July/August 2013

Articles

Woman’s work

The twisted reality of an Italian freelancer in Syria

By Francesca Borri Jul 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM

He finally wrote to me. After more than a year of freelancing for him, during which I contracted typhoid... More

Mission impossible

Is government broadcasting irrelevant?

By Gary Thomas Jul 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM

What US government agency was recently labeled "dysfunctional" by the State Department's Inspector General, and year after year is rated... More

Underwritten or undercut?

Nonprofit funding can’t solve our foreign-coverage problem

By David Conrad Jul 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM

Not long ago, some 20 news organizations decided which foreign news stories should be covered for the American audience. These... More

Future tense

Can Afghanistan’s press survive without the West’s support?

By Sabra Ayres Jul 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM

In the summer of 2012, melon crops in Afghanistan's northern Kunduz Province were nearly wiped out by a bacterial disease.... More

Lighten up

How satire will make American politics relevant again

By Dannagal G. Young Jul 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM

In spring 1998, as a senior political science major at the University of New Hampshire, I took a transformative course... More

Funny follows

Comedic tweeters

By The Editors Jul 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM

Was it William Shakespeare or @wise_kaplan who said, "Brevity is the soul of wit"? In either case, of Twitter it... More

Eye’s up

Ian Hislop explains why Private Eye’s blend of humor and investigative journalism wouldn’t work in the US

By Sara Morrison Jul 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM

Britain's bestselling current-affairs magazine, Private Eye, has been producing its biweekly and decidedly English mix of satire, industry gossip, cartoons,... More

Unconventional wisdom

John Summers was wrong for most magazines; that made him perfect for The Baffler

By Justin Peters Jul 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM

Critical thinker John Summers, editor of The Baffler, has never been afraid to speak his mind. (Aditi Mehta) In... More

Distance yearning

Done right, online courses could help democratize our newsrooms

By Lori Henson Jul 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM

In March 2012, I stood with three journalism students in Times Square, taking in the lights, color, and scope of... More

Open wide

Critics and boosters alike agree that the full implementation of Obamacare will be complicated and nerve-wracking for some people. Here’s how journalists can help.

By Trudy Lieberman Jul 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM

Much of healthcare journalism is about policy choices and the debates that shape them. The full implementation of Obamacare, however,... More

Open wide: the fine print

By Trudy Lieberman Jul 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM

This is a sidebar to the feature story "Open wide." Who's eligible? Generally, people who do not have coverage otherwise--from... More

Departments

Photojournalist Rob Hart chronicles his post-Sun-Times life

By The Editors Jul 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM

O n May 30, the entire photo staff of the Chicago Sun-Times--28 full-time photographers, including Pulitzer Prize-winner John H. White--were... More

Teach a man to fish

How the media can help fix our broken food-aid system

By The Editors Jul 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM

In their 2009 book Enough: Why The World's Poorest Starve in an Age of Plenty, Roger Thurow and Scott Kilman... More

Letters to the editor

Readers respond to our May/June issue

By The Editors Jul 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM

The draw Re: "Streams of consciousness" by Ben Adler (CJR, May/June) Great read! As a millennial, I of course found... More

Open Bar

The Esquire Tavern

By Jennifer McInnis Jul 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM

The Esquire Tavern San Antonio, TX Year opened Originally in 1933, the year Prohibition ended. It closed in 2006,... More

Orchestra pits

By Merrill Perlman Jul 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM

Bob Kamman writes that he's seen "orchestrated" or "carefully orchestrated" misused a lot. He quoted a New York Times article... More

Bad news

Worst job in America?

By The Editors Jul 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM

Okay, so the newspaper business isn't exactly thriving; and the idea of casting a reporter as the hero in... More

Hard numbers

All the news that’s fit to fake

By Sara Morrison Jul 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM

1.4 million average viewers of The Daily Show With Jon Stewart ages 18-49 1.1 million average viewers of The Colbert... More

Innovation watch

A bucket brigade

By Nathan Hurst Jul 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM

Last October, the day before Newsweek announced it would be shutting down its print edition, Peter Bilak launched a... More

WTF?

China rising

By The Editors Jul 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM

First came CCTV's big boxer shorts, now the People's Daily's colossal phallus. As the Chinese state media look to conquer... More

Darts & Laurels

Bad bikes, coaches’ cash, etc.

By The Editors Jul 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM

DART to The Wall Street Journal for its video segment ("Death by Bicycle") in which editorial-board member Dorothy Rabinowitz... More

Social-media watch

I ♥ the briny deep

By The Editors Jul 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM

According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the vast swaths of the world's oceans... More

Title search

Human-capital consultant

By Jay Woodruff Jul 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM

Shane Williams is a human-capital and executive-search consultant at Egon Zehnder International. After earning his PhD in biochemistry at... More

Strange but true

Before you go…

By Carrie Ching Jul 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM

Carrie Ching is developing a storytelling series about journalists called Off The Record. To introduce the series to CJR... More

The lower case

Headlines that editors probably wish they could take back

By The Editors Jul 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM

--Talking Points Memo, 4/22/13 --ESPN, 5/28/13 --Yle Uutiset, 5/29/13 --Ventura County (CA) Star, 4/30/13 --Des Moines Register, 4/8/13 --AOL... More

On the job

Strong finish

By Kira Goldenberg Jul 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM

Shortly before 3pm on April 15, Boston Globe reporter Michael Rezendes was in the home stretch of his seventh... More

Ideas & Reviews

Clarion call

The future of the alternative press can be found in its past

By Chris Faraone Jul 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM

Alt-media maven Stephen Mindich, longtime publisher of the Boston Phoenix, in 1976. (Peter Simon) I spent the morning of... More

DC deep-freeze

Pols no longer need us more than we need them

By James Rosen Jul 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM

The voice on the other end of the line was grave. It belonged to Kristie Greco, the top leadership aide... More

News havens

Dan Kennedy shows why news startups matter

By Michael Meyer Jul 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM

The New Haven Independent is almost surely the smallest news organization ever chronicled at book length. Founded in 2005 by... More

Wingnut commander

Roger Ailes, Fox News, and the future of journalism

By Jim Sleeper Jul 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM

Roger Ailes Off Camera: An inside look at the founder and head of Fox News By Zev Chafets Sentinel... More

Brief encounters

Short reviews of Cotton Tenants, Media Capital, and Death Zones and Darling Spies

By James Boylan Jul 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM

Cotton Tenants: Three Families | By James Agee and Walker Evans, Edited by John Summers, Preface by Adam Haslett |... More

Exit interview

Nicholas Lemann ends a decade as dean of the Columbia University Journalism School

By Cyndi Stivers Jul 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM

Nicholas Lemann, dean of the Columbia Journalism School, has decided to head back to the classroom after 10 years... More

Most Popular
Most Commented
Twitter

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

If you like the magazine, get the rest of the year for just $19.95 (6 issues in all).
If not, simply write cancel on the bill and return it. You will owe nothing.