Nothing about journalism so engages—and enrages—the public and practitioners as do discussions about whether reporters can be and are objective observers of events they describe. Innumerable studies have set out to chart bias and gather evidence to support or debunk … Read more
[July 1960] – I propose to speak tonight on a moderately pretentious topic, the public responsibilities of newspapermen and lawyers.… As my concern is public responsibility in our professions, I want to focus especially on Washington. In that city, I … Read more
A photographers’ poker game at the Halsman Studio, New York, in the early 1950’s. Gjon Mili is sitting in the white chair. Clockwise from him: Dmitri Kessel, Robert Capa, Pepi Martis, Philippe Halsman, … Read more
The Bill of Rights, as this parchment copy is now known, is on permanent display in the Rotunda of the National Archives. Courtesy National Archives and Records Administration. Read more
The American press was halfway through the century just ended before journalists began to talk seriously about press responsibility. A letter Henry Luce wrote to Robert Hutchins, President of the University of Chicago, prompted this conversation. “I know what my … Read more
[This article originally appeared in the Fall 1996 issue of Nieman Reports.] Violent crime rates have been falling, yet sensational crime coverage on television news has been rising. So have the fears of viewers who have an exaggerated sense they … Read more
“…Murrow had the sense of curiosity that all journalists have to have, a need to understand something before he talked about it, and a marvelous ear for copy.”—Friendly (left), with Edward R. Murrow. Read more
[This article originally appeared in the September 1971 issue of Nieman Reports.] …at no time in history has the world needed the professional journalist more. The strident, partisan voices of today’s society contribute heat but no light to … Read more
[This article originally appeared in the Spring 1983 issue of Nieman Reports.] Scottsdale, Arizona — Two dozen of those whose reporting from China in the 1940’s helped shape American attitudes and policies in the years culminating in the Communist victory … Read more
