More

Through the looking glass

When a South Korean reporter headed north across the DMZ, she entered a parallel universe that was, and remains, curiouser and curiouser

By Soomin Seo Jan 2, 2013 at 12:00 AM

On the eve of August 12, 2001, I received a phone call in the middle of the night. It... More

Elements of Gangnam style

Reporting tips from Kim Jong-il

By Liz Cox Barrett Jan 2, 2013 at 12:00 AM

In 2001, Kim Jong-il began wooing the foreign media. But The Dear Leader had long since been pursuing his... More

Departments

Superstorm Sandy’s aftermath on journalism

By The Editors Jan 2, 2013 at 12:00 AM

A fter Superstorm Sandy swamped the nation’s media capital in October, some shops, such as the Daily News and American... More

Obamacare: round two

A chance for journalistic redemption

By The Editors Jan 2, 2013 at 12:00 AM

The Affordable Care Act, a.k.a Obamacare, is the law of the land, and the re-election of the president ensures... More

Letters to the editor

Readers respond to our November / December issue

By The Editors Jan 2, 2013 at 12:00 AM

Good publicity Re: “Rules of the Game: The sometimes nauseating, often fun, and always absurd life of a movie publicist”... More

How I got that story

Explosive situation

By The Editors Jan 2, 2013 at 12:00 AM

In 2005, Jerry Redfern and Karen Coates were in Laos reporting a story on the Plain of Jars region... More

Like you were

By Merrill Perlman Jan 2, 2013 at 12:00 AM

Using “like” as a conjunction can earn you dirty looks from some quarters. The example most often cited by anti-conjunctionists... More

Hard Numbers

Weird science

By Sara Morrison Jan 2, 2013 at 12:00 AM

95 weekly science sections in newspapers in 1989 34 weekly science sections in newspapers in 2005 19 weekly science sections... More

Strange but true

Tales from the sports beat

By Marla Jo Fisher Jan 2, 2013 at 12:00 AM

C. W. Nevius, San Francisco Chronicle In 1990, the San Francisco 49ers had a big Monday Night Football game, and... More

Sree tips

Social-media etiquette for journalists

By Sree Sreenivasan Jan 2, 2013 at 12:00 AM

Q: What is the advantage of Facebook’s Subscribe function for journalists? A: Facebook’s Subscribe function allows you to share your... More

Headlines that editors probably wish they could take back

By The Editors Jan 2, 2013 at 12:00 AM

- CBSNews.com, 11/9/12 - Newspaper Research Journal, Summer 2012 - KHOU.com, 9/2/12 - The New York Times, 11/22/12 -... More

Darts & Laurels 2012

2012’s media highlights and lowlights

By The Editors Jan 2, 2013 at 12:00 AM

DART for inflaming an already tense situation: Business Insider, The Daily Caller, Michelle Malkin, NBC News Following Trayvon Martin’s death... More

Ideas & Reviews

You’ve got shale!

Brian Cohen and the Marcellus Shale Documentary Project

By Brent Cunningham Jan 2, 2013 at 12:00 AM

The story of Janet McIntyre, the woman in the photo above, embodies many of the reasons why Brian Cohen... More

A beautiful mind

In Is There No Place on Earth for Me?, Susan Sheehan told the complete story of one woman’s struggles with schizophrenia

By Jennifer Gonnerman Jan 2, 2013 at 12:00 AM

There were times when the lobby of The Village Voice seemed to be a magnet for crazy people. When... More

Motor City madman

Charlie LeDuff dissects his Detroit hometown

By Bill Shea Jan 2, 2013 at 12:00 AM

In recent years, a journalistic cottage industry has emerged around the collapse of once-vibrant Detroit, the implosion of the... More

Fait inaccompli

Why the world failed to rebuild Haiti after the earthquake

By Justin Peters Jan 2, 2013 at 12:00 AM

On March 31, 2010, almost three months after an earthquake devastated Port-au-Prince, the capital city of the poorest nation... More

Unfinished business

A new biography of photojournalist Tim Hetherington reflects on a too-short career

By Michael Meyer Jan 2, 2013 at 12:00 AM

In recent years, as the American public has grown exhausted by news of war, it has become ever more... More

Brief Encounters

Short reviews of A Journalist’s Diplomatic Mission and The Noir Forties

By James Boylan Jan 2, 2013 at 12:00 AM

A Journalist's Diplomatic Mission: Ray Stannard Baker's World War I Diary | Edited with an introduction by John Maxwell Hamilton... More

Huey, Luce, and the news

John Huey takes a Time Inc. out

By Cyndi Stivers Jan 2, 2013 at 12:00 AM

At year-end, Time Inc. editor in chief John Huey quietly announced plans to head to a fellowship at Harvard... More

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New survey reveals everything you think about freelancing is true - Data from Project Word quantifies challenges of freelance investigative reporting

Why one editor won’t run any more op-eds by the Heritage Foundation’s top economist - A reply to Paul Krugman on state taxes and job growth made some incorrect claims

Why we ‘stave off’ colds - It all started with wine

The New Republic, then and now - Tallying the staff turnover at the overhauled magazine

Why serious journalism can coexist with audience-pleasing content - Legacy media organizations should experiment with digital platforms while continuing to publish hard news

Why Bill O'Reilly can play hardball on his war zone story (5)

Why scientists often hate records requests (4)

Showdown over the future of independent documentaries at PBS (2)

The LA Times goes deep on superbug outbreak (2)

Why Jan Brewer is sounding like James Risen (2)

Tweets by @CJR

Email blasts from CJR writers and editors

The rise of feelings journalism (TNR)

“Bloom engaged in an increasingly popular style of writing, which I’ve discussed on my blog before, which I call “feelings journalism.” It involves a writer making an argument based on what they imagine someone else is thinking, what they feel may be another person’s feelings. The realm of fact, of reporting, has been left behind.”

Things a war correspondent should never say (WSJ)

“The correspondent retelling war stories surely knows that fellow correspondents had faced the same dangers or worse”

The joyful, bloody media circus of bringing down Brian Williams (Bloomberg)

“In the media, we eat our own for sport”

On WaPo trying to interview a cow (National Journal)

“‘I wasn’t milked on the White House lawn by a strange man,’ The Washington Post—the venerable institution that would later come to break the Watergate scandal and win 48 Pulitzers—quoted her, a farm animal, as saying”

Bloggingheads

Greg Marx discusses democracy and news with Tom Rosenstiel of the American Press Institute

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