The Magazine
January/February 2013
Articles
Cover Story
‘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
Cover Story
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
Cover Story
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
Cover Story
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
Cover Story
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
Feature
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
Feature
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
Feature
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
Feature
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
Feature
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
Feature
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
Feature
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
Opening Shot
Opening Shot
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
Editorial
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
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
Currents
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
Language Corner
Language Corner
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
Currents
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
Currents
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
Currents
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
The Lower Case
The Lower Case
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 and Laurels
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
On the Job
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
Second Read
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
Critical Eye
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
Critical Eye
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
Critical Eye
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
Critical Eye
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
Q and A
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

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

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”

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

CJR's Guide to Online News Startups
ACEsTooHigh.com – Reporting on the science, education, and policy surrounding childhood trauma
Who Owns What
The Business of Digital Journalism
A report from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
Questions and exercises for journalism students.
