What if Political Scientists Wrote the News?
In response to this article in the Columbia Journalism Review, Slate’s Christopher Beam imagines what it would be like if academics were in charge of the news cycle: A powerful thunderstorm forced...
View ArticleWTF Friday, Detained Journalists Edition
We’ve been anxiously following the story of Clare Morgana Gillis, James Foley, and Manu Brabo, three journalists who were detained in Libya on April 5th, in the hope that they will be released soon....
View ArticleThings That Make Us Say "Gah"
We know we probably shouldn’t read The Washington Times. It is, after all, characterized by barely-edited histrionic nonsense. But sometimes people send us stuff, and sometimes we read that stuff, and...
View ArticleOn Mac McClelland’s Tale of Reporting, Rough Sex, and PTSD
(Posts on Hamdan and DSK will hopefully be coming soon, but first I’m going to discuss what turned out to be the favored write-in candidate for my next post: many of you emailed me asking for my...
View ArticleIn Which I Wade Further into the McClelland Morass, Demonstrating That I Have...
Since Mac McClelland published the article on PTSD that I discussed in my previous post, writer Edwidge Danticat has come forward with troubling allegations that McClelland did not have permission from...
View ArticleThe Internet Is Full of Amazing People, Jina Edition
In my last post, I asked my journalist readers what should be done about obtaining meaningful consent in situations where there is a language barrier between the reporter and the trauma victim/subject:...
View ArticleSahar Gul Update: NYT Public Editor Responds, Agrees with Us
Today I got the following letter from Art “Truth Vigilante” Brisbane, the NYT’s public editor: Thanks for your message about Graham Bowley’s coverage of Sahar Gul, the young Afghan girl. I am concerned...
View ArticleThe New York Times Reports on Slavery in Afghanistan, Actually Uses the S-Word.
The following is a guest post from Una Moore, who blogs for U.N. Dispatch. Thanks Una! Human rights abuses in Afghanistan are too often wrapped in euphemisms and exoticism. Think: “opium brides.” The...
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