Questions the Press Should Ask http://www.NiemanWatchdog.org For reporters and editors, is there a more important story for democracy in America than the laws making it harder, sometimes almost impossible, for millions of people to vote? Wendy Weiser of the Brennan Center spells them out: 22 new laws and two executive actions in 17 states, and at least 74 more restrictive bills pending in 24 states. http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=background.view/backgroundid=634 Wed, 16 May 2012 00:00 EST Hank Banta offers an arithmetic lesson for Edward Conard, the former Bain executive who says the gigantic distortion in income in America is good and proper. Banta also urges the press to note the absurdity of the claim and, for once, use some intelligent judgment in writing instead of sticking to false ideas of 'balance.' http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=background.view/backgroundid=633 Tue, 15 May 2012 00:00 EST Memo to ALEC members on how to dodge pointed inquiries into the group's mechanisms exposes its vulnerability to accusations that it is a lobbying arm for corporate interests. http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=ask_this.view/askthisid=563 Mon, 14 May 2012 00:00 EST The Times let government officials anonymously attack a group of journalists and a lawyer who have uncovered evidence that belies the White House's claim that drones aren't killing many civilians. Was their rationale for that justified? http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=ask_this.view/askthisid=562 Fri, 11 May 2012 00:00 EST The US says civilian deaths by CIA drones are 'exceedingly rare', but the survivors of one attack that killed 50 in Pakistan describe the horror of a Hellfire hit in a petition to the government to criminally charge those responsible. http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=showcase.view/showcaseid=177 Thu, 10 May 2012 00:00 EST Telecom activist Bruce Kushnick asks: Will Verizon be held accountable for its broken promises? Or will it get a slap on the wrist and the OK to abandon wired telephone service? http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=background.view/backgroundid=632 Tue, 08 May 2012 00:00 EST One new resource from the Committee to Protect Journalists ranks countries by their failure to punish the murder of journalists; another offers advice on how not to become a victim. http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=showcase.view/showcaseid=176 Mon, 07 May 2012 00:00 EST Barry Sussman describes how it was that the Washington Post's Watergate reporters came to call on grand jurors, and says that, as an editor, if a similar situation arose he would make the same assignment again. http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=showcase.view/showcaseid=175 Thu, 03 May 2012 00:00 EST Verizon's decision to stop expanding FiOS, in favor of wireless, shafts millions of customers who paid billions for a network upgrade and didn't get it. http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=background.view/backgroundid=631 Wed, 02 May 2012 00:00 EST Two mainstay Washington political scientists urge the press to cease its distorting ‘even-handed' reporting and take note that the Republican party, now so extreme, is the core reason for dysfunctional government in the nation's capital. http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=background.view/backgroundid=630 Sat, 28 Apr 2012 00:00 EST Kent State student reporters find one school where coaches are advised to give car dealers tickets to games or other events, learn about their families, invite them to play golf, and so on. Works for the athletic department; not advised for science or history professors, or others. http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=showcase.view/showcaseid=174 Thu, 26 Apr 2012 00:00 EST Investigative reporter and innovator Chuck Lewis taped interviews with journalists who played a role in some of the biggest stories of the past 60 years – national ‘moments of truth,' as Lewis calls them. The result, ‘Investigating Power,' is a tribute to good reporting and a reminder of how powerful the press can be when it does what is supposed to do. http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=showcase.view/showcaseid=173 Mon, 23 Apr 2012 00:00 EST Our wired broadband is slow and expensive, and our wireless is even slower and more expensive. So why, asks consumer advocate Bruce Kushnick, are so many people buying the wireless ad campaign? http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=background.view/backgroundid=629 Fri, 20 Apr 2012 00:00 EST Two ardent defenders of Social Security offer some context to reporters on the upcoming release of the 2012 Social Security Trustees Report, hoping to offset scary and unfounded headlines. http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=background.view/backgroundid=628 Thu, 19 Apr 2012 00:00 EST The nation's major telecom companies have been ripping us off blind for 20 years, writes customer advocate Bruce Kushnick. And now they want to weasel out of their obligation to provide affordable telephone service to homes? http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=ask_this.view/askthisid=561 Wed, 18 Apr 2012 00:00 EST