When news organizations cover police statements, why do they do it? This isn’t a trick question. Or it shouldn’t be. In theory, reporters seek police comments to better understand matters of community safety and urgent public concern. Police statements, in … Read more
Over the past decade, democracies across the globe have experienced a recession. From the rise of authoritarian leaders like Hungary’s Viktor Orbán to the Jan. 6 insurrection and election denialism in the United States, many countries have observed declines in … Read more
On Sept. 22, Iranian journalist Niloofar Hamedi, a reporter for the Tehran-based newspaper Shargh, was arrested in her home by authorities. Her house was raided, her laptop and phone confiscated, and her Twitter account suspended. Hamedi’s husband and … Read more
Driving home from the beach a few weeks ago, I listened to a guest on NPR assert that most of the damage from Hurricane Ian was insured, implying, I imagined, that homeowners would rebuild without too much trouble. Wait, I … Read more
National Public Radio, America’s hallmark public media organization, had a unique beginning. A people’s radio of sorts, NPR was made possible by a 1967 act of Congress in 1971, with the goal of providing educational radio to the country. Fifty … Read more
Whatever happened to values voters? Were they wiped off the face of Earth like dinosaurs? Hitched a ride on unidentified interstellar object Oumuamua, which Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb thinks might be evidence of alien intelligence, and are now on … Read more
Journalists face physical dangers when they are out on the field. But they are also increasingly dealing with trolling, doxing, and death threats online — especially women and journalists of color. Online harassment can undermine journalists’ ability to do their … Read more
Elsie Robinson was not simply one of the 20th century’s most prominent women journalists: “I am not a columnist. I am a factory,” Robinson wrote to her editor at Hearst. “You’ve not been getting a feature. You have been getting … Read more
