Michael Fitzgerald

A Davos for the Rust Belt

By Michael Fitzgerald• Election '16: Lessons for Journalism• December 9, 2016

I come from a fading industrial town—Albion, Michigan. In 1985 I would read the Chicago Tribune on how great things were in America and wonder which America it was writing about. My America, three hours from Chicago, was still mired … Read more

Pulitzer’s Forgotten Classics

By Michael Fitzgerald• August 8, 2016

From the start, the Pulitzer Prizes have sought to recognize journalists for investigating how power works, for holding the powerful to account, and for exposing abuses of power. Yet power itself ebbs and shifts, driven by cultural, political, and … Read more

Making News Websites Accessible to All

By Michael Fitzgerald• Watchdog• March 30, 2016

Elizabeth Campbell doesn’t see the Web; she hears it. Campbell is blind and uses a program called JAWS that reads aloud the text on a Web page. The problem is, JAWS reads all the text. “I’ll … Read more

What Reporters Need to Know About Covering Net Neutrality

By Michael Fitzgerald• Watchdog• March 16, 2015

Imagine that the water in your home runs more slowly in the morning, when you most need it. Cooking, drinking, showering, and watering the garden are all possible, but they take longer because the flow has been reduced to … Read more

Embracing Encryption in an Age of Surveillance

By Michael Fitzgerald• Technology• December 11, 2014

Modern communications and the rise of the surveillance state make it harder than ever for journalists abroad to protect their sources. The consequences for sources can be dire, even fatal. Journalists going abroad need to start by asking if … Read more

About Michael Fitzgerald

A Davos for the Rust Belt

Pulitzer’s Forgotten Classics

Making News Websites Accessible to All

What Reporters Need to Know About Covering Net Neutrality

Embracing Encryption in an Age of Surveillance