AJR Archives
 
Year :
Issue :
 
August/September 2005
   Features
All in the Family
Washington Post reporter John Mintz trades investigative journalism for investigative work with his brother’s firm.   > read more
By  Katrina Altersitz
See No Evil
FEMA’s efforts to block photos of New Orleans’ dead is right out of the playbook of the “no bad news” administration.   > read more
By  Rem Rieder
Blacked Out
If President Bush and his key people paid more attention to the news media, the government response to the tragedy in New Orleans might not have been so tepid.   > read more
By  Rachel Smolkin
Just Say No
Kudos to Bob Costas for taking a pass on the Natalee Holloway story.   > read more
By  Rem Rieder
The Post Backs Off
But it never should have gotten itself involved with the Pentagon’s Freedom Walk in the first place.   > read more
By  Rem Rieder
Opening Up
John Robinson, editor of North Carolina's Greensboro News & Record, talks about his decision to plunge his newsroom headlong into participatory journalism.   > read more
Trading Papers
You can’t tell the owners without a scorecard.   > read more
By  Rem Rieder
A Punishment Too Harsh?
A stiff suspension without pay would have been the way to go in the case of fired Miami Herald columnist Jim DeFede.   > read more
By  Rem Rieder
USA Tomorrow
After the Jack Kelley scandal struck a devastating blow to USA Today’s credibility and revealed a dysfunctional newsroom culture, the paper brought in a new editor to put the pieces back together. Ken Paulson has moved to open up lines of communication and to tighten sourcing and attribution rules. RACHEL SMOLKIN takes the temperature of the nation’s largest-circulation newspaper.   > read more
By  Rachel Smolkin
A Source of Encouragement
A new First Amendment Center/AJR survey finds that 69 percent of the public thinks journalists should be allowed to keep a news source confidential.   > read more
By  Rachel Smolkin
When the Post Banned Anonymous Sources   > read more
By  Ben H. Bagdikian
Confronting the Culture
The culprit behind the recurring clusters of plagiarism and fabrication scandals isn’t just irresponsible youth or a few bad apples or the temptations of the Internet. It may be the newsroom culture itself.   > read more
By  Lori Robertson
Journalism’s Backseat Drivers
The ascendant blogosphere has rattled the news media with its tough critiques and nonstop scrutiny of their reporting. But the relationship between the two is more complex than it might seem. In fact, if they stay out of the defensive crouch, the battered mainstream media may profit from the often vexing encounters.   > read more
By  Barb Palser
Wiki: Don’t Lose That Number
Despite the Los Angeles Times’ fiasco, the interactive online tool holds promise for journalism.   > read more
By  Jennifer Dorroh
Short Attention Span
As the fourth anniversary of 9/11 approaches, the U.S. news media--with some stellar exceptions--are not distinguishing themselves with their coverage of homeland security.   > read more
By  Sherry Ricchiardi
I'll Be Brief
In a world of tight newsholes, no-jump edicts and time-starved readers, newspapers are turning to short-form narratives in an effort to bring heightened creativity to small spaces   > read more
By  Carl Sessions Stepp
Covering (and Reinforcing?) Conflict
A writer wonders if typical news stories further the divide.   > read more
By  Leslie Whitaker
In Praise of Judith Miller
The controversial reporter is doing the right thing.   > read more
By  Rem Rieder
   Columns
A Day in the Life
A topsy-turvy time for the news media   > read more
By  Thomas Kunkel
Asleep at the Wheel
The media’s perplexing performance on the Downing Street memo   > read more
By  Rem Rieder
TV News Meets Cyberspace
Will freewheeling Internet users watch online shows?   > read more
By  Barb Palser
Past Their Prime
Their audience shrinking, TV newsmagazines go tabloid.   > read more
By  Deborah Potter
Paying the Piper
When government funds the media, it can control the message.   > read more
By  Jane Kirtley
Spreading the News
As circulation dwindles, newspapers turn to new products to court readers.   > read more
By  John Morton
   Drop Cap
Counting Civilian Casualties
Media organizations are relying on a little-known group that started in England for the best estimate of civilian deaths in Iraq.   > read more
By  Sarah Clark
A Media Circus in Paradise
An Alabama reporter discovers the press doesn’t quite shine in the Caribbean sun.   > read more
By  Hannah Wolfson
Jumping Front to Back
McClatchy’s unusual layout aids readers.   > read more
By  Katrina Altersitz
The Pint-Size Patriot
The Harrisburg paper debuts a “reader-friendly” version of itself.   > read more
By  Amy Worden
Jailbirds   > read more
By   Unknown
   Books
The American Media’s Sex Addiction
Sex Sells! The Media’s Journey from Repression to Obsession By Rodger Streitmatter Westview Press 284 pages; $26   > read more
Book review by  Carl Sessions Stepp
   The Beat
Nothing but Fans
New Los Angeles Times Editor Dean Baquet is a popular figure with those who have worked with him.   > read more
By  Rachel Smolkin
Changing Times
A great editor steps down in Los Angeles.   > read more
By  Rem Rieder
John Carroll Bows Out in L.A.
Dean Baquet succeeds him as Times’ editor.   > read more
By  Lori Robertson  Rachel Smolkin
De-Lovely Ombudsman
Getty hires ex-Seattle Times photo director Cole Porter as its ethics watchdog.   > read more
By  Kara Wedekind
   Cliché Corner
Cliché Corner   > read more
By   Unknown
   Letters
Webb Sightings   > read more
By   Unknown
Miller Brouhaha   > read more
By   Unknown
Weighing in on Newsweek   > read more
By   Unknown
Not Dead Yet   > read more
By   Unknown
I Won’t Back Down   > read more
By   Unknown
Quality Content   > read more
By   Unknown
   Other
The Unethical Timeline
A look at the journalism industry’s recent spate of plagiarism and fabrication cases and other transgressions:   > read more
By  Kara Wedekind
How to Do It   > read more
By  Carl Sessions Stepp
Offering Options   > read more
By  Carl Sessions Stepp