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Contributions Tough questions about ALEC -- from ALEC itself ASK THIS | May 135, 2012 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.  What if prison is the disease, not the cure? COMMENTARY | March 68, 2012 If reporters were to look at mass incarceration as a problem rather than a solution, that would lead to a lot of different questions, says public health expert Ernest Drucker. Among those questions: How do you reduce it? How can you mitigate the harm? How many U.S. soldiers were wounded in Iraq? We have no idea ASK THIS | December 364, 2011 The true number of military personnel injured in Iraq is in the hundreds of thousands -- maybe even more than half a million -- if you just go a bit beyond the Pentagon's narrowly-tailored definition of 'wounded in action'. So why isn't anyone keeping track? 'Wealth defense industry' protects oligarchs from the rabble and its taxes COMMENTARY | December 346, 2011 Thousands of lawyers, accountants and consultants work full-time to defend the wealth of the richest Americans, says a Northwestern University political economist. It's their secretive labor that makes the effective tax rate so regressive for the ultra-rich -- and makes everyone else so angry When candidates lie, what's a political reporter to do? COMMENTARY | November 334, 2011 How journalists respond to intentional deception will be a defining feature of 2012 political coverage. Will they allow themselves to become accessories to deceptive politicians? Or will they aggressively and repeatedly expose misinformation and the people who traffic in it? If you had to guess, would you say federal financial fraud prosecutions are up? Or down? ASK THIS | November 319, 2011 The pervasive fraud at the heart of the financial crisis has not slowed the steady, 13-year decline in the federal prosecution of financial institution fraud, reports TRAC. What forces are at play here? Getting to a more consistent U.S. approach to human rights promotion ASK THIS | November 308, 2011 U.S. presidents are notoriously inconsistent when it comes to promoting human rights abroad, on the theory that our strategic goals come first. But one expert suggests that a more consistent approach would boost, not threaten, our national interests. Crunching the numbers on criminal justice ASK THIS | October 292, 2011 A new report finds that subjecting criminal justice policy proposals to cost-benefit analysis would show that many "get tough" policies take an outsized toll on taxpayers and society. Not depending on the authorities to tell the story SHOWCASE | October 277, 2011 A.C. Thompson, winner of the 2011 I.F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence, talks about what's missing in a lot of crime reporting these days. Heeding fake concerns about propriety -- instead of real matters of substance COMMENTARY | September 272, 2011 After Bernie Sanders leaked some hot data on oil speculation, the media squawked when it should have jumped. 11 questions reporters should be asking Dick Cheney ASK THIS | August 243, 2011 As the former vice president uses media interviews to sell books, reporters have an unprecedented opportunity to confront him about his highly controversial legacy and push him to divulge more about how he pursued his agenda. Why journalists need to keep telling the sad stories of the American recession, and how to do it better ASK THIS | August 221, 2011 As long as unemployment remains at crisis levels, reporters need to keep documenting the toll of the recession through the personal stories of those who've lost work. Don Peck, author of a new book on our pinched post-recessionary future, suggests several ways to do that more effectively and has a few story ideas to boot. Is torture in our future as well as our past? COMMENTARY | July 188, 2011 President Obama has made it clear that we don't torture now -- but he's done very little to ensure that we won't do it again in the future. What's missing is any sense of accountability. A guru’s view of what to look for in democratic uprisings ASK THIS | February 49, 2011 Gene Sharp's exhortations to nonviolence helped inspire the Egyptian protests that brought down a president. So what does he think reporters should be watching for going forward? Apres Mubarak, no deluge COMMENTARY | February 36, 2011 American journalists shouldn't cast the Egyptian president as the last bulwark against chaos and Islamic theocracy, says a Middle East scholar. Indeed, there are many reasons to be optimistic about how things will unfold once he leaves. A new window into a still-segregated America ASK THIS | February 32, 2011 A new online tool lets reporters explore the racial makeup of their communities almost block by block, offering new insights into residential integration and segregation -- and raising a lot of really important basic questions. Gibbs departure offers opportunity to fix White House relations with the press COMMENTARY | January 11, 2011 The imminent departure of spokesman Robert Gibbs gives President Obama a chance to reset the relationship between the White House and the press, and to live up to his campaign promises about transparency and accountability. Isn’t there some way to stop the tide of evictions ravaging low-income neighborhoods? ASK THIS | December 340, 2010 The organizers of a Harvard project that is helping people stay in their homes after foreclosure suggest questions reporters should be asking about ways to stop banks from destroying lives and communities. The two biggest lies journalists shouldn't let George W. Bush get away with COMMENTARY | November 333, 2010 The ex-president is desperate to make the case that he had a legitimate reason to invade Iraq, and that he had a legitimate reason to torture detainees. Are the media that let him get away with all this stuff in the first place now letting him rewrite history? What in the world is going on inside Bank of America? ASK THIS | November 310, 2010 There's so much we don't know about the toxic assets still being held by our biggest banks because those banks are going to incredible efforts to avoid recognizing their massive losses. The two professors who recently called for Bank of America to be put in receivership list questions everyone should be asking the bank about its practices and its holdings. Nine stories the press is underreporting -- fraud, fraud and more fraud ASK THIS | October 293, 2010 From liars' loans to liars' liens, the financial and foreclosure crisis has been one big story of banks defrauding their customers -- a vast criminal enterprise. You wouldn't know it from a lot of the media coverage, though. Regulatory hero and criminologist William K. Black helps connect the dots. A potent question to ask about your local prisons and jails ASK THIS | September 266, 2010 Whether volunteers are welcomed or rebuffed can tell you a lot about whether inmates at your local correctional facility are being treated like human beings or live in fear, says a former inmate turned prison activist. The essential, undistractable Engelhardt COMMENTARY | July 203, 2010 The editor of TomDispatch.com is out with a new book that offers a lucid unifying theory of what went wrong in post-9/11 America. In short, the country became addicted to war. Afghanistan’s mineral wealth won’t help Afghanistan or the U.S. -- but it might help China ASK THIS | July 188, 2010 The Chinese won’t hesitate to pay off the people who need to get paid off in order to get access to Afghanistan's natural resources, says author and professor Michael Klare. But the Afghan people and the American people have nothing to celebrate. Institutional anemia cripples congressional oversight SHOWCASE | May 125, 2010 Reformer Danielle Brian looks back on her 20 years of pushing for more government accountability and concludes that the U.S. Congress has forgotten its role, and as a result, congressional oversight has never been worse. Bill Gates wants money from Congress COMMENTARY | March 70, 2010 The multi-billionaire testifies on behalf of global health spending, saying vaccines, drugs and innovative approaches are saving millions of lives. It’s a cause that’s not well understood, he says, and not very well covered. Seven things about the economy that everyone should be more worried about than they are COMMENTARY | January 22, 2010 Dan Froomkin explores the likelihood of an anemic recovery, a double dip recession, another stock market crash, more financial-sector follies, deficit hawks stifling growth, the death of the middle class as we know it, and/or other dire possibilities reporters should be writing about furiously. Tough questions for Obama -- from Obama ASK THIS | December 336, 2009 The last time a president sent more troops to war while claiming his commitment wasn't open-ended, a young senator from Illinois responded with the proper skepticism and excellent questions. How about trying some unconventional wisdom for a change? COMMENTARY | October 293, 2009 Renegade economist Thomas Palley supports long-term deficit spending, warns that the stimulus won't work, says it's time to rethink globalization – and argues that journalists aren't asking the really tough questions. The government performance problem ASK THIS | August 216, 2009 A Harvard professor calls a major government-wide investment in the workforce necessary both to improve critical services and to prepare for an imminent tidal wave of retirement. Here's how reporters can advance the story. An astonishing lack of awareness of the costs of the war in Iraq COMMENTARY | June 162, 2009 Michael Massing thinks the American public needs to know a lot more about what the war meant to Iraqi civilians – and particularly how many Iraqis were killed or injured by our troops during the occupation. That's because Americans needs to better understand that when we do go to war, there is a great toll not only our own people but on the population that we're supposedly going to help. Ninth in a series of articles calling attention to the things we still need to know about torture and other abuses committed by the Bush administration after 9/11. Establishing the connection between the Bush White House and Abu Ghraib COMMENTARY | May 142, 2009 Denying that White House policy was directly responsible for the vile abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib has been the central goal of a five-year disinformation campaign by Bush officials. 'Torture Team' author Philippe Sands argues that newly-disclosed records show how blatantly Bush officials were willing to lie in order to lead reporters away from the truth. Eighth in a series of articles calling attention to the things we still need to know about torture and other abuses committed by the Bush administration after 9/11. Don't forget the cover-ups COMMENTARY | May 131, 2009 As a lot of public officials in Washington have learned over the years, sometimes it's not the crime, it's the cover-up. Investigative reporter Murray Waas thinks any investigation of the Bush years should examine the efforts by top officials to shield their behavior from scrutiny. Following the paper trail to the top COMMENTARY | May 126, 2009 We're learning more about the decisions that were made by the last administration, but we still don't know nearly enough about how they were made and who exactly made them, says Caroline Fredrickson of the ACLU. If you really believe in the rule of law – and that no one is above the law -- then you've got to bring accountability to the top of the chain of command. To look forward, you have to look back COMMENTARY | April 112, 2009 Eric Stover, a professor who investigates human rights abuses, wants to focus on what our national security response should be to terrorism going forward -- but in doing so, he poses some disturbing questions about what we did. Is there a price for departing from our values? COMMENTARY | April 111, 2009 Fritz Schwarz, who helped lead the Church Committee's investigation into intelligence abuses more than 30 years ago, writes that we need to further explore whether our conduct helped al Qaeda's recruitment efforts, and how much excessive secrecy and a complaisant Congress were to blame. How many detainees were wronged? COMMENTARY | April 110, 2009 McClatchy Foreign Editor Roy Gutman argues that we won't genuinely understand the scope of Bush's detainee program until we fully document each detainee's experience and make amends to those who were wrongly held and mistreated. So much we still need to know COMMENTARY | April 110, 2009 NiemanWatchdog.org is publishing a series of articles calling attention to the things we still need to know about torture and other abuses committed by the Bush administration after 9/11. Why the focus on what we don't know? Because when you think about how much remains hidden, how many issues are still unresolved, how many injustices have never been redressed, and how little accountability there has been, it's hard to make the argument that we're ready to move on. Basic questions Treasury still hasn’t answered ASK THIS | March 65, 2009 The oversight panel appointed by Congress to watch over the government's $700 billion financial bailout still can't get straight answers to simple questions. No wonder public confidence isn't high. Rethinking how we cover the White House COMMENTARY | January 22, 2009 Faced with an opaque presidency these past eight years, journalists grew too accustomed to trading in superficiality and trivia. But Obama's promise of transparency means we may now have more substantial things to talk about. Dan Froomkin writes that we should embrace the opportunity to publicly explore the important issues and decisions facing our nation and our world. It's time for a Wiki White House COMMENTARY | November 330, 2008 The next White House Web site should tell us a lot about whether Obama believes what he has said about bringing transparency and accountability to the government. Local papers find their inner watchdogs SHOWCASE | November 326, 2008 Even as their newsrooms shrink, local and regional newspapers are falling in love with watchdog reporting all over again. Accountability journalism differentiates them, connects them with readers, and reminds people why journalism deserves some of their attention every day. Orange County Register Watchdog blogger Teri Sforza tells her story. The lessons of our failure SHOWCASE | October 291, 2008 A panel of top journalists tries to derive some lessons from the elite media's failure to challenge what turned out to be a specious argument for war in Iraq. Among its conclusions: Journalists should aggressively defy the spin machine; should build on each others' work; should write for Americans outside the Beltway; should embrace accountability reporting on every beat; and should avoid the he-said she-said stories and instead adopt the directness and transparency increasingly found on journalistic blogs. Has the 'surge' brought us any closer to 'victory'? ASK THIS | September 259, 2008 Author Peter Galbraith marvels at the conventional wisdom in Washington that the 'surge' has worked. For a variety of reasons, violence is down. But if 'victory' is a secular, democratic and pro-Western Iraq, then the 'surge' hasn't gotten us any closer at all. Farewell to a general who saw everything so clearly COMMENTARY | September 253, 2008 Lt. Gen. William E. Odom, who was laid to rest Monday at Arlington National Cemetery, was the earliest, most prescient and most persistent senior military critic of the war in Iraq. Here's an annotated bibliography of his commentaries. Is this the beginning of a major geopolitical conflict? ASK THIS | August 231, 2008 Richard Falk warns that the Russian invasion of Georgia could be the first significant collision between the U.S.’s new global conception of security and the more traditional sphere-of-influence view. And he suggests it's time to consider the adverse consequences of antagonizing Russia. What Helen Thomas would be asking if she could ASK THIS | August 226, 2008 The legendary newswoman is recovering from illness. But if she were in the White House briefing room, these are the questions she says she would be putting to spokeswoman Dana Perino. Are we bombing our way to disaster in Afghanistan? ASK THIS | August 225, 2008 A new report suggests that the massive increase in the amount of munitions being fired or dropped in Afghanistan has fueled popular anger -- and the Taliban resurgence. Its co-authors wonder what our goals are, and whether our tactics are likely to achieve them. Don't let Addington duck the big questions ASK THIS | June 176, 2008 The vice president's secretive enforcer is set to testify on Capitol Hill on Thursday about how the administration developed its interrogation policies – something he probably knows more about than anyone else. It's essential that members of Congress subject him to a concerted, well-planned examination, rather than let him play them for fools. So how about ganging up? 'I guess you can call it torture' SHOWCASE | June 168, 2008 McClatchy reporters traveled to 11 countries to interview 66 freed Guantanamo and Afghanistan prison detainees. The result is a stunning 5-part series and multi-media presentation titled 'Guantanamo: Beyond the Law.' How far will Bush loyalists go to help McCain win? ASK THIS | June 164, 2008 For administration officials trying to avoid a rollback, the best way, of course, would be to get a Republican elected president. Are they already aiming grants, announcements and visits at swing states? Last in a five-part series on questions for the twilight of the Bush era. What's the vice president up to these days? ASK THIS | June 164, 2008 Vice President Cheney is the least likely member of the Bush administration to give up power without a fight. He's also a master of the federal bureaucracy. So what are he and his loyalists up to in the waning days of the Bush presidency? Part four of a five-part series on questions for the twilight of the Bush era. The time for a national conversation on pardons is before, not after, they're granted ASK THIS | June 163, 2008 If President Bush pardons members of his own administration in a blatant attempt to avoid judicial review, what would the consequences be to his legacy -- and to the country? Also: Bush's longterm effect on the judiciary. Part three of a five-part series on questions for the twilight of the Bush era. Midnight rulemaking, last-minute hires and executive fiats ASK THIS | June 162, 2008 How are Bush officials using their executive branch powers to entrench their policies in the bureaucracy and make it harder for their successors to change course? Part two of a five-part series on questions for the twilight of the Bush era. Do we really expect the Bushies to go quietly? ASK THIS | June 161, 2008 Reporters should be keeping a sharp eye out for things Bush officials are doing to make their policies stay in effect after they leave office. In the first of a five-part series: Putting Iraq on autopilot, risking war with Iran, and purging the military. A refresher on how the press failed the people COMMENTARY | May 150, 2008 The blistering critique of an overly credulous press corps by former White House press secretary Scott McClellan in his new book has reignited a debate over the performance of mainstream journalism during the run-up to war in Iraq. But it's really not a debate at all. Here's a reading list to refresh your memory. Looking for a display -- rather than just talk -- of leadership ASK THIS | January 11, 2008 With the three major Democratic presidential candidates so intent on establishing themselves as the most capable of bringing about change, reporters should be looking for them to make their case not with promises, but with action. Rating Bush, on a scale of 1 to 10 ASK THIS | December 347, 2007 The Republican presidential candidates avoid talking about their party's standard-bearer, for obvious reasons. But Dan Froomkin argues that journalists should press them to say what they think of Bush's legacy, which elements of his presidency they would emulate, and which they would reject. Real plots or false confessions? ASK THIS | October 296, 2007 President Bush has listed four terrorist attacks he says his administration prevented thanks to the CIA's harsh interrogations. But what do we really know about these alleged plots that he now says should be so central to the public debate over torture? Not much. Let's hear from someone besides the neoconservatives about Iran COMMENTARY | August 232, 2007 Reporters should be seeking out experts who actually understand the Middle East -- because the vast majority of them think that attacking Iran would be a huge mistake. Here's an annotated list of some excellent possible sources. I.F. Stone's lessons for Internet journalism COMMENTARY | July 190, 2007 Bloggers are taking up where the great rebel journalist left off, but if the news industry is to thrive on the Internet, reporters and editors shouldn't be far behind. Dan Froomkin writes that news organizations would do better online by replacing their bored monotone with a passionate adherence to traditional journalistic values. Signing statements evidently mean something after all ASK THIS | June 178, 2007 A new GAO report makes it clear that some provisions Bush objected to were not carried out according to the law. That should get reporters asking lots of questions. How to assess an immigration proposal ASK THIS | May 143, 2007 Too much attention has been focused on the political accommodations involved in achieving a bipartisan agreement on an immigration overhaul – and too little on what would actually work. Here are some questions reporters – and the public – can use to assess how likely any immigration proposal is to achieve its stated goals. Shouldn't we drop the name 'War on Terror?' COMMENTARY | April 113, 2007 Bush's favorite phrase has created a culture of fear -- but beyond that has no useful function. And while we're at it, what's the right way to describe what the U.S. is doing in Iraq? How the press can prevent another Iraq COMMENTARY | February 33, 2007 Journalists, and through us the public, have a grave responsibility to not be complicit in another march to war on false pretenses. So what lessons should we have learned from Iraq? A watchdog reporter gives up on newspapers – but sees a future on the Internet COMMENTARY | December 338, 2006 John McQuaid, formerly of the New Orleans Times-Picayune, is betting that open-sourced journalism will breathe new life into investigative and explanatory journalism. Get policymakers to talk about their thought process on Iraq ASK THIS | September 271, 2006 Two Iraq experts suggest questions reporters should be asking leaders how they are making decisions about the U.S. commitment in Iraq – and whether they’re being realistic. A 2nd look at covering the 2006 elections DISCUSSIONS | September 245, 2006 A survey we did in June is timely right now as editors and reporters focus on the November election campaign. Here is what 28 past Nieman fellows had to say about what’s wrong with recent past coverage (too much he-said, she-said leads the list), and some suggestions for what should be done. Bush says someone should get to Syria; why shouldn’t that someone be him? ASK THIS | July 200, 2006 Thanks to an open microphone, we know what President Bush genuinely thinks would put an end to the sudden crisis in Israel and Lebanon. A Syria expert, professor Joshua Landis at Oklahoma University, thinks reporters should ask what he’s waiting for. Bush’s signing statements: Constitutional crisis or empty rhetoric? ASK THIS | June 178, 2006 Lackluster reporting about this big story has left many critically important questions unanswered. Even the high regard for the American people is taking a hit DISCUSSIONS | June 161, 2006 View from Africa and Oceania: in the third of four worldwide reports, Nieman fellows say displeasure with the American government is leaching over into a sense of dismay about the American people themselves. Post 9/11 Europe: All Americans, then anti-American DISCUSSIONS | June 160, 2006 The last of four reports from international Nieman fellows on perceptions of America where they live, with links to excerpts of their comments. Nieman fellows want a revolt against the 'he-said, she-said' DISCUSSIONS | June 164, 2006 Part 1 of a special survey of Nieman fellows on the second anniversary of this Web site. It includes a main story on comments and suggestions by 28 American Nieman fellows on 2006 election coverage, and links to the comments of each fellow. Is the U.S. about to attack Iran? ASK THIS | April 96, 2006 An expert says administration posturing is very reminiscent of the coordinated campaign before the Iraq war. But proponents of attacking Iran haven’t come close to making their case – and there are many questions they need to answer. Watchdogs, meet a gadfly ASK THIS | February 52, 2006 Chas Freeman is a Washington insider with a twist. A former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, he now runs a think tank dedicated to raising questions that otherwise might never get answered -- or even asked -- because they're too embarrassing, awkward, or difficult. He shares a few of those questions with NiemanWatchdog.org’s Dan Froomkin. Countering terrorism – for real ASK THIS | January 18, 2006 A noted political psychologist outlines the elements of an effective counterterrorism program. But the U.S. isn’t pursuing any of them and journalists aren't writing — or even asking — about them either. How not to cover the economy SHOWCASE | January 23, 2006 A fed-up Berkeley economics professor joins up with the J-school to teach journalists and would-be journalists how to cover – and even more emphatically, how not to cover – economic news. Does the U.S. plan to be in Iraq forever? ASK THIS | August 228, 2005 The question of permanent U.S. military bases is an incredibly contentious one in Iraq. But for some reason, Dan Froomkin writes, the press isn’t pinning the Bush administration down on this one. Have local leaders abandoned the public schools? ASK THIS | June 171, 2005 Overhauling America's worst public schools is a hugely challenging task, but it must be done. Yet as long as our leaders are able to opt out of public schools - without anyone pressing them about their obligation to those left behind - that's less likely to happen. Who are the suicide bombers in Iraq? ASK THIS | June 159, 2005 Journalists are finally turning their attention to the genesis of the wave after wave of suicide bombings that are devastating Iraq, but the sometimes conflicting reports still leave many unanswered questions. Isn’t there some way to tell if we're winning or losing in Iraq? ASK THIS | May 145, 2005 The White House says that when there's less violence in Iraq, it means we're winning. And when there's more violence in Iraq, it also means we're winning -- because the opposition is getting desperate. Are there some objective benchmarks that would let us determine for real if we're winning or losing? Where the pain is ASK THIS | March 88, 2005 For some people, stratospheric gas prices are the biggest news story of the year. Here are a few questions that ought to be answered. Important questions about Social Security ASK THIS | January 24, 2005 The press needs to dig beyond the political rhetoric and make sure people understand what's motivating the push for private accounts, and what's at stake. Mr. President, will you answer the question? COMMENTARY | December 337, 2004 President Bush has a special talent for avoiding tough questions and reporters who ask them. Here's what the White House press corps should do to smoke him out. Tougher political coverage needed – but does it mean an end to impartiality? COMMENTARY | November 313, 2004 What were the lessons — for reporters and editors — of the 2004 campaign? In particular, we want to know your answer to this question: Where do we go from here? Wanted: Tough questions for the presidential debates ASK THIS | October 274, 2003 The Internet can make the presidential debates better. NiemanWatchdog.org will make it happen – with your help. Questions you should ask House and Senate candidates ASK THIS | September 257, 2004 Here are some simple, tough questions that every congressional candidate should answer. Liberal think tank prepares tough questions for journalists to use SHOWCASE | August 239, 2004 The Center for American Progress has more questions than it knows what to do with. Tipsheet points to hot environmental stories SHOWCASE | July 208, 2004 A tipsheet from the Society of Environmental Journalists exposes government attempts to keep important environmental information secret – and calls attention to great watchdog reporting. Dispatch from the food lines SHOWCASE | June 180, 2004 How long are the lines at the food pantries in your area? Do you know? Let's say they're really long. How do you cover that? The Columbus Dispatch's approach is a model. Reporting From the War Zone: At What Cost? SHOWCASE | May 122, 2004 Washington Post reporter Anthony Shadid won a Pulitzer in 2004 for his stunning coverage of life in Iraq in 2003... Watching the watchdogs COMMENTARY | June 182, 2004 Watchdogs on the Internet: Postrel takes up DeLong's challenge; Rosen worries about the White House press corps. Web sites for journalists SHOWCASE | July 183, 2004 Here are some outstanding sites that help journalists do better work. Now on video: Editorial board interviews SHOWCASE | April 102, 2004 Some newspapers have been posting editorial board interviews with political candidates on their Web sites – an excellent multimedia enhancement for people who'd like to follow politics closely. |
