Water as news; stories on war and terror

By Barry Sussman

bsussman@niemanwatchdog.org

Nieman Reports, the journalism quarterly produced by the Nieman Foundation, has two current issues, both dealing with vital concerns. One, the regular spring 2005 edition, is titled, “Water: a Life Force Harnessed as News.” It deals exclusively with water and news coverage of water—the absence of water, water pollution, feuds over water, foul drinking water—all in all “a remarkable beat,” as the introduction points out. The subject is obviously of great importance but also largely ignored. Perhaps the enterprising stories here will spark editors and reporters to do some inquiries of their own. For the magazine’s table of contents, click here and scroll down.

The second issue is an online-only product titled “War and Terror,” a compilation of pieces written for the magazine by outstanding journalists from 2001, after 9/11, through 2004. Writes Nieman Reports editor Melissa Ludtke, “From stories about reporting in Iraq to articles reflecting on whether journalists should testify about war crimes they might have observed or reported on, these first-hand accounts speak to many important journalistic issues that reporters throughout the world confront today.” For the table of contents, click here.

The articles in both issues are in PDF. To access them, click on the titles in the table of contents.

Barry Sussman is the editor of the Nieman Watchdog Project. He is the author of The Great Cover-Up: Nixon and the Scandal of Watergate, now in its fourth edition. E-mail: sussmanb1@gmail.com

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