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Columbia Journalism Review's mission is to encourage excellence in journalism in the service of a free society.

Columbia Journalism Review


    • May 4, 2024 LATEST EPISODE
    • monthly NEW EPISODES
    • 26m AVG DURATION
    • 266 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from The Kicker

    Crisis at Columbia: A Conversation with Jelani Cobb

    Play Episode Listen Later May 4, 2024 26:00


    Jelani Cobb is the Dean of the Columbia Journalism School. He is also a staff writer at the New Yorker magazine. For much of the past few weeks, he has been enmeshed in Columbia University's efforts to grapple with a protest movement on campus over the war in Gaza – one that culminated in the takeover of a building, and finally, on Tuesday, April 30th, a police raid. The Kicker talks to Cobb about the role the Journalism School played throughout the crisis, including facilitating press access to campus after a lockdown was imposed, and supporting the work of student journalists, who were the only ones left on campus to document the police raid as it unfolded. Read CJR on the work of the Columbia Spectator, the undergrad student newspaper: https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/interview_editors_columbia_spectator_campus_protest.php

    'Inside Wagner': Video journalism unmasks Russia's secretive mercenary group

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 25, 2024 41:02


    This week, host Josh Hersh dives into the world of documentary news. Amel Guettatfi and Julia Steers just won the Polk Award for Inside Wagner, their hourlong Vice News documentary on the Wagner Group—Vladimir Putin's private army of militiamen. They discuss their unprecedented access to a military training operation in the Central African Republic, the unique challenges of doing this kind of reporting on film, and why, sometimes, video is the only way to tell the story. Show Notes Inside Wagner: The Rise of Russia's Notorious Mercenaries, Amel Guettatfi and Julia Steers, Vice News bit.ly/3UtURmh

    Josh Fine: How to Revive Investigative Sports Reporting in the Age of the Athlete

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 3, 2024 38:42


    In recent years, numerous beloved sports news institutions have been shut down, or dramatically reduced their operations, while digital shows hosted by professional sportspeople, current and retired, have become ubiquitous. Meanwhile, traditional sports journalism—particularly of the type that asks uncomfortable questions of what is, ultimately, a huge and powerful business—has been in decline. Last year, Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, an HBO show that mixed softer features with hard-nosed investigative journalism, wrapped its final season after twenty-nine years on air. Josh Fine was an investigative producer at Real Sports for seventeen years. He has some ideas on how sports journalism can revive itself. Host: Josh Hersh Producer: Amanda Darrach Show Notes: Can sports journalism survive in the era of the athlete? by Josh Hersh for CJR https://www.cjr.org/business_of_news/sports-journalism-survival-foul-territory-mcafee-braun-mlb.php

    Alissa Quart: on reimagining reporting on a recession

    Play Episode Listen Later May 12, 2023 25:03


    News of stubborn inflation, increasing unemployment, and the housing crisis dominate headlines of late. Alissa Quart is trying to improve that reportage, in content and form.  Quart is the executive director of the Economic Hardship Reporting Project, which challenges traditional narratives of economic class and issues through funding original reporting, done by independent journalists from diverse economic backgrounds. Quart explains to Kyle Pope, Columbia Journalism Review's editor and publisher, how this helps dismantle the “American myth” of self-reliance — the subject of her latest book, Bootstrapped: Liberating Ourselves from the American Dream.  In the interview, Quart and Pope discuss how the media's reliance on this myth impacts electoral politics and what solutions exist. Quart suggests changing language standards, expanding recruiting criteria for newsrooms, and even reimagining news sections.

    Svitlana Oslavska: On Documenting a War on Her Home Front

    Play Episode Listen Later May 10, 2023 25:12


    Before Russia invaded her home country, Ukrainian journalist Svitlana Oslavska was reviewing books for Krytyka, a Ukrainian magazine, and writing nonfiction books. Now, she's documenting war crimes committed by the Russians against Ukrainians for the Reckoning Project. Since joining the Project, Oslavska's reporting serves two purposes — to provide detailed witness testimonies for court cases against the Russians and to publish accounts of the war in the international media. In this episode of the Kicker, Oslavska recounts the war crimes she documented for the Project and later published as a story in TIME.

    How Authoritarians Erase the Past

    Play Episode Listen Later May 9, 2023 37:10


    The Columbia Journalism Review recently invited journalists, academics, and experts to convene at a conference called "FaultLines: Democracy." In this episode, taped at the FaultLines conference, Masha Gessen, of The New Yorker; Jodie Ginseberg, president of the Committee to Protect Journalists; and Sheila Coronel, an expert in global investigative journalism, discuss how authoritarian regimes are erasing traces of the past and recasting history in dangerous ways.

    Hearts and Minds Media

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 19, 2023 35:12


    For decades, Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty have broadcast into countries all over, in dozens of languages. Yet in some places where the United States has invested the most soft power, authoritarianism has only gotten stronger—and journalists remain at risk. That may be especially true in Afghanistan since the Taliban's takeover. For CJR's latest digital issue, Emily Russell reports on hearts and minds media in Afghanistan and beyond. Visit cjr.org to read the Authoritarianism Issue.

    Feven Merid: On Jacaranda Nigeria Limited

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 13, 2023 19:40


    In 1982, about twenty Black journalists quit their jobs at American networks, banded together under the name Jacaranda Nigeria Limited, and flew to Nigeria, where they would work under the country's newly elected president to revamp a state-funded journalism network. On today's episode of the Kicker, Feven Merid, a Columbia Journalism Review staff writer, tells their story. She explains the many unforeseen challenges Jacaranda's journalists faced — the Nigerian government's interference in their reporting, the lack of proper training and resources, the confusion over their racial identity — and, ultimately, how the problems they went to Nigeria to escape never really disappeared. Read Feven's article at https://www.cjr.org/the_feature/black-american-journalists-nigeria.php.

    Jeff Gerth on the press versus the president

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 7, 2023 18:42


    Last week, the Columbia Journalism Review published a four-part investigation into the media's fraught relationship with Donald Trump. In this episode of the Kicker, Jeff Gerth, who authored the report, talks to Kyle Pope, CJR's editor and publisher, about the origin of the investigation and the intense responses to it, with which Gerth admits he is still “grappling.” On the podcast, Gerth says he considers his 24,000-word story an “anatomy,” reconstructing how the media covered Trump and Russia. In reporting the piece, Gerth interviewed Trump at – predictably – a golf course, and reached out to dozens of journalists who covered Trump-Russia, albeit with limited success. “Many of them are loath to want to discuss or/and engage with what they do,” Gerth says in the episode. “I find it perplexing.” For additional news on this story and on the media, subscribe to CJR's daily newsletter at cjr.org/email

    FT's Rana Foroohar: What the Davos Crowd Doesn't See

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 31, 2023 26:27


    After two decades of attending the World Economic Forum's annual gathering of business elites in Davos, Rana Foroohar, associate editor of the Financial Times, stayed back this year. In this week's episode of The Kicker, Foroohar tells Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of the Columbia Journalism Review, why the annual meet-up of global technocrats imparts “icky” feelings, and why the Davos crowd, including the journalists reporting from the conference, might have a skewed outlook on the economy.  Also joining Pope in conversation is Mercy Orengo, a CJR fellow. Orengo shares insights from her recent conversations with business reporters tasked with covering an uncertain economy.

    Jon Allsop Returns. Plus, What We're Watching in 2023

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 16, 2023 32:03


    At the start of January, Jon Allsop, chief writer of Columbia Journalism Review's newsletter, The Media Today, tuned back into the news after a two-month hiatus. On this week's Kicker, Allsop discusses what he found upon his return: a “ghostland” of a Twitter feed and a keen awareness of the “trivial” nature of the news cycle. In conversation with Kyle Pope, CJR's editor and publisher, Allsop also talks about what media trends he'll be monitoring in the new year. Other CJR staffers – Pesha Magid, a Delacorte fellow; Mathew Ingram, CJR's chief digital writer; and Amanda Darrach, a contributing producer – discuss the media issues they're watching in a round-robin discussion with Pope. Subscribe to The Media Today newsletter at cjr.org/email

    The Tow Center's Emily Bell: Musk's Twitter is “openly hostile” to journalists. What should we do?

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 14, 2022 22:36


    Elon Musk's ownership of Twitter has inspired news headlines once unimaginable (see New York Magazine's "Elon Musk is Selling Off Twitter's Cafeteria and Furniture"). It has also created serious problems for journalists who rely on the platform for developing sources, finding stories, and driving readership. It's not safe to do journalistic business on the platform anymore, Emily Bell, founding director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism told Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of the Columbia Journalism Review, in this week's episode of the Kicker. Together, Pope and Bell discuss how journalists should (or shouldn't) cope with Musk's Twitter, which Bell calls “an unstable substance,” and what might be lost if Twitter were to disintegrate completely.

    Introducing Red Pen: A Grammar Podcast

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 8, 2022 3:58


    Welcome to the weird, wild, scintillatingly stylish, and syntactically sound world of RED PEN—the grammar podcast that won't put you to sleep.  Brought to you by the Columbia Journalism Review and hosted by old buds Ryan Davis and Mike Laws, RED PEN plucks examples from the news (as well as from novels, music, movies—wherever!) to answer all those questions you were too afraid to ask in English class.  Digressions may include: Green Day's early work, the oppressive atmosphere of latter-day Batman movies, and, of course, cats. Lots of cats.

    The Guardian's David Smith: Covering a new chapter of Trump

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 22, 2022 26:33


    Writing for The Guardian last week, Washington bureau chief David Smith recalled that Donald Trump, announcing his run for presidency at Mar-a-Lago, appeared an “ousted dictator, drained of power and surrounded by a dwindling band of loyalists in his last redoubt.” Many in the media similarly reported a lackluster atmosphere and an uninspired Trump, whose splintered Republican base, deepened by mid–term losses and legal controversies, might be intensifying the nation's “Trump fatigue.” On this episode of the Kicker, Smith discusses how the media should continue covering the former president as he vies for another term. He suggests greater contextualization of Trump's quotes, less coverage of his tweets, and more.

    Ross Barkan's Notes on Election Coverage: Form, Function, and the Future

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 11, 2022 29:24


    On today's Kicker, what the media got right and wrong in the 2022 midterm election. Ross Barkan, a politics reporter for New York magazine, The Nation and more talks with CJR's editor and publisher Kyle Pope about the media's penchant for speculation in divisive elections. Also in the discussion: how the media grapples with writing about a democracy in peril. On today's Kicker, what the media got right and wrong in the 2022 midterm election. Ross Barkan, a politics reporter for New York magazine, The Nation and more talks with CJR's editor and publisher Kyle Pope about why the media's penchant for speculation in divisive elections. Also in the discussion: how the media grapples with writing about a democracy in peril. “Is this the election that will determine the future of democracy?” Barkan questions.  “Maybe, maybe not. But I have my own reservations about that kind of grandiose rhetoric.”

    Bill Keller: On covering the ‘freedom' beat – prisons and Russia

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 28, 2022 21:32


    Reporting from Moscow in the final years of the Cold War, Bill Keller witnessed the Soviet Union “fall apart like Humpty Dumpty.” On this week's Kicker, Keller says Vladimir Putin is trying to put Humpty Dumpty back together again – evoking international anxieties from the past. Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of the Columbia Journalism Review, asks Keller about these anxieties, and, alongside CJR staff, discusses how the media should approach nuclear speculation. Also in this episode, Keller talks about his recent book, "What's Prison For? "Keller shares lessons from reporting inside prisons in the U.S. and abroad, and contemplates the through line of his journalism career spanning criminal justice to the Cold War. In the end, Keller says, prisons and Russia belong to the same beat: freedom.

    Nic Haque on Climate Change: 'I became a journalist because of this.'

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 21, 2022 19:57


    Just as Europeans prepare for winter amid rising gas prices – calling upon their old ties to gas-rich African countries – a colonial-era island off the coast of Senegal erodes into the rising sea. Both these stories, discussed on this week's Kicker with Nic Haque, a reporter for Al Jazeera, underscore the urgency of the climate crises that journalists cover across the globe. Some of that work, including Haque's, will be celebrated October 25 in “Burning Questions,” a broadcast on PBS's World Channel showcasing the winners of the 2022 Covering Climate Now Journalism Awards. Haque talks with Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of CJR, on covering climate emergencies in West Africa, and how climate change has touched his life, personally and professionally.

    Nothing to It: How John Bennet went from East Texas kid to New Yorker editor

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 14, 2022 42:39


    Nothing to It: How John Bennet went from East Texas kid to New Yorker editor by Columbia Journalism Review

    Rebecca Traister: Abortion, a case study in media disinterest

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 15, 2022 26:39


    On this week's Kicker, Rebecca Traister, a writer-at-large for New York Magazine and the Cut, and the author of “Good and Mad,” a book about the history and political power of women's anger, sits down with Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of CJR. They discuss why the press seemed only willing to cover “medically chilling” abortion stories, and how to protect sources as abortion's legal loopholes disappear.

    Justin Worland: Raising diverse voices on the climate crisis beat

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 27, 2022 21:01


    Should climate crisis coverage focus on the danger at hand, or on optimism and solutions at work? On what individuals can do, or industrial changes? As newsrooms struggle to reach a consensus, the Covering Climate Now Journalism Awards provide a model for impactful work. Justin Worland, senior correspondent at TIME, was just named CCN's 2022 Journalist of the Year. On this week's Kicker, Worland sits down with Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of CJR, to discuss his climate crisis coverage and The Uproot Project, his initiative to support environmental journalists of color.

    Nina Totenberg: ‘They don't have to follow Supreme Court precedent anymore'

    Play Episode Listen Later May 31, 2022 23:47


    Nina Totenberg has covered the Supreme Court for five decades. On this week's Kicker, the NPR reporter sits down with Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of CJR, to discuss a court she says is more conservative than it has been since the late 1920s and early 1930s, and what happens next in light of the leak of the Roe v Wade decision. Nina Totenberg is NPR's legal affairs correspondent. She has a book coming out in September called "Dinners with Ruth: A memoir about The power of friendships," available for preorder now.

    Columbia's Jelani Cobb: ‘Everything is on the table'

    Play Episode Listen Later May 13, 2022 22:24


    The Columbia Graduate School of Journalism announced today that Jelani Cobb will be its new dean. Cobb is a professor at the school, a staff writer at The New Yorker, an author, a documentary producer, and the director of the Ira A. Lipman Center For Journalism and Civil and Human Rights. On this week's Kicker, Cobb speaks with Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of CJR, about the role of journalism at a politically fraught time, diversity efforts at the J-school and in journalism, and the high cost of degrees at institutions like Columbia.

    Elena Kostyuchenko: 'The Russian secret services somehow knew'

    Play Episode Listen Later May 6, 2022 44:50


    Elena Kostyuchenko reported atrocities as they unfolded inside Ukraine until Russian censors forced Novaya Gazeta—her employer and Russia's oldest independent newspaper—to halt publication. How did Kostyuchenko gain access to the country her homeland was invading? What did she see there? And how does she view Russia's future? On this week's Kicker, guest host Keith Gessen, who is a professor at the J-School and a founding editor of n+1 and contributor to The New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine, and the London Review of Books, welcomes Kostyuchenko to the latest in his Delacorte Lecture series.

    Dean Baquet & Joe Kahn: What's next for the New York Times?

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 26, 2022 45:50


    Last week, after years of public speculation on the matter, the New York Times named Joe Kahn as Dean Baquet's successor to the position of executive editor. How did that process play out behind closed doors? And, as the midterms draw near, how does Kahn plan to cover the threat to American democracy? Baquet and Kahn sat down with Kyle Pope to discuss objectivity, the evolution of the paper from a news outlet to something we've never seen before, and—inevitably—Wordle.

    Al Roker: The weather paradigm shift

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 20, 2022 23:18


    Al Roker, weathercaster for the Today Show, is one of the best-known and trusted names in media. He has also led efforts to educate the American public on the ties between weather and the climate crisis. On this week's Kicker, Roker and Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of CJR, discuss the evolution of weather coverage, from lighthearted entertainment to reporting on the frontlines of the biggest story of our time.

    Jane Lytvynenko: Ukraine's great ‘prebunk'

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 3, 2022 23:51


    Over the past week, Ukrainians have used social media to document Russia's attacks on civilians. Those efforts have been more effective at blunting the Russian propaganda machine than anything that has come out of the technology companies themselves. On this week's Kicker, Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of CJR, speaks with Jane Lytvynenko, a senior research fellow in the Technology and Social Change Project at the Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy. They discuss Ukrainian “prebunking” of Russian propaganda, and where Lytvynenko, a Ukranian-Canadian expert on Russian disinformation, gets her news.

    Eleanor Beardsley & Igor Kossov: The road out of Ukraine

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 28, 2022 25:58


    In the five days since Russia declared war on Ukraine, invading troops have drawn ever closer and their attacks have grown more deadly. Domestic and foreign reporters on the ground are struggling to determine how much danger is too much, and where they can most effectively cover the conflict. On this week's Kicker, NPR's Eleanor Beardsley and Igor Kossov, a journalist at The Kiev Independent, speak with Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of CJR. The two journalists, both attempting to leave the country as they speak, discuss the war they witnessed and their decision to leave.

    Stuart Karle: Money and the politicization of press freedom

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 18, 2022 24:25


    While Sarah Palin may have lost her defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, the legal climate for journalists nevertheless seems to be getting worse. Stuart Karle is a media lawyer who has served as chief operating officer of Reuters News and as general counsel of The Wall Street Journal. On this week's Kicker, he and Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of CJR, discuss the Palin case and why privacy law may prove to be the next frontier in the war against the press.

    Eleanor Beardsley: Putin and Biden summon the Cold War

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 11, 2022 23:03


    The Biden administration on Friday warned that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could happen within days, and again advised Americans to leave Ukraine “now.” The advice is strangely at odds with what day-to-day life feels like in the country. How do Putin and Biden's age—and Cold War experience—shape the current crisis? Eleanor Beardsley, Paris correspondent for NPR, recently traveled to Ukraine. On this week's Kicker, she joins Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of CJR, to discuss her recent reporting, and how different the Russian threat looks on the ground.

    George Packer: A dishonorable ending in Afghanistan

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 7, 2022 28:43


    As last summer's efforts to aid evacuations from Afghanistan grew desperate, media debated who was to blame for the crisis. In his landmark piece “The Betrayal” for the Atlantic, George Packer reframes how to think about te fall of Kabul. On this week's Kicker, Packer joins Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of CJR, to discuss the impact of Biden's experience with Vietnam, and how the media should approach moral questions in a divided, partisan era.

    Tonga: Not for sale

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 28, 2022 23:29


    Typical disaster journalism follows a transactional track. Survivors give the press their stories to package and sell. In turn, the media validates the horror and solicits aid. But when Tonga faced a volcanic eruption and tsunami earlier this month, the island nation neither wanted nor needed Western coverage. In fact, our intrusion presented more of a threat than the crisis itself. On this week's Kicker, Damien Cave, the New York Times bureau chief in Sydney, Australia, and Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of CJR, discuss the island's dismissal of the global press, and the Western media's boundless assumption that we can help.

    Russia, Ukraine, and the front lines of information warfare

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 24, 2022 22:13


    Despite Ukraine's efforts to downplay the threat, hybrid warfare between Russia and the west has already begun. Christo Grozev is the lead Russia investigator with Bellingcat, focusing on security threats, extraterritorial clandestine operations, and the weaponization of information. On this week's Kicker, he and Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of CJR, discuss how the press should cover a conflict that will put information warfare at the forefront.

    The Chicago ed beat: Why do politicians fight back when teachers want to feel safe?

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 14, 2022 21:20


    Education reporters cover one of the most emotional facets of the Covid-19 pandemic. The political obsession with keeping public schools open during the latest Covid-19 surge does not match the desires of parents. In fact a recent poll shows that the less income a child's household has, the more caution the parents express about in-person schooling. On this week's Kicker, Tracy Swartz, who covers Chicago Public Schools for the Chicago Tribune, and Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of CJR, discuss how so many districts failed to create better safety measures and a plan for temporary remote learning this winter.

    Julie K. Brown, Lucia Osborne-Crowley, and coverage of the Ghislaine Maxwell trial

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 7, 2022 37:14


    The Ghislaine Maxwell trial has highlighted the court system's bullying of sexual assault victims—those who take the stand, those who come to bear witness, and even those who sit on the jury. On this week's Kicker, Julie K. Brown, an investigative reporter with the Miami Herald whose work led to Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein's arrests, and Lucia Osborne-Crowley, a lawyer and a reporter for Law360 who broke the story that a Maxwell juror was a victim of sexual assault, join Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of CJR. They discuss how the press can hold the court system to account.

    Twitter on a tightrope

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 13, 2021 23:52


    Journalists on Twitter are faced with an impossible task, a choice between building their following or avoiding harassment. More often than not, they face those risks without the support of their editors and newsrooms. On this week's Kicker, Jacob L. Nelson, an assistant professor at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University, and Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of CJR, discuss Nelson's latest report, published by the Tow Center for Digital Journalism, on journalists' experiences with and views of newsroom social media policies.

    Ian Urbina on Libya, the Outlaw Ocean Project, and the rules of engagement

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 3, 2021 30:10


    As Ian Urbina's investigative work uncovered human rights abuses and climate destruction across the world's oceans, he realized he needed to diversify his audience—beyond even the reach of legacy outlets like the New York Times. On this week's Kicker, Urbina and Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of CJR, discuss this week's story on Libya's migrant prisons, and the journalism model Urbina built to change the rules of global engagement.

    Deep on the Steele beat: Erik Wemple & Marcy Wheeler

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 19, 2021 29:02


    On this week's Kicker, Marcy Wheeler, an independent journalist, and Erik Wemple, a media critic at the Washington Post, speak with Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of CJR, about media accountability and where press discussion of the Steele dossier fell short.

    COP26: Who do we edit out of the climate crisis?

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 12, 2021 28:19


    Most reporters in the developing world can't afford to attend high stakes climate conferences like the COP26 held in Glasgow this month. Neither can most climate activists. What is lost? Jon Allsop, author of CJR's newsletter “The Media Today,” spent the past week at COP26. On this week's Kicker, he sits down with two conference attendees, Disha Shetty, a public health journalist from India, and Mark Hertsgaard, co-founder and executive director of Covering Climate Now and the environment correspondent for The Nation, to discuss how global north editors dismiss important reporting from the developing world.

    What does the Facebook data dump mean?

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 1, 2021 36:13


    As journalists struggle to cover the latest revelations in the Facebook story, they also endeavor to write stories that land with the general public. How much context is sacrificed for the sensation of something new? On this week's Kicker, Renee DiResta, who is the technical research manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory and an ideas contributor at Wired and The Atlantic, and Mathew Ingram, our chief digital writer, speak with Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of CJR, on how to connect the dots when the story gets this big.

    On the trail of ‘pink slime'

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 22, 2021 18:38


    The network of websites that pose as local news outlets but aren't has grown exponentially in the run up to next year's midterm elections. Who funds the sites, and how can we track them? And why are they called “pink slime”? On this week's Kicker, Priyanjana Bengani, a senior research fellow at Columbia Journalism School's Tow Center for Digital Journalism, sits down with Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of CJR, to discuss her study of these op-up sites, how to find and follow them, and what the phenomenon means in the face of ever-dwindling local news.

    Balls and Strikes: How to cover the Supreme Court's “super-majority”

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 8, 2021 20:38


    This week, the most conservative Supreme Court since the Great Depression convened. The 6-3 “super-majority” is poised to roll back decades of law. On our latest episode of the Kicker, Jay Willis, the editor in chief of Balls and Strikes, a site that launched last month promising “progressive, bullshit-free commentary” about the legal system, joins Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of CJR. They discuss vital rulings that missed the news cycle, and why conservative justices have been so critical of the media.

    Jon Allsop on Mehdi Hasan's transatlantic rise

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 1, 2021 18:06


    Medhi Hasan has built a global reputation on devastating interviews. Now on MSNBC and Peacock, is he a corrective to the equivocal tendencies of the American press? Jon Allsop profiled Hasan for our latest issue. On this week's Kicker, he sits down with Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of CJR, to detail how Hasan's approach can be seen as “an explicit rebuke to outdated journalistic norms."

    The Wall Street Journal's stubborn conservatism

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 24, 2021 23:04


    Adam Piore spoke to 50 current and former staffers at the Wall Street Journal on how the paper's editors limit subject matter and political coverage in an effort to hold on to their traditional audience. On this week's Kicker, Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of CJR, and Piore discuss his findings, the Journal's obsession with the New York Times, and what it all means for the journalists who work there.

    Larry Fink: Vulgarity and Anna Wintour's Met Gala

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 20, 2021 26:49


    In his five-plus decades of photographing performative wealth and celebrity at events like the Vanity Fair Oscar Party and the Met Gala, Larry Fink perfected the art of taking “candid pictures of very non-candid people.” On this week's Kicker, Fink joins Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of CJR, to discuss coverage of last week's Met Gala, how journalism can learn from his ability to capture the space between posed photo ops, and why now, against the backdrop of a global pandemic and extreme economic inequality, the time for risk-free activism and the fetishization of wealth is over.

    September 11: “Inflection Point”

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 14, 2021 34:48


    For CJR, Jon Allsop followed the weekend's deluge of September 11 anniversary coverage—where it excelled, and when it lacked self-awareness. On today's Kicker, he joins Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of CJR, on what the media got right and what it didn't.

    How We Got Here: Genders and Sexualities, host Prof. Alisa Solomon

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 3, 2021 51:12


    Gender and sexuality can feel natural and even immutable, but science and the lived experience of numerous humans tell us that these categories are far more variable than they may seem. At a time when dozens of states around the US have passed or are considering legislation to enforce rigid definitions of gender, queer theorist Jack Halberstam and journalist Zach Stafford discuss the fallaciousness of what scholars call the “gender binary.” Bringing an intersectional perspective, and looking at examples from women's sports, they invite journalists to speak truth to the power that is exercised, often violently, through an insistence on “normative” ideas of gender and sexuality. Guests: Zach Stafford & Jack Halberstam

    How We Got Here: Unwelcome to America, host Prof. Nina Alvarez

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 27, 2021 53:21


    The American Dream is often portrayed as the hook that pulls people to the United States. What is usually left out of the story is the hell many flee, sometimes a hell fed by the very country in which they seek refuge. The story of U.S. involvement in Central America is a classic example of wars inflicted on people by U.S. financed repressive regimes and later by gangs grown in the U.S. and deported wholesale to vulnerable nations. In this episode, a scholar sheds light on the invention of the “illegal alien,” its use and manipulation for the past 140 years (and counting) to exclude and exploit people of color and more recent notions of who and who is not deserving of legal admission into the United States. Guest: Mae Ngai

    How We Got Here: Class, host Prof. Dale Maharidge

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 20, 2021 44:54


    Steel produced in Youngstown, Ohio, helped America win World War II, and it was used to build the bridges that we cross and the buildings in which we live. But in the 1970s, the mills began closing. Some 50,000 well-paid jobs were gone. There was a concurrent rise in anger as the workers and their children struggled to survive with minimum-wage jobs or in the gig economy. Youngstown represents the widening chasm of class division in the United States. Journalists need to understand how class informs politics and culture. In this episode we talk with a labor studies expert about how to cover the working class. Guest: Sherry Linkon

    How We Got Here: Empire, host Prof. Sheila Coronel

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 13, 2021 46:14


    There is a long tradition of imperial denial in the United States. After all, Americans fought the British Empire and have always thought of themselves as different from European colonialists. They are Empire Slayers — why else would “Star Wars” and its fight against the Galactic Empire have such a hold on the popular imagination? In this episode, two scholars explain how, from the nation's birth, imperial expansion — first westward into Indian Country and later, overseas —was a defining character of these United States. The echoes of empire can be heard in today's news. It's impossible to talk about immigration, drone strikes, the attacks on Asian Americans, the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, etc., without understanding the history and projection of American power. What would journalism informed by the history of empire look like? Guests: Daniel Immerwahr & Vernadette Vicuna Gonzalez

    How We Got Here: Whiteness, host Prof. Samuel G. Freedman

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 3, 2021 56:18


    Whiteness in America isn't just the neutral norm against which racial minorities, particularly Black people, are measured. Whiteness in America means having the privilege and power that go along with being part of that supposed norm. And becoming white – not in terms of pigment but of social status – is a choice that nearly every immigrant or refugee group in America has had to embrace or reject. We talk with two scholars in the field of Whiteness Studies about how understanding the construction of white identity in this polyglot country gives us keen insights into its troubled racial history.

    america black prof whiteness freedman samuel g freedman whiteness studies
    How We Got Here: The Half-Life of Democracy, host Prof. Jelani Cobb

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 3, 2021 46:14


    The issue of police violence and racism is a familiar one. It's been present in the United States since the Republic's beginnings. And the stories of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tamir Rice and others cannot be understood if we do not know and comprehend that history. In this episode, we discuss race, crime, criminal justice, violence and the kind of cyclical dynamic that we have seen repeatedly over the decades with Harvard historian Dr. Khalil Muhammad. The conversation gives greater context and an insight into the shattering events of today by illuminating the roots of injustice and violence against Black Americans by those in authority.

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