NIEMAN REPORTS

To attract and retain millennial journalists, news outlets must better meet the needs of parents with young children

WHERE ARE THE MOTHERS? Contributors The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University Katherine Goldstein www.niemanreports.org (page 24), a 2017 Nieman Fellow, is a digital journalist and consultant focusing on issues of women and work. She leads workshops, coaches, and teaches a course at the Harvard Extension School on how to develop a journalism career. Previously, she worked publisher Ann Marie Lipinski as the editor of vanityfair.com, the director of traffic and social media strategy at Slate, and as the green editor at The Huffington editor Post. In addition to her editorial, strategy, and managerial roles, James Geary she has covered topics ranging from the Copenhagen climate talks senior editor to the first gay wedding on a military base. She lives in Brooklyn, Jan Gardner New York with her husband and son. editorial assistant Eryn M. Carlson Diego Marcano (page 8) is a Venezuelan journalist now attending staff assistant Boston University. Previously, he was Lesley Harkins based in Colombia as a reporter at design Prodavinci, where he covered policy, Pentagram international affairs, and technology. editorial offices One Francis Avenue, Cambridge, Laura Beltrán Villamizar (page 12), MA 02138-2098, 617-496-6308, an independent photography editor and [email protected] writer, is the founder of Native Agency, a platform dedicated to the promotion and Copyright 2017 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. development of visual journalists from Periodicals postage paid at underrepresented regions. Boston, Massachusetts and additional entries Jon Marcus (pages 14 and 42 ) is higher- education editor at The Hechinger Report, subscriptions/business a nonprofit news organization based at 617-496-6299, [email protected] Columbia University. Previously the editor Subscription $25 a year, of Boston Magazine, he has written for $40 for two years; The Washington Post, Time, and USA Today. add $10 per year for foreign airmail. Single copies $7.50. Michael Bird (page 20) is a reporter Back copies are available from and editor for The Black Sea, a platform the Nieman office. showcasing investigative reporting Please address all subscription in southeast Europe. He is based in correspondence to: Bucharest, Romania and London. One Francis Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138-2098 and change of address information to: Stefan Candea (page 20), a 2011 Nieman P.O. Box 4951, Manchester, NH 03108 Fellow, is co-founder and coordinator ISSN Number 0028-9817 of European Investigative Collaborations. Postmaster: Send address changes to He is a co-founder of the Romanian Center Nieman Reports P.O. Box 4951, for Investigative Journalism. Manchester, NH 03108

Nieman Reports (USPS #430-650) Tristan Ahtone (page 36), a 2018 Nieman is published in March, June, Fellow, is a freelance reporter and member September, and December by of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma. He has the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University, reported for “The NewsHour with Jim One Francis Avenue, Lehrer,” National Native News, Frontline,

Cambridge, MA 02138-2098 Vice, Fronteras Desk, and NPR. (BOTTOM)VILLAMIZAR: PRESS (TOP); CUBILLOS/ASSOCIATED OPPOSITE: GRAHAM MACINDOE ARIANA JITSKE NAP; The New York Times’s improved family leave policy is the result of lobbying by an employee group to which these women belong

Contents Summer 2017 / Vol. 71 / No. 3

Features Departments How Venezuela’s Independent 8 cover From the Curator 2 Digital News Outlets are Covering Ann Marie Lipinski Where Are the Mothers? 24 the Turmoil in Their Country To stay relevant to readers, newsrooms Despite safety risks, journalists are Live@Lippmann 4 must do more to keep mothers in the tal- reporting on the unrest and shortages Political commentator Charlie Sykes ent pipeline. Besides, it is good business By Diego Marcano By Katherine Goldstein Niemans@Work 6 The Ethics of Leaks 14 A live magazine takes root in Europe, The increasing use of anonymous watchdog a tale of Milwaukee told through sources has intensified the debate over Telling Indigenous Stories 36 a class picture, a study of a foreign how to vet information and sources Reporting on the unique realities entails correspondent’s craft By Jon Marcus revisiting journalism’s founding principles By Tristan Ahtone Books 48 “WTF: What’s the Future and Covering Controversial 42 Why It’s Up to Us” Issues on Campus By Tim O’Reilly Newly energized college journalists are facing off against university administrators Nieman Notes 50 By Jon Marcus Sounding 52 Jassim Ahmad

A demonstrator in Venezuela where street protests have roiled the nation for months Page 8

nieman reports Summer 2017 1 from the night before. During the congress- an in whose country journalists have been the man-elect’s court hearing Jacobs said: “I murdered with impunity. curator asked Mr. Gianforte a question in the same Last November, in a speech at the manner I have asked questions of hundreds Committee to Protect Journalists’ 2016 of politicians… [His] response was to slam International Press Freedom Awards, broad- me to the floor and start punching me.” caster Christiane Amanpour said, “Never in Gianforte pleaded guilty to misdemeanor a million years did I expect to find myself assault but with a diluted description of his appealing for the freedom and safety of actions. “I grabbed his wrist,” he testified. American journalists at home.” Violence at Home “A scuffle ensued, and he was injured, as I Trump’s tweets, she said, had “chilled” her. and Abroad understand it.” In describing the scene at his “We are not there yet, but here’s a post- election-night party in Bozeman, Politico card from the world: This is how it goes with The animus against wrote that attendees “widely laughed off” authoritarians around the world like Sisi, journalists in the U.S. the events. “When Gianforte apologized to like Erdoğan, like Putin, like the Ayatollahs, the reporter he had assaulted, an attendee like Duterte in the Philippines, and all of demonstrates how yelled that he was forgiven, as others shook those people,” she said. quickly conditions their head, expressing the opinion that he “International journalists know only can change in any part shouldn’t have to apologize.” too well: First the media is accused of incit- Niedringhaus and Jacobs occupy distant ing, then sympathizing, then associating— of the world poles on the continuum of violence against and then they suddenly find themselves by ann marie lipinski journalists. But the proximity of the memo- accused of being full-fledged terrorists and rial for her and the assault on him forced subversives. They end up in handcuffs, in uncomfortable questions for me about how cages, in kangaroo courts, in prison—and easily, dangerously, almost imperceptibly then, who knows what?” conditions can change for journalism in any If any tree can claim patriotic roots, it is n a sunny friday in may, a part of the world. perhaps the Eastern redbud. It was a favor- sweetly solemn ceremony unfold- President Trump’s insistent use of his ite of George Washington, who wrote about ed on the grounds of Harvard’s candidacy and now office to demean and them in his diary and treasured the speci- O Lippmann House as Nieman Fellows diminish journalism in the U.S. is redefin- mens at Mount Vernon. Thomas Jefferson gathered for a class reunion. Missing ing the historic relationship between the wrote about them too and planted red- was Anja Niedringhaus, a treasured class- presidency and the press in perilous new buds on the grounds of Monticello. Anya’s mate and Associated Press photographer ways. By some counts, the pugilistic video tree grows directly outside my office and who was slain while covering elections in that portrayed him punching a figure rep- through a tall mullioned window I’ve been Afghanistan. In Anja’s honor, fellows from resenting CNN was his most widely shared keeping an eye on its sure summer progress. the class of 2007 dedicated a tree and stood tweet. More disquieting to me was the re- To gardeners, its flowering is a harbinger of beneath the young Eastern redbud, telling cent exchange between Trump and Russia’s spring, showy magenta blossoms signaling stories about their fallen friend. Vladimir Putin. Gesturing to journalists a new year. But I’ve been reading about red- I don’t know that I’ve heard a journalist covering their meeting, a giggling Putin buds and have learned not to count them described with more affection, both for her asked, “These are the ones that insulted out in the harsh months. One arborist Pulitzer Prize-winning work and her distinct you?” And the new American president wrote: “Even in winter, covered with snow, charm. A veteran of the Nieman staff who shared a mirthful moment with the veter- the Eastern redbud is stunning.”  has known hundreds of fellows confided that afternoon that Anja had been her favor- ite. In 2014, an Afghan police officer opened fire on the photographer and AP colleague Kathy Gannon as they waited peaceful- ly inside a car at a checkpoint near Khost. Gannon was badly injured. Niedringhaus died instantly. She was 48. The risks that journalists have taken in places like Afghanistan are extraordinary, and perhaps one reason why Niedringhaus also loved the leavening work of shooting the Olympics. But the once-clear boundar- ies we drew around assignments to mark them for danger are growing blurred. On the eve of the Nieman Fellows’ me- morial for Anya, Greg Gianforte, a Montana Republican, was voted into Congress in spite of—some say because of—his physical assault on Guardian journalist Ben Jacobs Journalists in Turkey increasingly face trial and imprisonment

2 nieman reports summer 2017 groups churn with messages The Struggle proposing new initiatives, new information, posting Against new emergencies, one day Silence in alerting us of a reporter in Quintana Roo whose ear was Mexico is a cut off as a warning to the owner of his newspaper and Relay Race another of an indigenous radio announcer who was attacked Reflecting on my return or of a photographer’s teenage to Mexico and the violent daughter who was disappeared (and, thankfully, later found). threats against journalists When we message each other, in the country we ask if help arrived for the 7 by marcela turati reporters and photographers ambushed by 100 armed men in Guerrero and stripped of their equipment; if there were Today [June 8] marks one week funds to pay for Javier’s wake since I returned to Mexico after and to compensate his family; 10 months in the United States if anyone knows how the guys on a Nieman Fellowship. from RíoDoce newspaper are Remembering murdered journalist Javier Valdez Cárdenas On my first day back, I talked dealing with their pain of losing to 15 Michoacán colleagues Javier; if anyone knows of asking each other for details they could be next, of sending who had taken a personal day or therapists who could travel to about the most recent crimes to messages of support to those asked for unpaid leave in order Sinaloa or Guerrero to attend to try and understand their hidden who have already gone, of to attend a protest outside the colleagues there. messages; considering where reviewing our own practices and PGR [Attorney General’s Office] Every day I get messages we can and can’t practice our own work inspired by the to call attention to the silence from colleagues asking for journalism; sharing anecdotes example of Javier, of swallowing around the disappearance of help in stopping the new of nocturnal paranoias; talking our rage and grief because for Salvador Adame, their colleague state laws being passed by to human rights defenders and lack of funds they didn’t get him from the newspaper La Voz de legislators supposedly to sharing our assessments, our out when he asked for help, of Tierra Caliente. At the protest “protect journalists” but that uneasiness, our ideas for action. feeling that in 10 years of living I ran into two Mexico City are loaded with poison, others I, like many of us, have in this emergency we haven’t colleagues who, when they who need advice about putting been converted into a kind of learned much as a profession saw me, began talking about together their own self-defense air traffic controller, trying to to make it a little harder for how overwhelmed they felt by journalist collectives, others manage initiatives that our the killers, of thinking that the impact of so many deaths, asking that we run their inserts more clearheaded colleagues maybe Javier, Miroslava, Choco, about the need for psychological addressed to the authorities or are launching—to publish Regina, and Rubén weren’t support, about feeling they photos of their demonstrations, something on the anniversary of murdered so much for what could be the next to die. Their others that we share the Javier’s death, to read Javier’s they published as to terrorize question: what do we do? articles they are publishing work, to blanket the city with the rest of us. Telling ourselves That night I saw a dear every day so that the issue posters, to make a collection for that it’s going to get worse and friend trapped in the infinite doesn’t fade. media in crisis. Yesterday at the that we have to steel ourselves web of trying to make sense of There have been days full of end of the press conference in in preparation. the senseless murder of Javier meetings over coffee to listen which we invited our profession Despite the sorrow and Valdez Cárdenas, the tangle to friends who don’t know what to next week’s encounter the fear that I now have to live ensnaring us all. The chat to do with the anxiety eating between journalists to discuss with, I feel clear and serene, a at them or who haven’t been our problems and design little wiser after my experience, able to cry over the loss of the solutions, one of the reporters knowing that the struggle friend-colleague-big brother interviewing me began to against silence in Mexico is a that Javier was, or, who with cry when we were talking relay race, that one day some Javier’s murder have to relive about Miroslava Breach’s are tagged to stop and catch the killings that once forced assassination because she’s a their breath (or save their lives) “The chat groups them to flee their homes for mother too. and others to return rested the DF [Mexico City]. Of the Days full of plans, many, and with a fresh perspective in churn with Twitter campaign defending a attempts at trying to shape a order to begin again. Days of messages proposing Sonoran colleague kicked off future where there is a place for shared embraces, of solidarity, new initiatives, his radio program for not toeing journalists, in which information of silence, of encouragement, the official line. Of calls from doesn’t become dangerous, of being orphaned, of love, of … posting new frustrated local media directors in which we learn to respect welcome, of loss. But also of emergencies, one after leaving the Interior each other. Days filled with looking to the future. A future Ministry, having listened to explaining that if a journalist where we have each other day alerting us officials say that they are is killed, what he or she was because we are alive and of a reporter in overwhelmed and can’t figure reporting is also silenced. Days because we have everything left Quintana Roo out what to do. Of evening of mescal and of plans to meet, still to build. gatherings to brainstorm about of advising colleagues that whose ear was cut what we can do to put an end to maybe they should prepare Translated from Spanish by Patrick Timmons OPPOSITE: OZAN KOSE/AFP/GETTY IMAGES; REBECCA BLACKWELL/ASSOCIATED PRESS IMAGES; OPPOSITE: OZAN KOSE/AFP/GETTY off as a warning the State’s policy of impunity; to leave the country because

nieman reports Summer 2017 3 live@ “Here’s what NBC is reporting showing that lippmann this thing that you just sent me is complete- ly not true.” The response that I was getting increas- ingly was not to deal with the facts there. It was, “Oh, I don’t pay any attention to those liberal rags.” Just the fact it was in the Times or the Post, or any of these other sites, that Charlie Sykes: “Everything was discrediting. That’s when I begin to re- alize, “OK, what we’ve done here is we have that’s happening that is bad these alternative reality silos; these echo chambers that don’t just disseminate in- is about to get worse” formation, but which become this chrysalis that would protect you from counter infor- Political commentator and mation if it does not come from the bubble.” former radio host on the rise of There were a couple of emailers that I almost made experiments of—“Can I con- conservative media, alternative vince you to stop forwarding this stuff?”— and failed miserably. Even to the point reality silos, and media safe spaces where I would engage and then said, “Look, I know you. I know that you are a good per- son. Why do you keep forwarding this bigot- ed bilge? Why are you obsessed?” Basically, the answer was, “Well, I just think that we have to save America and it’s important longtime political commenta- You say we’re racist, we’re sexist, we’re xe- to win this election. I’m willing to say and tor, Charlie Sykes has become a lead- nophobes. You say that we have these atti- believe and do anything.” Even when you ing conservative voice. Best known as tudes. It’s not true.” Then, suddenly, this pointed out to them that it was not true, A the host of the “Midday with Charlie guy comes up who is the living embodiment, they didn’t care. Sykes” talk show, broadcast on WTMJ this cartoon version, of every stereotype One of the interviews that I’ve done on in Milwaukee, Wisconsin from 1993 to 2016, that the left has ever had of conservatism, my public radio show that was, for me, the Sykes began his journalism career at The and he’s surging in the polls. most interesting was Garry Kasparov, who Milwaukee Journal and, in the mid-1980s, I kept expecting that the conservative is the former world chess champion and a served at the helm of Milwaukee Magazine be- movement and conservative voters would Russian dissident who understands, I think, fore he began working in radio. During the first draw the line and say, “No,” whether it’s the role of propaganda and lies in a way that 100 days of Trump’s presidency, Sykes co-host- an evaluation of his character, his erratic a lot of Americans don’t. His main point is ed the “Indivisible” public radio show produced personality, or whether it’s the fact that he that the point of lies is not to convince you by WNYC, Minnesota Public Radio, and The wasn’t a small-government conservative. He of a certain policy. It wouldn’t necessarily Economist. He is currently a regular contribu- wasn’t in any way reflective of the values of make you believe a lie. What it is is an as- tor to MSNBC. His latest book, “How the Right the mainstream conservative movement. sault on your critical sensibilities. It is an Lost Its Mind,” will be released in October. As I watched the dominoes falling … watch- assault on your ability or your interest in Sykes spoke with fellows this past spring at the ing one conservative leader or politician or sharing what is true. Nieman Foundation. Edited excerpts: writer after another go, “Well, maybe he’s OK”—watching that really made me realize On great investigative reporting on On Trump and the conservative move- that the conservative movement is broken, Trump—and why it didn’t reach Trump ment today. This last year was this really and maybe it was not what I thought it was. supporters. There was great reporting all soul-crushing, disillusioning slog for me, be- through the campaign about Donald Trump. cause I really did think I understood what On his listeners and fake news. As 2015– I was one of the early advocates for David the conservative movement was about. In 2016 was unfolding, because we had such Fahrenthold to win the Pulitzer Prize. I was Wisconsin, we had a very robust conserva- engaged listeners, they would send me obsessed with that story because I thought tive movement, and I really thought that emails, they would forward stories, where it was interesting, the way he went out—as this was a movement based on concepts of they would say, “Why aren’t you talking a model of investigative reporting—and de- freedom and individual liberty, small gov- about this?” Over the years, I tried to push termined that Trump had not actually made ernment, constitutionalism. When Trump back on that. “This is not true. Barack any of those charitable contributions. came along, I kept expecting that the con- Obama was not born in Kenya.” I started I go home. I read this stuff. Then I go on servative movement would stand up and noticing that it was becoming harder and the air, and I will mention something about say, “This is exactly what we aren’t.” harder to convince people the stories were Trump. I get this horrendous blowback from For 20 years, I’d been on the air—and not true. It got to the point where I would the Trumpkins that it’s all BS. I realized, maybe it was, part of it, being a recovering even spend time going, “Well, here’s the fact “You know what? They’re not hearing this.” liberal, I don’t know—basically saying, “OK, check on The Washington Post.” Or, “Here My audience, which is pretty smart, never you folks say that we are all of these things. is the story from The New York Times.” Or, read any of Fahrenthold’s stuff.

4 nieman reports summer 2017 You’ve got 40 percent of Americans who never heard any of those stories. I had Fahrenthold on my radio show. I don’t know how many conservative shows ever had him on. He went through everything. He was on for half an hour. My audience was blown away by it, and was like, “Oh, wow. Why have we never heard this before?” Really? How deep in the bubble are you that you didn’t hear that? When people heard it, they were affected by it. Then they would move on. This is the thing—how hermetically sealed these echo chambers are and really self-perpetuating they are—that happened in 2016. There’s really been some good reporting on this, the amount of money that went into some of the sites like Breitbart. This is not irrelevant. The way in which conservative talk shows provided them cover, created this world where I honestly think that if we had this media ecosystem during the Watergate scandal that Nixon would have survived. I’m Charlie Sykes: “There’s a real possibility this is going to be a golden age for journalism” actually very convinced of that because you can have the best investigative reporting in actors and the worst elements have been we reestablish our connections with them? the world, and if 40 percent of the country empowered, have been enabled. They’re Figure out why did people stop listening to is absolutely completely immunized against getting stronger. us and paying attention, and try to fix that. it, protected against it, what will happen? I don’t know. On the rise of conservative media. I On how to avoid being seen as partisan would hope that people will recognize what media. There’s a real possibility this is going On people having their own media safe happened here. There’s a push and a pull. to be a golden age for journalism in a sense spaces. Across the spectrum, people have Why did the conservative media arise? I con- that journalists are becoming self-aware, increasingly been doing this—everybody has fess that my beating up on the media like like, “Hey, you know, we actually are the pil- their own media. Really conservative talk ra- every other conservative talk show did con- lars of democracy. This is not just a cliché. dio’s become a safe space for conservatives, tributed to this de-legitimatization, there’s It is fun being adversarial. Let’s see what we and they don’t want to hear other points of no question about that. That’s not the whole can do. It’s going to be hard.” view. I’ll tell you, having an NPR show, I think story though. I would say, do the best stuff. Really be that on the left there are also safe spaces. The Many people in the media circled the sure you get it right. Pick things that people cross-pollination has really broken down. We wagons. I think there are a lot of people in actually care about. really want things that reinforce what we al- the media who are perhaps not as aware of I had an interesting conversation with a ready believe. The confirmation bias is really how entrenched the liberal pack mentality guy from public radio, and we were talking intense. They’ve actually done studies that is. It’s like, how do fish not know they’re about the problems of one of our hometown would show that, when you hear opinions wet? Because it’s all around them. Everyone newspapers. He said, “You know? The prob- that reaffirm your life view, you get a little we know feels the same way. lem is that somebody there has to say, ‘Hey. shot of dopamine. In other words, hyper-par- If half of your audience was telling you Maybe we should write, write more stuff tisanship is literally addictive. for 50 years, “Hey. We’re not trusting you. that people will actually read.’” What a rad- I actually think that everything that’s We think you’re biased,” and for 50 years ical concept. happening that is bad is about to get worse. the media was saying, “No, no, no,” maybe To the extent that you are in an ivory tow- All the trends in the division, in the polariza- there is a point where you go back and do er of any place, go out there, go meet the peo- tion, are about to get worse. All of the worst introspection. ple, talk about them, figure out what is going to connect with them. What are the stories On bursting filter bubbles. What do you that are going to move them and affect them? do about all of this? First of all, understand The power of facts I think is still there, what an existential challenge this is. Not but I may be really naive about that. We can’t just to the media—this is not a media prob- even have a political debate if everything be- “I honestly think that lem, this is a democracy problem. It really comes, “Well, you got that from so-and-so.” if we had the same media is. This is something that we Americans, I This is going to be a huge challenge. Maybe don’t think, have gotten our heads around. in the Trump era something will blow up in ecosystem during the I actually think that the media needs to go such a way that people will go, “Hey. You Watergate scandal that back, engage in introspection—how do we know what? Maybe I really had to listen to

ELLEN TUTTLE Nixon would have survived win these people back? What is the way that those, you know, other points of view.” 

nieman reports Summer 2017 5 niemans have done about the world around them. Hall in Paris in April of 2014. I followed his @work Pieces can be adapted from a big work in principles scrupulously—no announcement progress; or drawn from fantastic, unused of the lineup, no recording of the show material from some past work; or it might whatsoever, a diversity of profiles, a touch be new work produced specifically for the of wonder—and added my own touches as show. Pieces can be just talking, or talking I felt necessary. The fact I couldn’t watch a with pictures, or audio, or film. They can be replay of the original proved liberating. cross-disciplinary or collaborative—a radio Our 24th edition will take place this producer can team up with an illustrator, September before an audience of 1,500. One of a Kind a photographer with a musician. Pop-Up We have produced more than 230 stories In creating a one night- provides an ideal stage and supportive au- in all, each carefully curated and edited, yet dience to explore work that challenges pro- ephemeral (though some authors have been only live magazine, fessional pigeonholing.” so energized by the audience response to Florence Martin- So many of the questions that I’d had turn them into articles, films, or podcasts). in mind—how to bring closer the different We have teamed up with France’s big- Kessler, NF ’11, finds a shades of journalism, bring first-person gest traditional media groups—Le Monde, storytelling innovation voices into outstanding journalism stories, Les Echos, Bayard—for co-productions. We that sparks excitement experiment with nonfiction narratives, cap- also have launched a series for a younger ture an audience—seemed to be answered. I audience, an outreach program for voca- loved the clarity of the concept—it was a eu- tional school students, and started shows reka moment. In hindsight, I realize that it in Belgium. also resonated very much with the Nieman And Pop-Up Magazine and Live Magazine n a sunny saturday afternoon in Soundings, a cornerstone of the fellowship have inspired shows in Denmark (Zetland O October of 2013, I entered a conference experience where journalists humbly come Live), Romania (DoR Live, from the name of hall at the Charles Hotel in Cambridge in front of their peers to share the stories the printed magazine Decat o Revista which to attend a roundtable that was part of the that are fundamental to their personal and translates as “just a magazine”), Poland, and Nieman Foundation’s 75th anniversary cel- professional life. soon in Spain. ebration weekend. The topic: “Innovation Later that day, I introduced myself to So why do audiences keep coming to our in Storytelling.” Doug and he encouraged me to start a show sold-out shows? As Guillemette Faure, a col- Over the 15 years that I had spent di- in Paris. I put on the first Live Magazine umnist said: “You can hear every breath in a recting documentaries for French public to an audience of 300 at the Gaité Lyrique living newspaper.”  television, I had given a lot of thought about precisely that question: How can we be more creative with form, while staying journalis- tic in the stories we tell? I was grateful that public funding made it possible to get films made in France, but classic formats—voice- over, interviews, experts, archives—felt in- creasingly imposed on us. A great number of promising projects would never come to light because they’d been deemed too per- sonal for the current affairs shows (or too journalistic for the few auteur slots). There was little flexibility, and any fresh idea had little prospect. Meanwhile, I loved online short docs but there didn’t seem to be a reve- nue model for them and the nonlinear narra- tive possibilities offered by the internet with web-docs didn't deliver on their promise. So, back at that Saturday afternoon panel, Douglas McGray started to explain how he invented Pop-Up Magazine in San Francisco five years earlier, “as a hobby.” He’d wondered: “What if the future of jour- nalism was not online but onstage?” and had come up with a format of unrecorded news stories, told live: a dozen journalists and authors would stand on stage to narrate their articles. In the contributor’s guide, he states: “Pop-Up stories are true, and most Editions of Live Magazine, such as one last fall at the National Theatre in Strasbourg, are based on reporting the contributors France, attract enthusiastic crowds. Now there’s also a series for younger audiences

6 nieman reports summer 2017 “A Roller Coaster years of drug use, and when I told their sto- ries, I had to absorb those stories in order Ride of Emotions” to understand them. It was daunting, but James E. Causey, putting a face to struggles with housing, em- ployment, and incarceration was necessary NF ’08, tells a tale of to get readers to care. Milwaukee’s decline The months I spent on this project took me on a roller coaster ride of emotions. Many through the lives of his of my classmates cried during the interviews, third-grade classmates and sometimes I did, too. Hugs and Kleenex were plentiful. After some of the interviews with my classmates, I couldn’t eat or sleep, Causey’s third-grade class in 1978 haunted by what they had shared with me and realizing how fortunate I was and how person of the press carries even more when hen i set out to find out what unfair life could be. dealing with communities of color. But I W happened to everyone in my third- In some cases, it took my former class- wouldn’t change what I do for anything. My grade class at Milwaukee’s Samuel mates months to open up because of their gift of telling stories is meant to be shared, Clemens Elementary School in 1978, I had distrust of the media. Some refused to talk. and with that, I have a responsibility to tell no idea how mentally draining the project Even the ones who did confide in me re- those stories in a way that is respectful and would become. vealed that they only did so because it was authentic. “What Happened to Us? Examining me. To be honest, many would not have The city of Cleveland has had some suc- Milwaukee’s Persistent Problems Through opened up to a reporter who didn’t look like cess taking a cooperative approach to start- the Eyes of One Class,” my four-part special them—black. Immersing myself in this ing businesses and hiring city residents, and, report for The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, project further cemented my view of how prompted by my reporting, the Milwaukee tells the story of how Milwaukee went from far we still have to go when it comes to Common Council is taking steps to imple- one of the best places for blacks to live to race relations in this country. ment a co-op model here. As a journalist, I one of the worst. I told the story from the Over my career of 30-plus years, I have hold a unique position to inspire our leaders perspective of what happened to me and seen and felt the distrust of media by to act and implement laws and changes for my classmates. Of the 28 students in my African-American communities. Many of the greater good of our communities. third-grade class, at least 13 have spent time my classmates looked at me as a friend, a fa- This takes time, but if we want to foster in prison or had a close family member—a miliar person with whom they could share, improvements in this country, we need more parent, brother, sister, or child—locked up. someone who wouldn’t vilify their lives in journalists willing to go to places and neigh- Some of my classmates have experienced print. My position as a reporter and colum- borhoods that they have not been before to trauma ranging from physical violence to nist carries weight, sure, but being a black tell those stories.

conditions of the people he of ordinary people. He wrote What Anthony Shadid portrayed across the Arab about men and women living in world. His stories ranged exploding cities and neglected Teaches Us Still far and wide—Iraq under villages, not because they Rami G. Khouri, NF ’02, is studying the attack, Palestine at war, Cairo captured a bigger story, but craftsmanship of the late Pulitzer-winning foreign in revolution, a Jordanian because they were the story correspondent to share it with a new generation roadside coffee vendor. that would shape the future I have been reviewing of their countries. Second, his Anthony’s personal papers, reporting was immersive and reading 350 articles he wrote relentless. He probed every In life and death alike, at AUB, home to Anthony’s while covering the Middle East, street, room, memory, torn Anthony Shadid was personal papers and library. Our and interviewing his former chocolate wrapper, shattered repeatedly recognized by his project will organize and make colleagues and associates. I window, and mother’s smile peers as among the finest available an archive of his work. now appreciate better why or frown in sight. He listened foreign correspondents of Drawing on my research Anthony won two Pulitzers intently and empathetically his generation. To examine to date, I teach a course at and was widely sought as a for hours or days, in order to his legacy and share it with AUB called “Narrative News speaker. His diligent reporting hear, capture, and relay the journalism students and the Reporting and the Legacy and organizing were craft sentiments of ordinary people. wider world, I am leading a one- of Anthony Shadid.” I knew techniques that any serious Third, he organized his wealth of year project at the American Anthony throughout his 15 journalist could master; more reporting with great diligence. University of Beirut (AUB), years of covering the Middle rare was his very personal He transcribed his notes and co-sponsored by the Media East for the Associated determination to convey the interviews, pulled from them Studies Department and the Press, The Boston Globe, The stories and sentiments of Arab the core story he wanted to AUB Libraries Archives, with Washington Post, and The people in a way that had never tell, and wrote a detailed story the cooperation of Anthony’s New York Times. Like so many been done before. outline with themes, characters, widow Nada Bakri Shadid. I others, I admired the almost Three aspects of his work emotions, and color that had all am a professor of journalism musical flow of his prose that stand out. First, his reporting the look and feel of a mini movie

OPPOSITE: J.DELAY and journalist in residence captured the sentiments and always centered on the lives script. And then he wrote.

nieman reports Summer 2017 7 “ WE WANT TO SPARK INFORMATION, LIKE THE FIREFLY DOES, TO ILLUMINATE AN ENTIRE COUNTRY” — LUZ MELY REYES HOW VENEZUELA’S INDEPENDENT DIGITAL NEWS OUTLETS ARE COVERING THE TURMOIL IN THEIR COUNTRY BY DIEGO MARCANO

nieman reports Summer 2017 9 VENEZUELA’S CRACKDOWN ON THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA PROVIDES AN OPENING FOR DIGITAL NEWS OUTLETS

cast exclusively on Periscope. “Con la Luz” (“With the Light”) airs every Friday after- noon with in-depth interviews and debates on current social and political issues. Efecto Cocuyo’s audience is still com- paratively small—a typical Periscope piece reaches an audience of around 3,000; the April 10 broadcast was the site’s biggest Her face painted the colors of the national flag, a woman pays homage to fellow ever, drawing over 60,000 viewers—but its Venezuelans killed this spring during protests Previous page: Demonstrators effort is typical of the sense of energy and in Caracas gesture to riot security forces while rallying against President Nicolás urgency among Venezuela’s digital news Maduro over graffiti that reads “censorship is dictatorship” upstarts to provide accurate, independent coverage of the turmoil engulfing the coun- try. “One of the biggest lessons and benefits we’re experiencing is that the most serious, responsible, and rigorous journalism is be- ing recognized by audiences,” says Omar Lugo, a content director at El Estímulo, enezuelan pop singer miguel ignacio another new digital news outlet, “because Mendoza was part of a crowd of thousands people want to be truly informed instead of of people on the streets of Caracas on April reading rumors on social media.” 10. He wasn’t giving a concert, but taking During a round of unrest in the spring, part in demonstrations against the Supreme clashes left more than 60 people dead and Court’s decision to dissolve the National hundreds arrested and injured, including Assembly, a decision the court later reversed several journalists. Hundreds of thousands after three days of nationwide protests. of Venezuelans have taken to the streets dai- The largely peaceful protesters—in- ly (at the height of the protests, the “Mother cluding Mendoza, more popularly known of All Marches” on April 19, that number as Nacho—were met with tear gas fired by rose to an estimated 2.5 million demonstra- police clad in riot gear on the streets and tors in Caracas alone) to protest the poli- in helicopters. At a protest that same day cies of President Nicolás Maduro—who has in Valencia, 100 miles west of Caracas, a become increasingly unpopular since being 20-year-old student was killed, shot in the elected in 2013 following the death of Hugo neck by police. Chávez—demanding Maduro’s removal Efecto Cocuyo was at the Caracas pro- from office, immediate elections, and the test, too, broadcasting the clashes live over release of opposition leaders from prison. Periscope. The independent digital political The political turmoil is further fueled by se- news outlet has been using Periscope since vere shortages of food, medicine, and basic the app’s launch in 2015 as an alternative to goods that have resulted from the oil-rich Venezuela’s legacy TV news organizations, country’s economic collapse. At the end which focus solely on pro-government con- of 2016, the inflation rate hit 720 percent; tent and studiously avoid showing any of it is expected to rise to over 2,000 percent the unrest that’s been roiling the country by 2018, according to projections by the Vfor the past three years. In February the site International Monetary Fund, though some launched a weekly news program broad- believe these estimates are way off. PRESS CUBILLOS/ASSOCIATED LEFT: ARIANA PREVIOUS SPREAD: CARLOS GARCIA RAWLINS/REUTERS;

10 nieman reports summer 2017 In the 18 years since Hugo Chávez came threatened to sue international newspa- up Efecto Cocuyo’s reporting, bringing the to power, winning an election six years af- pers for using what they said were “manip- story much wider attention. ter he led an unsuccessful military coup ulated photos” showing government forces Efecto Cocuyo has also been following to overthrow centrist president Carlos attacking demonstrators. the stories of those affected by the coun- Andrés Pérez in 1992, five television chan- Opposition leaders demanded the exit try’s drastic food and medicine shortages. nels have been closed and nine removed of Maduro from power, and “La Salida” The “Without Treatment” series, which from cable television subscription services; (“The Exit”) was the name given to the na- chronicles the ordeals of 10 children af- 62 radio stations have gone off the air be- tionwide movement. fected by health supplies shortages and cause of official prohibitions; and the gov- was one of three finalists for a Gabriel ernment has fined media outlets 32 times. García Márquez Journalism Prize, was “Legislation has limited freedom of expres- ith the credibility of the shared widely on social media. Mónica sion and access to public sources,” says country’s traditional media al- Soler, a Venezuelan citizen living in Spain, Marcelino Bisbal, director of Postgraduate ready battered by government read the story of Braian Lozano Salinas, a Communication Studies at the Universidad censorship and punishing eco- 12-year-old suffering from neurofibroma- Católica Andrés Bello. “It has significantly nomic policies, the early days tosis, which produces tumors throughout reduced the number of informative sources W of The Exit movement pro- the body. Salinas needed an anticonvulsive available and has generated actual censor- vided digital outlets with new drug called Keppra to stabilize him enough ship and self-censorship.” opportunities and new audiences. When for urgent surgery. Soler bought the medi- Though it has escalated in recent months, television coverage of the February 2014 cine and sent it to Salinas, allowing him to Venezuela’s current crisis began in February protests stopped, “That was a breaking successfully undergo the operation. of 2014, when local protests about the sex- point for us,” says Luz Mely Reyes, Efecto Although “Without Treatment” did not ual assault of a student at the University of Cocuyo’s director. She and her co-founders, produce any public reaction from the gov- Los Andes, in the state of Táchira, expand- Laura Weffer and Josefina Ruggiero, report- ernment, María Laura Chang, who reported ed to cities across Venezuela. The issues ed on the demonstrations through Twitter, and wrote the series, still believes journal- protesters wanted addressed expanded, documenting the running battles between ism like hers can have an impact. “Through too: improved public security, solutions police and protesters. In just two days, good journalistic work, we can expose public for economic instability and high inflation, they went from 0 to 12,000 followers. With mismanagement by the government, even and an end to government infringements $27,000 obtained through a crowdfunding though that doesn’t mean the government on civil rights. In the streets of Caracas, campaign, the team launched the website will change its way of operating. Knowing Venezuela’s capital, protests have become and started doing more in-depth stories. It we can do that must serve as a motivation increasingly violent, with government forc- now has 270,000 Twitter followers. to keep these issues under the magnifying es threatening the opposition with not just Efecto Cocuyo, which means “Firefly glass. In Venezuela, it has been demonstrat- tear gas, rubber bullets, and water cannons Effect”—“We want to spark information, ed that the government fears the mass me- but firearms. Protesters, too, have at times like the firefly does, to illuminate an entire dia. If it didn’t, it wouldn’t have taken action resorted to extreme violence; at a demon- country,” Mely Reyes explains—began with against so many TV networks, radio broad- stration in May, a large group surrounded a just four reporters but has since grown to 14. casters, and daily journalists.” man, doused him in gasoline, and set him on The commercial strategy is centered on ad- Prodavinci, where I am a reporter, is fire. Maduro accused the crowd of targeting vertising, which is a tough sell given the on- another digital outlet tackling issues, like the man because he was pro-government, going economic crisis and fear among many lack of medicine and food, the government though witnesses say the group accused the brands that the government will retaliate if tries to suppress. The site’s multimedia victim of being a thief. it’s displeased by a site’s editorial content. special report, “The Hunger and the Days,” During the protests of 2014, images So Reyes and colleagues periodically launch published in March, explores the impact of what was happening were barely seen fresh crowdfunding campaigns and raise of widespread hunger and malnutrition on mainstream media. The head of the funds through private donations. on Venezuelan society. “There is hunger, National Telecommunication Commission To evade government attempts to block and the government denies it,” says Ángel announced that “coverage of the vio- specific websites, Efecto Cocuyo uses Alayón, the site’s founder and director. To lent events” was punishable under the WhatsApp to deliver news and receive re- “propose solutions and alert people to the Radio, TV and Electronic Media Social porting tips. One such tip led to coverage irreversible damage future generations will Responsibility Law, which bans content of the eviction in 2015 of PG Corporation, experience,” Alayón sent 32 reporters across condoning violence or hatred. The in- an import-export business, from its facilities the country to document how food shortag- ternational television station NTN24, near Maiquetía Simón Bolívar International es are impacting individuals, families, hospi- which had been broadcasting live cover- Airport outside Caracas. Employees sent tals, and schools. The project made visible age of the protests, was removed from photos and videos to Efecto Cocuyo over the human toll the government’s economic the Venezuelan cable providers DirecTV WhatsApp as National Guard officials and policies have had. The site also runs ongo- and Movistar TV by government order, airport police arrived to enforce the govern- ing photo essays in which protesters caught and access to it remains restricted today. ment eviction order issued at the beginning up in clashes with police tell their stories in President Maduro announced that his gov- of October. When authorities came to exe- their own words. ernment would “adopt measures” against cute the eviction, PG Corporation’s workers Alayón started Prodavinci, with his own Agence France-Presse for having “distorted refused to leave, arguing the eviction decree money, as a forum for “journalism of ideas, the truth” about the protests. The Ministry was unlawful. Ultimately, PG Corporation as a response to the lack of in-depth analy- of Communication and Information also was evicted, but other media outlets picked sis and fact-based journalism,” he says. The

nieman reports Summer 2017 11 site currently employs around 30 people, and ute to the site while also writing for other will serve as an X-ray of the current times Alayón recently opened investigative and media outlets. The site delivers SMS high- that will be studied by historians,” he says. data units. Prodavinci also organizes three lights of its main stories to the phones of or four events a year, during which experts in more than 2.5 million residents of the cer- politics and economics discuss the issues the ros, the densely-populated communities of espite the obstacles, vital country faces, with admission fees augment- makeshift shacks found in the mountains work continues to be done in ing advertising income. “We’ve established surrounding Caracas. El Pitazo started as Venezuela. Investigative outfit a relationship with our audience based on a project of the non-governmental orga- Armando.info, which worked with creativity, quality, and respect,” says Oscar nization IPYS Venezuela, which promotes the International Consortium of Marcano, Prodavinci’s associate director. independent journalism and freedom of D Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) “When you provide quality journalism, pre- expression, and now has agreements with to develop the Venezuelan stories sented in a creative manner while rigorously six other Venezuelan NGOs, focused on derived from the Panama Papers, recently exhausting every source of information and civil rights and civic participation, to share broke the story of how construction giant angle of the story, the audience feels respect- its video content in communities where El Odebrecht offered bribes to foreign gov- ed, and it will back you up in the future.” Pitazo wants to make an impact. ernment officials to secure public contracts. Marcano’s optimism isn’t totally shared Known for its street reporting, El Pitazo Unlike other digital start-ups, Armando.info by César Bátiz, editor in chief of El Pitazo, did a series in March about senior citizens does not accept advertising. “We are not in- which provides news to low-income like Irmo Subero, a blind man in the state of terested in any advertiser putting conditions Venezuelans. “Very few media are able to sur- Monagas who tries to earn money by sing- on the topics we are working on,” explains vive on advertising income,” he notes. Still, ing and playing a broken guitar, people who co-editor Alfredo Meza. Instead, the site is in just two years, El Pitazo has managed to are living on the streets after being aban- funded through donations from organiza- build a national network of journalists with doned by their families and by the govern- tions like the Open Society. Meza is also a presence in 22 of the country’s 23 states, ment. Even though the government ignores looking into putting up a paywall and mov- at a time when traditional media have been stories like these, Bátiz believes it’s crucial ing to a subscription model. reducing coverage outside the main cities. to record what’s currently happening in In addition to the financial challenges, El Pitazo maintains a small newsroom in Venezuela. “We have to think that our jour- Meza says lack of cooperation from offi- Caracas, but its operation mainly consists nalistic work will not only remain as docu- cial sources forces journalists to become of a network of 42 reporters who contrib- mentation of this moment, but also that it more resourceful in obtaining statistics and

Venezuela is a country rich in important to have Venezuelan Considering that foreign Covering natural resources, fertile land, photographers, not only correspondents have and the largest oil reserves in the covering the situation for increasingly been denied a Collapsing world—more than Saudi Arabia. their own communities but entrance to Venezuela, the Nation Once a regional powerhouse and also for their stories to be work of local photographers preferred destination for tourists, visible elsewhere,” says has become more and more Local photographers businesses, and photographers, Fabiola Ferrero, a Venezuelan significant: “The work of are building a the Latin American country photographer whose work photographers has been visual testimony to can no longer feed, educate, or ranges from in-depth personal crucial, in the sense that all heal its people. stories to frontline protest the human rights violations Venezuela’s breakdown During the past four coverage. committed by the security months, demonstrations Still, covering conflict areas forces have been covered by a against President Nicolás has always been challenging big group of photographers,” Maduro—elected in 2013 for photojournalists, both says Ferrero. “If things have following the death of populist international and local. Not reached this point even when leader Hugo Chávez—have having sufficient knowledge local photographers have been assumed dramatic proportions. of the history and significance covering it all, I can’t imagine As of early August, protests of what is unfolding in the what would have happened were ongoing, leaving at least country can be tricky. For to us without that type of 120 dead and many more instance, covering a political coverage,” she says. injured. crisis with an exclusively The role of witness and of As the government aesthetic intention may storyteller is pivotal in such is now blocking foreign be a misguided effort at moments, as is the role of correspondents from entering narrating issues deeply citizen journalists who, like the country, coverage is left affecting people’s lives and Giovanna Mascetti, draw to native and international the political realities of a attention to more subtle stories, photojournalists who were country. At the same time, stories from the sidelines. already in Venezuela and a local photographers might Her work represents a visual new generation of young and have the advantage of a certain testimony to how civil society is forceful visual storytellers. degree of access as well as organizing itself and has been “Especially during times background knowledge about campaigning to bring down an

of crisis, it is extremely the story they are covering. authoritarian government. MASCETTI GIOVANNA

12 nieman reports summer 2017 fact-checking data. Since 2015, important lence Bocaranda’s criticism. In response, Venezuelan journalism. As the government economic indicators such as GDP, annu- Bocaranda and his son, Nelson E. Bocaranda, has cracked down on traditional outlets, it al imports, exports, and the inflation rate took “Runrunes” online, turning the radio has inadvertently created a supply of experi- have not been reported by Venezuelan gov- show into a digital platform for breaking enced journalists to feed into the newly cre- ernment officials. As a result, journalists news and investigative reporting. The site ated digital outlets, including people such as determine annual imports and exports, for now has six staffers in its investigative unit, Prodavinci photographer Gabriel Méndez, example, by checking with the commerce plus two regular collaborators. who’s been covering the protests. departments of every country with which Since the beginning of the current “One of the good things that has come Venezuela has traded. For figures like the demonstrations in April, “Runrunes,” which out of the growing censorship and self-cen- inflation rate, reporters have to cross- has 1.8 million Twitter followers, has been sorship is that a young journalistic move- check numbers with different NGOs and documenting every case in which a protest- ment has emerged,” he says. “Watching the international organizations such as the er has died, including infographics on the sum of little sacrifices many citizens do to International Monetary Fund. cause of death, the place where the person overcome daily challenges, the support of Back in 2009, Nelson Bocaranda, one of died, and whether those responsible for my family and colleagues makes me keep Venezuela’s most respected journalists, was the death have been identified. As of early on going, no matter how exhausted I may informed by the radio broadcaster Onda August, “Runrunes” had compiled cases for be. It makes me be willing to give the little that his political radio show “Runrunes” 156 deaths, 35 more than the official number contribution I can give. I think that we, as (“Rumors”) would not continue to air af- recorded by the Attorney General’s Office. a society, feed ourselves off everybody’s ter the government threatened to revoke The work of the Bocarandas high- good work. It is a sort of crowdfunding, but the radio station’s license if it didn’t si- lights one of the ironies of this moment in of courage.” 

DESPITE THE OBSTACLES, VITAL WORK CONTINUES TO BE DONE IN VENEZUELA

Members of Green Cross, medical students who help injured civilians, gather after the day’s protests

Mascetti started National Guard or on the These images and this body of research on how the photographing the Cruz Verde resistance per se. I felt that type of work is of great people organized themselves (“Green Cross”), a group of the bright spirit of the significance for those in and took to the streets,” medical students who assist ‘Green Cross’ was something Venezuela, and for the says Ferrero. injured civilians during that I wanted to see in international community Photojournalists dedicated clashes with the police and the media. This is a group watching the country’s to frontline and sideline stories National Guard. She took that embodies the young citizens take on Maduro’s will indeed teach us, outsiders to the streets and followed Venezuelans who want to see administration. “What and Venezuelans, about the “Green Cross” beginning their country move forward, we’re doing and how we’re Venezuela’s history. Their visual back in April of this year. which is exactly what I wanted photographing will also add testimony will be part of the “I wasn’t very drawn to portray in my work,” to a bigger sociological, record for generations to come. to focus my work on the says Mascetti. anthropological, and social —laura beltrán villamizar

nieman reports Summer 2017 13 THE ETHICS OF L E A

K The increasing use of anonymous sources and leaks has intensified the debate over how to vet information and sources by jon marcus 14 nieman reports summer 2017 S Illustration by Ben Wiseman hen longtime investigative journalist David Cay Johnston received two pages of Donald Trump’s 2005 tax return in the mailbox of his home in Rochester, New York in March, W there were plenty of ways to trace who leaked it to him. Johnston had the envelope, with a postmark and a stamp, and far scanter evidence has been used to find people who have sent things through the mail. But hunting down the source of this long-sought clue to Trump’s financial history might have discouraged future leakers. So Johnston didn’t do it—not even for his own edification or to gauge the trustworthiness of the leak. In fact, he thought about burning those original documents.

A demonstrator participates in a Tax Day rally in New York demanding President Trump release his tax returns

16 nieman reports summer 2017 but refuse to name them in a legal proceed- Comey. By then, the culture of leaking had ing. In the memos in which he kept notes so deeply penetrated the administration, of his conversations with Trump, former Trump felt compelled to warn in a tweet FBI Director James Comey (who testified that Comey should hope there were no re- that he himself arranged for the contents cordings of his conversations with the pres- of the memos to be leaked, through a ident “before he starts leaking to the press!” friend) said President Trump told him to (Trump subsequently admitted there are no I “consider putting reporters in prison for tapes.) There were the leaks, attributed to publishing classified information.” Comey two U.S. officials, about how Trump himself, also testified, before the Senate Judiciary during a meeting in the Oval Office, shared Committee before he was fired by Trump highly classified information with Russian that, “If I find out that people were leak- Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian ing information about our investigations, Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about an opera- it’s one of the unprecedented quan- whether to reporters or to private parties, tion planned by the Islamic State, purport- daries faced by journalists in this new era there’ll be severe consequences.” edly making it possible for the Russians to of covering the government substantially In this climate, once Johnston had au- discern the source of the intelligence. And in through leaks and at a time of conspiracy thenticated the document by checking the late June CNN was forced to retract a story theories, misdirection, power plays, deflec- math and that accounting practices on the saying the Senate Intelligence Committee tion, allegations of fake news, and fears of tax returns met contemporaneous require- was investigating whether a Trump transi- pervasive government surveillance. Should ments, “Why in the world would I want to go tion team official had met with an executive journalists seek a source’s identity and find out where it came from?” Johnston asks. of a Russian investment fund. The network motivations? Share these with readers or “Why would I want to put the person who said the story hadn’t gone through the re- viewers? Publish or broadcast information did this in jeopardy, or put myself in jeopar- quired checks and it apologized; the writer, that hasn’t been confirmed? Questions like dy? I don’t see any upside. Plus, I’ve just said an editor, and the head of the investigative these arise when WikiLeaks releases more to anybody who might ever send me a doc- unit resigned. Critics of leaks, including information about a presidential candidate ument, ‘Hey, I’m going to investigate you.’ Trump, vented on Twitter. than journalists can effectively fact-check And I want people to send me documents.” or when BuzzFeed posts a sketchy Russian Johnston needn’t worry too much. dossier in spite of skepticism that any of the There’s been a strong and steady flow of scandalous information in it is true. leaks that shows no sign of slowing. At this divisive time in particular, it’s im- They include the WikiLeaks release, portant to question a leaker’s motivation for on the eve of the Democratic National leaking. But while authenticating documents Convention, of emails from inside the and scrutinizing why someone might have Democratic National Committee, some em- leaked them are longstanding parts of inves- barrassing enough to force the resignation L tigative journalism, that process has been of DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz. newly complicated by the speed of the news Then there was the leak of Trump’s 1995 cycle and the steady supply of disclosures. tax returns to The New York Times, show- More people are being encouraged to leak, ing that Trump had posted a loss big enough including by news organizations themselves. to potentially avoid paying income taxes for Some current reporting on leaks ap- as long as 18 years. leaks aren’t new, of course, but pears to violate long-held ethics rules, most Next was a Russian dossier with pur- they are no longer limited to big stories. notably the cardinal one that no news be portedly compromising information about They have gradually become a major ele- reported whose accuracy is not confirmed. Trump supposedly recorded during a trip he ment of journalism, especially the political It’s a practice they say has dangerously high made to Moscow. kind. “It’s become an increasing feature of stakes for journalists. Amid threats from After Trump took office, there were leaks Washington reporting in particular that Trump and some in Congress to prosecute that connected national security advisor people won’t speak for the record, even leakers, there is also the risk of sources be- Michael Flynn and others close to Trump to in official briefings, making anonymi- ing compromised by official eavesdropping, Russia; Flynn resigned. ty a big part of how reporting is done in much of it also exposed by leaks. The pace There were leaks about who shared infor- Washington,” says New York Times deputy at which leakers and whistleblowers have mation with Republican House Intelligence managing editor and investigative journal- been prosecuted picked up significantly Committee chairman Devin Nunes suggest- ist Matthew Purdy. “And that has spread under President Barack Obama, and under ing that intelligence officials in the waning throughout officialdom and the corporate Trump at least one leaker has been arrest- days of the Obama administration had world and everywhere else. That’s a prob- ed: 25-year-old federal government con- “unmasked” Trump associates. When that lem for the media.” tractor Reality Leigh Winner, who allegedly information was revealed as having come It’s also one in which they’ve had a role. gave classified information to the news site from a pair of White House staffers, Nunes “It does take two to tango,” Purdy says. “You The Intercept. stepped aside from his committee’s probe of don’t have to print anything that you get There’s also still no federal shield law, Russian influence in the election. without someone’s name attached to it. It meaning journalists themselves could go to There were leaks about the reasons for just would make reporting some of the most

MARY ALTAFFER/ASSOCIATED PRESS ALTAFFER/ASSOCIATED MARY jail in some cases if they know their sources and the process that preceded the firing of important stories tough to do.”

nieman reports Summer 2017 17 presidents combined. Six were convicted or pleaded guilty, one was convicted of the misdemeanor charge of unauthorized use of a computer, and one, Edward Snowden, remains a fugitive in Russia. The Obama ad- ministration also took such steps as scan- ning federal employees’ communications for suspicious logins, downloads, or printer WE’RE RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT WE PRINT. use, and monitoring their travel. That has had a further chilling effect WE’RE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT on the availability of information through conventional channels, as had already be- EVERYBODY ELSE PRINTS OR PUTS ONLINE gun happening under previous presidents —MATTHEW PURDY, NEW YORK TIMES DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR of both parties. More than half of political reporters said in a Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) survey during Obama’s time in office that their interviews with government officials had to be approved in advance, and 85 percent that the public was not getting the information it needed. Three-quarters said that the controls kept The heavy reliance on anonymous sourc- ers had penetrated the electric grid through getting tighter. “If employees are being told, es has intensified the debate over—and computers at a Vermont utility company. ‘Do not talk to the press,’ we’re going to have public mistrust of—them. Contrary to ap- Follow-ups reported that there was no in- to depend more on these leaks to get infor- pearances, journalists say, they are trying to dication this had occurred—that a code mation we used to pick up the phone and push back. Citing what she calls the irony associated with Russian hackers had been call somebody about,” says Lynn Walsh, an of the fact that Trump administration offi- detected in a computer not connected to investigative television journalist and pres- cials, who often complain about the use of the grid. Eilperin says the original headline ident of SPJ. unnamed sources, ask for anonymity them- and the assertion in the text that hackers Many media outlets have made it easi- selves—including official federal agency had penetrated the electric grid were both er for anyone to send them tips, suggesting spokespeople—Washington Post senior na- quickly corrected. “We thought at the time, the use of software that encrypts texts and tional affairs correspondent Juliet Eilperin and still think today, that it is in the public’s emails. And lots of people have, including says she and her colleagues usually won’t let interest to report on whether and where government employees at all levels. “It them: “That’s a violation of the very idea” of that code was detected,” she says. “And after has really risen to heretofore unseen lev- what a spokesperson is paid by the taxpayers getting preliminary information about this, els,” says Mike Cavender, executive direc- to do. “That’s their jobs. By cutting down on we also worked to gather additional context tor of the Radio Television Digital News that, it reduces the numbers of times you so our readers were fully informed.” Association (RTDNA). The Associated have to” cite unnamed sources in stories. Press, for instance, got a leaked 11-page In general, however, she and others say, memo suggesting the National Guard might it’s hard to stop the practice, even though be used to round up undocumented immi- they acknowledge it hurts their credibility grants, and the AP and The Washington Post with readers. Times readers say the use of were leaked information about heated calls anonymous sources is among the things that between Trump and the leaders of Mexico bother them the most in stories, the news- and Australia. Even a State Department paper told its staff last year in a memo, one memo about how to reduce leaks was in a series of memos over the years about S leaked, in February, to the Post. the practice. Like the appetite for leaks, the risks have “You have to be as judicious as you can also grown, and now have to be weighed at in using these anonymous sources so your a faster pace than ever. Where leaks were stories aren’t riddled with them to the ex- once a first step in the long, deliberative tent that people do lose faith,” says Eilperin. process of investigative journalism, they’re “I understand reader skepticism, but the flip successive presidential adminis- now part of a hyperactive daily news cycle. side of that is I am incredibly conscious of trations have also fought against leaks, “We’re trying to make these judgments in the fact that [sources] are operating in an of course, none in recent times as hard hours or days rather than weeks or months,” environment where they are very intimidat- as Obama’s, whose “insider threat pro- says University of Kansas media law profes- ed and feel they may be retaliated against” if gram” began after Chelsea (then Bradley) sor Jonathan Peters. their names are attached to the information Manning’s 2010 leak of military and dip- The 35-page dossier alleging that the they disclose. Eilperin herself co-authored lomatic secrets. The government charged Russian government had intimate compro- a story, during the Obama administration, eight leakers and whistleblowers during mising information about Trump, which had that cited “officials who spoke on the con- the Obama presidency under the Espionage been making the rounds in Washington for dition of anonymity” saying Russian hack- Act of 1917, more than under all previous weeks before BuzzFeed decided to go public

18 nieman reports summer 2017 with it, is a case in point. News of the Russian mation, synthesizing it, verifying it, and still often would be willing to hear you out dossier overshadowed some extraordinary delivering it to the public.” or send a response. That’s not always guar- qualifications in the story, and in BuzzFeed’s Cop-out, agrees The New York Times’s anteed now.” subsequent defense of it. “The allegations Purdy: “We’re responsible for what we print. While BuzzFeed’s may have been the are unverified, and the report contains er- We’re not responsible for whatever every- most extreme example, it’s not the only rors,” read the subhead; those included body else prints or puts online.” news organization that has aired or pub- the misspelling throughout the document Adds Cameron Barr, managing editor at lished information it could not confirm. So of a company name. “Unverified,” echoed The Washington Post: “We’re in the business did National Public Radio, in reports about the first line. “Unverified, and potentially of publishing things that are true, or where the WikiLeaks dump of Clinton campaign unverifiable,” the second paragraph said. we get as close as possible to the truth.” emails (“NPR has not been able to con- BuzzFeed reporters had been investigating One way of doing that is to get, and link firm their authenticity”) and CNN and The claims in the dossier, “but have not verified to, the original documents that detail the in- New York Times when they reported that or falsified them.” formation, which journalists say—in most the president was briefed about the Russia It was a huge departure from the jour- cases—have more credibility with readers. dossier (“The New York Times has not been nalistic practice of never reporting anything, Another? Institutional experience, says able to confirm the claims”; “CNN is not ever, that is unconfirmed. That seems the Eilperin, who has been covering national reporting on details of the memos, as it has most basic of all rules. It’s the first tenet of politics since 1993. “I have a better sense not independently corroborated the specif- the SPJ’s code of ethics: “Journalists should of whether the documents and informa- ic allegations.”) take responsibility for the accuracy of their tion I’m getting are reliable because I have The Washington Post doesn’t do that, “as work [and] verify information before releas- been working with these people for years,” a general matter,” says Barr, though he adds ing it.” Not doing so feeds into the media’s she says. The Post also has a two-source re- it’s fair to bring attention to something a re- adversaries’ attacks on “fake news.” quirement, “so when someone who you’re spected competitor with credible sources is But a surprising divide has evolved. In the unfamiliar with provides you with verbal in- reporting. Purdy, at the Times, says it also Internet age, readers can often see primary formation or a document, the key test is that avoids doing this “to the extent possible in source materials anyway. Trump himself you have to have corroboration. And that real time.” threw fuel on the BuzzFeed story, lashing second source is how you get confidence The Russian dossier may have been a out in three tweets, putting other media in that what you have is accurate.” turning point. Most news organizations the awkward position of seeming to ignore But many of the people now in national started to acknowledge it only when it be- something the president was megaphoning power are new to it, and to the reporters came the subject of intelligence briefings to his followers. on the beat, which Eilperin acknowledges in the Oval Office. “Once that dossier was Under this school of thought, reporting complicates the process. “What you have reported and out there, we made references such things, with the caveat that they are to gauge is how well versed some of these to the portions that were out there,” Purdy unconfirmed, fulfills the journalistic obliga- folks are in the subject matter,” she says. says of how the Times handled it. “We have tion to put the news into context. That was “It’s not just a matter of, Are they being to report the news. But we didn’t put the BuzzFeed’s stated rationale, at least—pub- straightforward with you? It’s also a ques- whole thing up.” He says blaming the fact lish now, verify later, if at all. tion of, Are they steeped enough in the is- that the original documents were being cir- In an op-ed in The New York Times, sues that when you’re having a conversation culated in D.C. circles, as BuzzFeed did, does BuzzFeed editor in chief Ben Smith said with them about the issues, you’re talking not absolve news organizations of responsi- BuzzFeed had provided “appropriate con- off the same page?” bility for what they print. But newspapers do text and caveats” for a document that was In general, however, journalists are fol- have to report the news—and the briefings already in wide circulation in Washington. lowing the same process that they always in the White House raised it to that level. (In Yet the rest of the country wasn’t able to see have, says Mark Memmott, supervising May, Mother Jones announced that it would those original source documents. Smith said senior editor for standards and practic- launch a new project to more intensively in- readers expect transparency. “You trust us to es at NPR. The same questions are asked, vestigate connections between Trump and give you the full story; we trust you to reckon he says: Where is the information coming Russia, including the dossier, and quickly with a messy, sometimes uncertain reality,” from? How does this person know this raised $100,000 to do that, plus $15,000 in he wrote. It’s the rationale for not doing this, thing? Does he or she have direct knowl- renewable monthly contributions.) Smith wrote, that must be overwhelming. edge? Is there a document the reporter can The speed of the news cycle only ratch- “Our audience inhabits a complex, polluted be shown or read from? Is there a second ets up the pressure to report things before information environment; our role is to help source? “It’s the same old basic steps and they can be verified. So does competition them navigate it—not to pretend it doesn’t procedures, perhaps accelerated a little bit among cable news shows trying to score exist.” (BuzzFeed did not respond to re- because we’re getting information out fast- exclusives. “Sometimes—and some of this quests for comment from Nieman Reports.) er,” Memmott says. can be blamed on the 24/7 news cycle we Nonsense, says Leonard Downie, Jr., Some things have changed, however. “It now live in—it’s very easy to bang out a former executive editor of The Washington takes a significant degree of effort to make line that, ‘We have not independently con- Post, who now teaches at the Walter sure you’ve pinned things down,” Eilperin firmed this,’ and then go with it,” RTDNA’s Cronkite School of Journalism and says—a process not helped by the fact that Cavender says. Mass Communication at Arizona State the White House often won’t respond to But the fundamentals of journalism de- University. “That’s not journalism. Implicit questions. While the Obama White House mand greater effort, according to SPJ pres- in the definition of journalism is that a was also tough to cover, because it fixated ident Walsh. She says that while it’s okay professional journalist is collecting infor- on control of information, she says, “They and transparent for journalists to tell the

nieman reports Summer 2017 19 journalists to launch their own An Investigative Toolkit cross-border investigative projects, free of government For the Post-Snowden Era and corporate interference or surveillance. So taking How a decentralized platform enables reporters to collaborate across borders inspiration from “liquid” by michael bird and stefan candea democracies—also known as “delegative” democracies, where voters or personal delegates selected by voters vote directly on issues—we call our approach “liquid investigations” to reflect the idea of creating a secure, cooperative network with no hierarchical leadership, in which collaborators themselves decide who controls their data. In any investigation, the security of data and conversations are major concerns. Investigative teams need to envisage threat scenarios by which authorities or other interested parties might try to gain access to data by hacking into journalists’ computers or phones. Storing all the data and communications for an investigation on a single platform offers would-be hackers an easy target. If that The European Investigative Collaborations Network uses a decentralized platform to protect the platform is compromised, so security of documents used in massive cross-border reporting projects such as Football Leaks are the logistics of the entire investigative enterprise. If stored, that would include For over six months, an Football Leaks, which on Taiwanese fishing vessels— also the search histories of investigative team at the consists of 1.9 terabytes of can also have significant impact journalists and the documents Spanish daily El Mundo information and some 18.6 and reach. Organizations like they have accessed. Legal efforts has been waiting to hear million documents, ranging the International Consortium can also be undertaken to block whether they will face from player contracts to emails of Investigative Journalists that platform’s activity, both criminal prosecution for revealing secret transfer fees and the EIC.network are part before and during publication. disobeying a legal injunction and wages, is the largest leak in of a growing trend in which To minimize these risks, to stop publishing reports the history of sport. At the peak some news outlets collaborate liquid investigations don’t put about alleged tax fraud by of the investigation, almost 100 rather than compete on stories anything in the cloud; all email professional athletes in Europe. journalists in 12 countries were that might be too complex or communication is done using The Spanish injunction, issued working on the leaked material; ambitious for one newsroom to PGP encryption; all our tools in response to a complaint by in December of 2016, partners cover alone. run on our own servers, behind a law firm representing top in the EIC.network—including El Since Edward Snowden’s multiple layers of security; and European soccer stars, was one Mundo in Spain, Der Spiegel in revelations about the NSA’s all investigations are carried of several against journalists Germany, Mediapart in France, illicit spying activities, out according to the following in Spain, the U.K., and The Sunday Times in the U.K., journalists have grown procedure. Germany related to Football and several others—began increasingly worried about At the start of an Leaks, a cross-border project publishing stories based on both governments and tech investigation, EIC.network coordinated by the European the leaked data. The project companies gaining access to partners meet face to face to Investigative Collaborations follows other high-profile leaks, their data and monitoring their brainstorm options on how Network (EIC.network) that the Pulitzer-winning Panama communications, potentially to independently analyze revealed tax evasion and Papers most notably, which compromising the security of the leaked material, without corruption among clubs, league have been collaboratively whistleblowers and reporters depositing the data in a officials, agents, and some of investigated by journalists in themselves. The recent arrest of centralized online format. the world’s best players. many different countries. intelligence contractor Reality These options include creating Lawyers representing the The Panama Papers were Winner, accused of leaking to encrypted copies of the raw athletes contend that the investigated by more than The Intercept a classified NSA data and/or encrypted online information was obtained by 300 journalists from dozens of report about Russia’s hacking channels for transferring hacking and that publishing countries. But small-scale cross- efforts in the days leading up information. Making the raw it is an invasion of privacy. border collaborations—such as to the 2016 election, has only data available for all the media Reporters Without Borders that between Jakarta’s Tempo heightened these fears. partners in our network, rather calls the injunction effort magazine and Taiwan’s The At the EIC.network, we have than just a select few, is what “an attempt to censor on a Reporter, revealing the human come up with a decentralized sets our approach apart from

continental scale.” trafficking of Indonesian sailors and secure platform that allows other large-scale cross-border MORENO/GETTYGONZALO ARROYO IMAGES

20 nieman reports summer 2017 investigative projects that use public what they don’t know, they should centralized platforms. We share Etherpad (which allows users to not abandon ethics codes and the obliga- administrative and control edit documents collaboratively tion to verify. rights to our platforms among in real-time), a Dropbox-like Some media critics, largely on the right, all the EIC.network partners. file storage server, and—most During cross-border importantly—DokuWiki, wiki say many of the leaked stories have been investigations, reporters software that doesn’t require a false, something that can be surprising- need secure ways to refer to database. Any user can launch ly hard to determine after the fact. These documents, either via a direct these apps and invite and reports often cite denials from the White URL or by a unique identifier, delegate access within the EIC House or its appointees. The Federalist rather than by sending network. senior editor Mollie Hemingway, for ex- documents back and forth by Wikis, along with ample, pointed out in The Federalist that email. For the Football Leaks annotations technology and a project, the Romanian Center chatbot called Columbo, are a Washington Post story saying Deputy for Investigative Journalism part of the package of tools Attorney General Rod Rosenstein threat- (RCIJ) constructed a secure to enhance collaboration ened to resign when the White House said search engine that allows and communication among it was his idea to fire Comey (something journalists in our network reporters working on an Trump contradicted later in an interview) to access and search large investigation. We use wikis to was refuted by Rosenstein himself. “Don’t collections of documents. document and share everything Called Hoover, the search tool from notes and research to trust anonymous sources,” she wrote, quot- (the code for which is open questions for sources, interview ing from On The Media’s “Breaking News source under an MIT license and transcripts, and drafts of the Consumer’s Handbook.” The Post’s Eilperin is available on GitHub) does not articles that come from our says that, under this credibility-challenged store search queries and does investigations. For the Football administration, a White House denial not record which journalists Leaks project alone, we created doesn’t mean that something isn’t true; several hundred wikis and sub- access which documents. As a Hemingway did not respond to a request to result, no one can break into the wikis. Centralizing everything platform to profile a journalist’s in one system means all discuss this topic. searches, and no administrator our partner journalists can can monitor a journalist’s gain access and collaborate activities. The downside is, simultaneously. The wikis serve since the platform doesn’t store as an effective archive and a search logs and user activity, large-scale internal knowledge it cannot offer features like base that can be referenced in bookmarking documents or future investigations. notification of new results on We are also experimenting previous searches. with annotations technology Since Hoover—which has a that allows us to work directly E hidden URL and requires two- on source documents, step verification from users, leaving notes, references with access expiring every three to other findings, and tips hours—operates on a pan- other reporters might find national scale, if one national useful. Columbo can alert authority finds a legal means to collaborating reporters when shut it down, other EIC.network new annotations are made, even wikileaks criticized the dos- partners can make the search through a dedicated channel sier. “No credibility,” it tweeted. But the or- tool available from a different on the Rocket.Chat app on our ganization known for publishing leaks has data center in a different communications platform. presented other challenges to journalists. Our toolkit was most country. This hasn’t happened One is that its data dumps are so mas- yet, but the location of the recently brought to bear on hosting server changes from #MaltaFiles, a pan-national sive they can defy even journalists’ best ef- time to time anyway. collaboration published in May forts to confirm what’s in them; the DNC We have a separate platform that details how the smallest leak alone consisted of 44,053 emails and for secure communications country in the European Union 17,761 attachments. To compound that and information exchange. has become a tax haven for problem, WikiLeaks released some of its This follows a similar pattern to figures connected to the Italian DNC and Clinton leaks at decisive mo- the Hoover search engine: EIC. mafia, the Turkish elite, and network partners have access Russian billionaires, with links ments such as the eve of the Democratic to the administration and user to payday loan companies in National Convention. And it made the management and, if there is an the U.S. documents not only freely available to emergency, the location of the By continuing to refine the anyone who Googles them, but indexed hosting server can be quickly liquid investigations bundle and and searchable, meaning people could go moved. This communications workflow, we hope our open- right to them without the intervention of platform runs on Sandstorm. source set of tools will increase a journalist. More, not fewer, such massive io, a platform hosting a number the potential of journalists to of open-source apps that are securely collaborate across leaks are likely to occur, taxing journalists’ helpful to our collaboration, borders, even in ad-hoc groups ability to verify the information. including Rocket.Chat and not necessarily through big One organization attempting to bring (a chat server similar to Slack), costly networks. journalistic standards to document

nieman reports Summer 2017 21 disclosures and instead attacked WikiLeaks itself for being what it called a “propagan- da arm” of Russia and the Russian hackers who, according to U.S. intelligence officials, filched the documents. It also accused the media of being dupes. “Media needs to stop treating WikiLeaks like it is same as FOIA,” spokesman Brian Fallon tweeted, in a refer- THERE IS ABSOLUTELY A DANGER OF ence to the federal Freedom of Information Act. The leaks, he said, came from “an illegal PLACING A HIGHER PRIORITY ON SPEED THAN hack” by Russian cyber experts “colluding” with Russia to the benefit of Trump. ACCURACY, OR TIMELINESS OVER TRUTH Later leaks from intelligence agencies —DAVID BODNEY, MEDIA LAWYER AT BALLARD SPAHR backed him up on that point, and most me- dia outlets did report this prominently in coverage of the WikiLeaks material. The leaks were, after all, part of a story about national security and foreign influence in an American election, says Indira Lakshmanan, a Washington columnist for The Boston Globe and Craig Newmark Chair for dumps is the International Consortium of John Podesta,” referred to them as “what Journalism Ethics at the Poynter Institute: Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). As part of WikiLeaks says are Podesta’s emails,” noted “Part of it is a competitive culture and part the ICIJ’s Panama Papers publication in that “NPR has not been able to confirm their of it is what people see as an overwhelming 2016, an army of reporters worldwide from authenticity,” and said that, “If the emails are public interest in threats to our democracy.” 107 media institutions vetted 11.5 million authentic, they provide insight into the pri- Fallon was right about something else documents detailing financial information vate conversations happening at the highest the WikiLeaks example shows: It’s essential about public officials and others, including levels of the Clinton campaign.” Then it pro- that a reader or a viewer know, in general instances of taxes evasion. The ICIJ is still ceeded to report what was in them. and whenever possible, who is behind a leak producing stories—and soliciting leaks. That’s just being honest with the audi- and with what motives. ICIJ director Gerard Ryle says organiza- ence, says NPR’s Memmott. “We don’t want That’s also another thing about the use tions like his should collaborate with jour- to lead people to think that NPR has seen of leaks that’s gotten tougher. nalists from the outset. “I was always taught these documents or knows for a fact that Identifying where leaks—as opposed that the first obligation of journalists is to these emails were written by Mr. Podesta if to leaked documents—come from is often get the facts right,” he says. “And we’re in we can’t say that,” Memmott says. “We want required by policy. The Washington Post’s danger of forgetting that that is our primary to tell people, here’s what we do know and standards and ethics rules mandate that as responsibility.” here’s what we don’t know about this story much information as possible be provided Yes, moving slowly risks falling behind that you’re hearing about everywhere right to readers “about why our unnamed sources the news. Indictments of FIFA officials start- now, which we think is more valuable than— deserve our confidence.” SPJ’s ethics code ed taking place while ICIJ journalists were not to criticize some of our colleagues at says: “Identify sources clearly. The public is still reading through (but not yet reporting other news outlets—but to constantly talk entitled to as much information as possible on) the Panama Papers, for example, which about the news as if they’ve got it all and to judge the reliability and motivations of included revelations about the soccer fed- here’s the whole story.” sources.” Anonymity, the Times reminded eration’s officers. The documents included The SPJ’s Walsh agrees that journalists its staff last year, should be the last resort, information on two major candidates in an are running information like this because and senior editors have to approve its use election that was under way in Argentina. the public has access to it anyway, “and I in every case. But the journalists continued to methodical- think journalists are feeling the pressure to Yet not allowing anonymous sources on ly review the documents and put them into report it. If we don’t talk about it, our users some occasions, the Times’s Purdy says, context before releasing stories about them. are going to go somewhere else to get it.” would in the new reality of Washington re- “Your instinct as a journalist is to rush It’s hard to determine reliably wheth- porting make some of the most important into print, but we continued to try to take er people are going online to see origi- stories tough to do—situations in which, our time,” Ryle says. “If you want to fool the nal WikiLeaks documents. WikiLeaks as the policy states, “the Times could not media into reporting something, you put anonymizes user data and does not release otherwise publish information it con- time pressure on them.” traffic figures. Users who go there are most siders newsworthy and reliable.” When WikiLeaks also has worked with major likely to have visited Google and Reddit unnamed sources are used, it also helps media organizations. But its release of infor- immediately beforehand, and appear to be to get as many as you can, newspaper ed- mation about the Hillary Clinton campaign people who follow politics and right-wing itors say; one Washington Post story about was raw. Mainstream media outlets respond- media, according to Amazon subsidiary the Obama administration’s response to ed with equivocation. One NPR story alone Alexa, which tracks Web traffic. Russian interference in the election men- characterized the materials as “allegedly The Clinton campaign largely side- tions more than three dozen sources, al-

linked to Hillary Clinton campaign chairman stepped the substance of the WikiLeaks most all anonymous. PRESS JOHN MINCHILLO/ASSOCIATED

22 nieman reports summer 2017 that an organization can’t confirm or deny,” protecting the identity of the source, and says David Bodney, a media lawyer and the the information is in the public interest head of the Media and Entertainment Law and the harm does not outweigh the good, I Group at the firm Ballard Spahr. “There is don’t know that the identity of the source is absolutely a danger of placing a higher pri- necessarily that important.” ority on speed than accuracy, or timeliness Some media organizations have been I over truth,” says Bodney. going to great lengths to demonstrate the Two other leaks show what reporters do reliability of their sourcing. In its story dis- when they don’t know who their sources are: closing that Michael Flynn had discussed the successive releases of parts of Trump’s sanctions with the Russian ambassador, The 1995 and 2005 tax returns, to The New York Washington Post cited what it said were no Times and Johnston. fewer than nine current and former officials it isn’t just the advent of the likes In the case of Trump’s 2005 tax return, in senior positions at several government of WikiLeaks, which does not identify its David Cay Johnston used his long career of agencies. When The New York Times re- sources, that makes anonymous sourcing scrutinizing tax documents to verify that ported on a leaked draft memo proposing and the reporting of unconfirmed material the return looked real. That conclusion that CIA “black site” prisons be reactivated, more common. It’s the wider net the media was confirmed when, hours before he was it said that no fewer than three administra- itself has cast for leaks. Where once a leak to talk about the leak with Rachel Maddow, tion officials had confirmed it. might have come from a source known to a live on TV, the White House released a And in September 2016, when an enve- beat reporter, now a lot of other people have copy of it, too. lope landed in the office mailbox of New begun to offer information, people the beat That’s the simple bottom line, say he York Times reporter Susanne Craig, with reporter doesn’t know. and others—and the best defense against “The Trump Organization” as its return And there’s another danger in reporting the barbs of critics: Reporters should keep address and photocopied pages from what information journalists haven’t yet deter- digging, until they can judge whether what appeared to be three of Trump’s 1995 tax mined to be true. “It’s only a matter of time they’ve been leaked is true. “The informa- returns inside (from New York State, New before someone decides to bring a claim tion, if you can vouch for its authenticity, is Jersey, and Connecticut), the paper poured for defamation or potentially invasion of the most important thing,” says the Globe’s resources into evaluating whether they privacy over a false and libelous statement Lakshmanan. “If there’s a good reason for were real. Yes, says Purdy, the Times would have liked to have known the source, not only to understand what motivation he or she had had for dropping this explosive leak in the middle of the presidential race, but to see if there were more documents where those had come from. The important thing, he says, was that the paper was able to make “some significant judgments through re- porting” about whether they were real. Trump, of course, had not released his tax returns, and there were also suspicious inconsistencies in the documents, including numbers typed in different fonts. Reporters combed through public records to cross- check such things as Trump’s Social Security number. They hired tax experts to review the forms. Then they found the accountant who had prepared them, flew to South Florida to meet with him, and got him to confirm that the returns were genuine—and that part of some numbers had been typed manually in a different font because the tax software used at the time didn’t allow for as many digits as the $916 million loss Trump had declared. “I resist a little bit the term leaks as a useful category for this kind of informa- tion,” the Post’s Barr says. “My blanket de- scription for all of this is reporting, which is the most important thing we do as journal- The media faces challenges in reporting on deadline about massive troves of leaked ists, especially when we’re trying to hold the emails, such as the WikiLeaks release on the eve of the 2016 Democratic convention government to account.” 

nieman reports Summer 2017 23 To attract and retain millennial journalists, news outlets must better meet the needs of parents with young children—and create better work-life balance for everyone by katherine goldstein

CASE THE

FOR

Photography by Graham MacIndoe FAMILY

LEAVE

Members of The New York Times’s Women’s Network, an employee group that convinced Times management to improve leave policies for new parents: from left, Alex Hardiman, Alex MacCallum, Rebecca Grossman-Cohen, and Erin Grau

nieman reports Summer 2017 25 “we’re having a bit satisfaction with the fi eld was, in part, attributed to wom- of a baby boom,” says en’s desires to balance work with family responsibilities. Lauren Williams, exec- How both legacy organizations, hungry for journal- utive editor of Vox.com ists with 21st-century skills, and startups with nascent and the mother of an HR policies handle this may determine how diverse 18-month-old. When the news leadership and coverage is for decades to come. news startup began in What follows is a four-point plan for helping women— 2014, there wasn’t a sin- and men—with young families better manage work gle parent working at the and parenthood. site. But as the website has grown, so have employees’ families. Now, around 15 percent of the 90-person staff have children. hen i found out i was pregnant with Margaret Wheeler Johnson, who has a 2-year-old my fi rst child, I had been working for six and an infant, was the fi rst person to have a baby while months as a leader at a fast-paced news working at Bustle.com, a startup women’s site. She’s website. I was to be the fi rst person on now managing editor of Romper.com, owned by the this digital team to be a parent. I’d spent same company, a site for millennial moms that is also W my 20s deftly climbing the career ladder experiencing a surge in new children among staff . in digital journalism, reaching senior man- “We’re all in that early- to mid-30s life shift,” is how agement positions at a young age. I had a loving and Kate Sheppard, with a 20-month-old son, describes the supportive husband, who was happy to go down a less leaders of Huff Post’s Washington, D.C. bureau. Three intense career path while I was the breadwinner. I pre- quarters of the senior staff have children under 2. sumed after our son was born I would take 12 weeks of “Any company that wants to employ millennials maternity leave and keep charging ahead in journalism. needs to address this,” says Laura Wides-Muñoz, moth- My son, Asher, was born in July of 2015. There were er of a 7- and an 8-year-old and vice president of special the joyous moments—the discovery that listening to projects and editorial strategy at Fusion. She’s seen a Stevie Wonder at full blast seemed to make Asher stop wave of new parents enter her workplace. In contrast crying, and his love of making eye contact and cuddling. to even 10 years ago, she’s noticed these staff ers have What wasn’t typical was, when my son was 6 weeks old, often been more upfront about their parenting realities we took him for a follow-up appointment to a special- and more vocal about their desire for better policies. “I ist because of a potential issue originally identifi ed on think it’s a positive development,” she says. a prenatal sonogram. My husband, Travis, and I were in In the conversation about how to create more diversi- the middle of laughing at a joke when the doctor with ty and gender balance in newsrooms, one group has been well-coiff ed hair and a TV anchor smile came in with a routinely ignored: mothers. What are newsrooms doing somber look on his face. to retain women who have or plan to have children, to We were shocked to learn that our son had a number make sure more women stay in the talent pipeline? of serious problems with his kidneys and would need While legacy news organizations have had some surgery as soon as possible. What followed was a multi- working mothers and (sometimes less than ideal) fam- week saga involving surgery, two hospitalizations, end- ily leave policies for many decades, for a certain set of less blood tests, and a spinal tap in the longest day of younger digital news organizations, this is all unfolding my life at the pediatric ER. I remember walking out of in real time. What happens when the people who took the hospital in a dress covered in a mixture of my son’s blogging mainstream in the mid-2000s, and who now blood and urine. My eyes were glazed, but the clearest hold demanding jobs in national news, start to have thought in my mind was, “I will never be the same per- babies? A recent Pew study puts the median age for a son after this.” fi rst child among highly educated women at 30, and one I’m so grateful my son has recovered from those ear- million millennial women (born between 1981 and 1997) ly ordeals, but as I prepared to go back to work, thoughts are becoming mothers each year in America. about his need for a second surgery loomed. Warnings A 2015 University of Kansas study found female jour- about monitoring him for infections were sternly passed nalists were at higher risk of burnout and more plan to on by doctors, along with the directive that continuing leave the industry than their male counterparts, citing a to nurse him was “the best thing I could do for him.” feeling of less support from their organizations. Their dis- Despite the traumas of Asher’s early life, I was back at

26 nieman reports summer 2017 Erin Grau, of The New York Times’s Women’s Network, which successfully lobbied for better family leave policies, with daughters Francesca and Matilda

my desk when my 12 weeks of Percentage maternity leave were up. Many mothers find the ear- of journalists who ly weeks and months of being said they either back at work difficult. In the intended to only developed country in the leave journalism world with no requirement for or were uncertain paid maternity leave, the aver- about their age length of maternity leave, future in the field when taken, was 10.3 weeks in 2006–2008, according to a fed- eral study. A 2014 Careerbuilder. % com survey found that 11 percent of working mothers 67 took a maternity leave of two weeks or less. There’s some WOMEN hope this could change in the near future—in the 2018 bud- get, President Trump includ- % ed a proposal for six weeks of 55 paid leave for all new moth- ers, fathers, and adoptive par- MEN ents—but the current reality is far from ideal. And while my son’s health crises weren’t Source: “The New typical, there is not a parent Women’s Movement: Burnout, Workload on the planet who hasn’t dealt Driving Females from U.S. with some kind of acute stress, Newspaper Newsrooms,” by Scott Reinardy at the whether it’s a sleepless baby, colic, or the inability to bringing their unions into the conversation about better University of Kansas. Data find reliable and affordable childcare. family leave policies and employer support for childcare compiled from a survey, conducted in July-August Although I was the first person within my digital news needs. The Wall Street Journal’s editorial staff wrote a 2014, that included team to have a child, I started to notice something on letter in March demanding more newsroom diversity, responses from 1,644 social media that made me realize I wasn’t alone. More gender pay equity, and specific protections for the ca- journalists from daily U.S. newspapers and more journalist colleagues from past jobs, acquain- reers of parents. William Lewis, the CEO of Dow Jones, tances, and women I’d met at conferences over the the parent company of The Wall Street Journal, recently years were starting to post pregnancy announcements, released a statement about this, promising to address followed by that newborn photo with the blue and white gender equality and other diversity issues at the paper, hospital blanket. As I saw their sleeping infant photos or but did not mention mothers or parents specifically. their anguished first-day-back-at-work posts I wondered: How do they manage the demands of this industry? And, if all, most, or even many of the new mothers o research this article, i interviewed leave this business, who’s going to be left? nearly 20 mothers at a wide variety of news or- Increasingly, journalists are asking questions about ganizations. I picked women who work in senior how their own newsrooms and the industry at large can leadership or management positions: women do better at creating policies that specifically support T who work in digital mediums and will have the parents. Rebecca Ruiz asked journalists to report on the most capacity to direct news coverage and story family-friendliness of their newsrooms for the Poynter topics for years to come. I chose women who are fully Institute, and Melody Kramer, also for Poynter, has sur- immersed in newsroom environments and culture— veyed newsrooms’ family leave policies. Both efforts editors, managers, strategists, assigners, and idea gen- are important first steps in starting conversations and erators. I chose this group to get better insights into getting data on these issues. Additionally, journalists are how newsrooms operate and what official and unofficial

nieman reports Summer 2017 27 Alex Hardiman, a member in 2016 of the Women’s Network at The New York Times, with sons Owen and Sam

journalism where fewer women are leading newspapers, and the Percentage of number of women in superviso- ry roles at papers has remained employees who flat since the 1980s, around 37 are women percent. The Women’s Media at digital native Center 2017 report found “Men news outlets still dominate media across all platforms—television, news- papers, online and wires—with % change coming only incremen- tally. Women are not equal part- 50 ners in telling the story, nor are they equal partners in sourcing Percentage of and interpreting what and who employees who is important in the story.” are women at Today, women make up about two-thirds of graduates daily newspapers of journalism programs but little progress has been made overall in terms of byline rep- % resentation and gender parity 38 in leadership at legacy news organizations. Some of the lack of gender balance must Source: 2016 American be attributed to a failure to re- Society of News Editors Diversity Survey, based on tain mothers. Aminda Marqués data collected from 737 Gonzalez, executive editor of news organizations (of which 646 were daily policies are in place to support them. In focusing spe- the Miami Herald, observed in the 2014 Nieman Reports print newspapers and cifically on how to retain mothers in the news industry, article, “Of the women in my peer group who had kids, 91 were online-only sites) I hope to promote solutions for tackling the pernicious I’m the only one who stayed in the newsroom or came in May-August 2016 gender gap in journalism. Most women spoke to me on back after some time away. Most of them quit.” the record, but some asked for their names to not be Digital news organizations and people working at the used when discussing sensitive workplace situations forefront of new forms of storytelling—in video, multi- that could upset current or former employers. media, data visualization, social media, and audience de- While the women I spoke with earned more than velopment—have the opportunity to break traditional many working mothers, they also frequently lived newsroom hierarchies. Many digital news operations are in expensive metropolitan areas, like New York or relatively flat; it’s not uncommon for talented journal- Washington, D.C., with some of the highest housing and ists to reach management positions while still in their childcare costs in the nation. While financial resources 20s. In its 2016 report, the American Society of News undoubtedly relieve many kinds of parenting stress, ed- Editors found 50 percent of online news employees ucation and salary don’t seamlessly translate to an easier were women, compared to 38 percent of daily newspa- time for working mothers. A Pew study found that 65 per employees. percent of parents with college degrees found it tough The gender makeup of news organizations has an to balance family and job responsibilities, compared outsize influence on society at large, in how newsrooms to 49 percent of nongraduates. According to the same cover all topics, from sports to public health to national study, mothers are more likely to find it difficult than politics. The 2017 Women’s Media Center report found fathers, and women still do a majority of household and that more than half of stories about reproductive rights childcare tasks, even when both parents work full time. were written by men at major outlets like the Associated As detailed in the 2014 Nieman Reports feature Press and The New York Times. Women were quoted, “Where are the Women?,” there is a crisis in American on an issue that is central to their lives, only 33 percent

28 nieman reports summer 2017 of the time. On the hot button topic of campus rape, the to new moms, and because of the lack of mandated paid same study found that men wrote a majority of the sto- family leave, many mothers who choose to breastfeed ries, and more often focused on the crime’s impact on attempt to pump a majority of their infants’ food not the alleged perpetrator rather than the alleged victim. long after birth. The logistics and time commitment re- Editors often draw on their own experiences in deciding lated to this can be strenuous. Pumping sessions can last which stories to pursue and that is as true with moth- anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour and must be done ers as anyone else. Julia Turner, editor in chief of Slate, on a regular schedule, so figuring out how to fit pump- pursued an editorial partnership to cover the science ing into a busy day of meetings, commuting, or breaking and policy around education. She says, “My interest in news is no small feat. (One woman I interviewed on the advocating for us to do that work was informed by my phone managed to pump milk, eat her lunch, and an- own experience navigating early childhood education swer urgent emails while we spoke.) Producing breast for my own kids and becoming much more aware of the milk can for some women be physically demanding, and vast disparity of opportunity available to kids with dif- many of the mothers I spoke to gave up on breastfeeding ferent kinds of resources.” sooner than they’d initially planned. Ruiz’s survey for Turner sees it as a clear-cut case that newsrooms Poynter found that nearly a third of respondents said must have a diversity of perspectives in order to thrive. their employer was unsupportive of breastfeeding. “Journalism is an incredibly competitive landscape,” But the challenges around being a working mother in Turner says. “If you create a workplace where [women] news don’t stop when you throw away your breast pump. see that if they make the fairly common life choice [to The reality of the job can mean long hours, high lev- have kids] they will no longer have opportunities to do els of unpredictability, and working for companies that amazing work or to be promoted to take on leadership are often strapped for resources and demand a lot from roles, then you’re shooting yourself in the foot. We need their employees. This can often come to a head when that brainpower, talent, and those ideas.” dealing with the relentless pace of the 24-hour news cy- cle, which has only accelerated after the 2016 election. Jill Abramson, former executive editor of The New York ertainly, it’s not just birth mothers Times, who has two grown children, saw supporting fe- who need better support in the workplace. male journalists and parents as a priority when she was Fathers and non-birth parents, people caring at the helm. “There’s no way I would have managed to for aging parents, and even those without fami- keep my career going if I was starting out now,” she says. C ly responsibilities can also benefit greatly from Elizabeth Bruenig, assistant editor for the Outlook progressive family policies and supportive work section at The Washington Post and mother of a cultures. But the reality is that 1-year-old, describes how the the news industry and society current intensity, if it keeps up, at large don’t have the same will influence her life: “It will systemic problem retaining and definitely strongly impact my promoting talented men after future childbearing because it they have children. The U.S. is tough to imagine having an- Bureau of Labor Statistics found other kid in this kind of [news] that 93 percent of fathers with environment.” children under 18 are partici- While an understanding pating in the workforce, com- boss helps create a good work pared to 71 percent of mothers. environment for all employees, Fathers are also more likely than especially mothers, it’s hardly a mothers to be granted requests At the end of her six-month retention strategy. Women who for childcare-related flexibility maternity leave from The are met with a lack of under- and to be seen more favorably Washington Post, S. Mitra Kalita standing about family realities than women by their employers considered staying home full time and have been refused flexibility after asking. until a senior editor gave her the often leave the industry. Anne The Affordable Care Act Hawke was a producer on NPR’s mandates insurance companies option of returning to work part “Morning Edition” when it was

CNN to provide breast pumps for free time. She later returned full time announced that every three

nieman reports Summer 2017 29 months, producers would be required to rotate their for president and CEO Mark Thompson and members shifts to nights, evenings, or weekends. As the single of the Times executive committee. They had found an mother of an 18-month-old, this was untenable. Her re- ally on the executive committee, now chief operating quests for flexibility or a job change were not accommo- officer Meredith Kopit Levien, who advised them, sup- dated. When the company announced buyouts the next ported their efforts, and helped broker the high-level month, she leaped at the chance. “It was very bittersweet meeting. The group was armed with arguments and data because I really wanted to stay,” she says. “I loved the from a compelling source: articles touting the economic place and thought I’d spend my whole career there, but benefits of paid family leave that had appeared in The I had to find the exit door.” She now works in communi- New York Times, such as the money-saving success of cations for a nonprofit. California’s paid family leave policy, the fact that moth- Asked to comment on Hawke’s story, NPR released a ers who take leave are more likely to be working a year Rebecca statement that pointed out the demands of 24/7 break- later, and turnover of female employees is often signifi- Grossman-Cohen, a member of the ing news and defended the rotating shift schedule as a cantly reduced when leave benefits are increased. At Women’s Network good solution so tough shifts are shouldered more fair- Google, for example, the attrition rate of female employ- at The New York ly by the whole “Morning Edition” staff. The statement ees decreased by 50 percent when the firm increased Times, with says, “NPR is committed to retaining talented staff be- maternity leave from three to five months and from daughter Hazel fore and after they have children: we offer maternity/ paternity leave, rollover vacations and sick days, and a leave-sharing program.” It also mentions that NPR of- fers a number of other employee well-being initiatives, including assistance with childcare.

f you want to see your newsroom better support working mothers, a highly instructive story is how a group of women at The New York Times demanded—and got—a better family leave policy. I The Times has a formal organization called the Women’s Network, which provides networking and mentorship opportunities and arranges discussions and speakers. About two years ago, five senior women who were involved in the Women’s Network, all in their 30s and beginning to start families, felt the group should start focusing on policy changes around family leave. “We did this because we felt like, as new mothers, there was no one looking out for us,” says Erin Grau, who is vice president of operations and has two young children. At the time, the family leave policy was 11.1 weeks paid for birth mothers with vaginal deliveries, and 6 weeks for a non-birth parent. The group didn’t feel it was adequate, given the company’s aggressive growth goals, stated in- terest in gender diversity and retaining top talent, and the fact that the Times now competes with tech companies, not just other newspapers, for sought-after employees. The women decided to focus on the business case for why the company needed to think differently about family leave. “We worked on it with the same rigor and structure we bring to [our regular jobs],” says Grau. “We became the most educated people on the issue in any room.” The women, four of five of whom had given birth in the last six months, prepared a memo and presentation

30 nieman reports summer 2017 partial to full pay. Grau and col- Grau’s advice to others want- The current pace “will definitely Percentage of leagues also included research ing to advocate for policy chang- and estimates on how much strongly impact my future es is, “Don’t wait for someone respondents their proposals would cost. else, or HR, to do the work for citing family childbearing because it is tough The threat was implicit, Grau to imagine having another kid in you.” She believes part of the responsibilities recalls. “Basically, we were say- network’s success was having a as a reason they ing, if you don’t want to lose any this kind of [news] environment” concrete, well-researched pro- weren’t working of us, or all of us, you should —Elizabeth Bruenig, Washington Post posal that bosses could just say change these policies.” yes to. Creating allies at the top, Thompson was persuaded by their case, and told and “safety in numbers” through an organized group, % them so at the meeting. “We believe family leave pol- rather than just one individual who could be seen as icies that work well for employees make good business complaining, is also a smart strategic move. 61 sense for the company. The Women’s Network pre- As a next step, Grau and others in the Women’s sented us with a cogent, well-researched case and we Network are advocating for an official flextime policy and WOMEN quickly changed our parental leave policy as a result,” an on-boarding and preparation handbook for those who says Thompson. Maternity leave was extended to 16-18 are going on leave. It doesn’t exist at the company, so weeks paid (for vaginal versus cesarean-section births). they are writing it themselves. The one part of their initial % Furthermore, partners, birth fathers, and adoptive par- proposal that wasn’t approved involved creating pools of 37 ents get 10 weeks paid leave. Employees are eligible the money to hire freelancers to backfill for people on leave. day they are hired. The policy went into effect in March This was the most expensive aspect of their ask, so they MEN of 2016. are continuing to look for new ways to advocate for it. Jeremy Bowers, a senior editor who works in inter- Another important part of the success of the wom- active news at the Times, last year took his 10 weeks en’s efforts is that everyone at The New York Times is Source: 2014 Kaiser Family Foundation/New York paternity leave after the birth of his second child and eligible, from copy editors to vice presidents. I’ve spo- Times/CBS survey based treasured his experience. He had wanted to take the full ken with several men and women who have negotiated on phone interviews of 1,002 unemployed 10 weeks, but worried that taking that much time could better family leave for themselves than was officially adults between the ages of be seen as selfish. A female colleague made a comment offered by their companies. While understandable, this 25 and 54 that changed his perspective. practice reinforces the idea of family leave as a “perk” “She said, ‘I really wish men would take their leave and flexibility as something granted to “valuable” em- because of the examples it sets. If 100 percent of women ployees. It also leaves too much up to an individual man- take the leave, and only 50 percent of men do, it makes ager’s discretion and doesn’t push companies to make a male employee appear more valuable and less of a li- fair and smart policies that benefit everyone. ability.’ When she said that, my perspective changed. I Throughout my interviews, recurring themes high- started to see that family leave wasn’t just a personal lighted what some organizations were doing well to help decision, but something that we should embrace collec- retain mothers as well as areas that must be improved tively.” Ultimately, Bowers ended up taking four weeks if companies are serious about keeping talented women when his child was born and six after the election, a de- in the workforce. cision, he notes, that was his choice, not one the Times Here are four recommendations all companies urged him to make. should consider to create news organizations that sup- There’s evidence that taking paternity leave is actu- port the growing millennial workforce and diversity in ally contagious. An American Economic Review study family responsibilities. All of these recommendations found that when a man’s co-workers took paternity are given in the context of the realities of the news leave, it increased the chance that he would take it by business in the United States. While some recommen- 11 percentage points—and that if his brother took it, dations are informed by successful, progressive policies by 15 points. in other industries, some of these suggestions cost noth- Bowers is now such a big fan of the Times’s policy, ing to implement. he mentions it in all the job descriptions he posts for his team and brings it up with candidates in interviews. Give Paid Maternity Leave He believes the new, more generous policy helps the There is no “industry standard” for maternity leave in Times stand out with top talent and assists with his news organizations. With no mandated paid leave in the

ADAM KUSHNER/THE WASHINGTON POST KUSHNER/THE WASHINGTON ADAM recruiting efforts. United States, companies are free to set widely vary-

nieman reports Summer 2017 31 ing policies. Only 14 percent of U.S. workers even have Give Fathers and Non-Birth access to paid leave. Partners Paid Family Leave Percentage of As a culture, we too often frame parental leave as a The fi rst person to kick off the baby boom at Vox was “perk” rather than an essential component of healthy one of the co-founders, Matt Yglesias. He took a four- parents with families and productive companies. But paid leave re- week paternity leave and even wrote about what he children under duces the infant mortality rate, leads to less postpartum learned from the experience. At the time, Vox.com was 18 who are depression, and improves the chance women will return still very small, and everyone usually stayed quite late at participating in to work. Women who receive paid leave are more likely the offi ce. It was immediately noticeable that Yglesias the workforce to subsequently work more hours and earn more money began coming in much earlier in the morning, leaving at than their counterparts who don’t. 5 p.m. and then logging on later. According to the Center For American Progress, an “We didn’t have a real template in place [for being a % independent public policy think tank, replacing a skilled working parent,]” Yglesias says. “Ideally, I wanted to set worker costs about 20 percent of the employee’s sala- a tone. I’m aware that websites, particularly new ones, 93 ry. The more senior the position, the higher the cost, often operate on an unsustainable, exploitative culture. with executive replacement costs ballooning up to 213 They are creating a work environment that’s maybe an FATHERS percent of the original salary. Many news organizations OK place for young people to get their start, but doesn’t have recently been more focused on buyouts and layoff s really work as an adult job for people who want to have than retention strategies, but to ignore gender diversity families. We want Vox.com to be a place where people % and younger employees with valuable 21st-century skills can work for a long time, so that means thinking seri- 71 in an eff ort to cut costs further puts an organization’s ously about the needs of people in their 30s and 40s long-term viability in peril. and beyond.” MOTHERS Many of the women I spoke with worked in large cit- “It was really helpful for all the women who got ies at organizations with 50 or more employees and are pregnant after he had a child,” Lauren Williams says of Source: Employment therefore subject to Family Medical Leave Act, which Yglesias’s example. “He pioneered a sense of work-life Characteristics of Families guarantees 12 weeks of unpaid job projection after one balance for parents. No one else really had to fi ght for un- Summary 2016 from the U.S. Bureau of Labor year of employment. Virtually all the women I spoke derstanding or anything like that. A [new kind of culture] Statistics, based on data with were able to get 12 weeks of mostly paid leave, often became established. It was a big deal, and I think it would collected as part of the Current Population Survey, combining a paid policy with vacation days and short- have been hard for someone who wasn’t a co-founder to a monthly survey of about term disability payments that covered part of their start that precedent.” 60,000 U.S. households. salary. In Melody Kramer’s survey about family leave Newsroom leaders should encourage men to take The data reflects 2016 annual averages from the in newsrooms, she found cases of women who were their full parental leave and make public what they are monthly survey. only paid if they had sick time doing. Over the last 20 years, accrued or women who were re- the number of men taking pa- quired to ask colleagues to “do- rental leave has increased by nate” their sick days to cover a nearly 400 percent—something maternity leave. Several news- that’s not just benefi cial for fa- rooms surveyed had no formal thers and their children, but for parental leave policies in place. women, too, who see improve- A start for all news organiza- ments in everything from their tions would be to off er a blanket health to their earnings and ca- 12 weeks of gender-neutral paid reer advancement. leave, without forcing employees Most importantly, perhaps, to use vacation and sick time to greater access to paternity or reach that number. Additionally, “ It was really helpful for all the gender-neutral leave policies companies should follow the women who got pregnant after helps increase gender equity, Times’s lead and make the pol- [Vox co-founder Matt Yglesias] both at home and in the work- icy eff ective on the fi rst day of had a child. He pioneered a place, in part by lessening hir- employment. This might help ing and promotion bias against companies attract talented men sense of work-life balance for women. and women who are planning or parents.… It was a big deal” Paternity leave has been

expecting children. —Lauren Williams, Vox shown to have a long-term im- AMARIA/VOX KAINAZ

32 nieman reports summer 2017 Alex MacCallum, a member of the Women’s Network at The New York Times, with son Teddy

maternity leave when her first daughter was born, some of which was unpaid. As the six months of leave came to a close, she met with a senior editor who was also a working mother and expressed her trepidation about coming back to work. She told her she was considering leaving the job to stay at home. The woman offered her a deal to come back part-time. Kalita was thrilled with the arrangement, and eventually returned to full-time work. When her second daughter was born, continuing to breastfeed after maternity leave was extremely im- portant to her. She was upfront with her boss at Quartz about her desire to work from home on certain days so she could nurse her baby. Her male boss, the son of a lactation consultant, was supportive of her commitment to breastfeeding and the logistics she needed to make it work. It’s hard to imagine that Kalita would have advanced as far as she has in her career if her requests for flexibil- ity were refused and if, as a result, she decided to take off several years when her children were young. In ac- commodating her, her bosses saw—and expressed—the value of her as an employee. But, again, relying on good bosses is not enough. Flexible work options should become part of stated company policies, rather than leaving them up to an in- dividual’s negotiation skills. Pamela Stone, author of the book “Opting Out?: Why Women Really Quit Careers pact on how involved men are in childcare duties and and Head Home,” found that when women were offered household work. A recent study from the National flexibility, it was often offered as a “privately-brokered % Partnership for Women and Families found that fathers special favor,” making her vulnerable if the boss left the who take two or more weeks of leave after the birth of a company or changed his or her mind. 43 child are more involved in the child’s care nine months Flexible work policies can take many forms, includ- after birth. A more equitable division of childcare and ing compressed work weeks, partial work from home Percentage of chores would undoubtedly increase women’s participa- days, and full- or part-time telecommuting. Many news workers who tion in the workforce, considering more than 60 percent organizations use chat software like Slack to commu- would choose of women cited family responsibilities as a reason they nicate about work assignments, and ubiquitous video flexibility over weren’t working in a 2014 Kaiser Family Foundation/ software allows for teleconferencing. And these poli- New York Times/CBS survey, compared to only 37 per- cies are not just sought after by parents. A 2014 survey a pay raise cent of men. found that 43 percent of workers would choose flexi- bility over a pay raise, something that should be not- Source: 2014 survey by communications software Create Official Work-from-Home ed by cash-strapped newsrooms. And flexibility has and services firm Unify of and Flex Policies become the norm at many professional services firms. more than 800 participants, at different levels of their S. Mitra Kalita is the vice president of programming for PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte, and Ernst & Young career, at jobs in IT, finance, CNN Digital and has two daughters who are 12 and 5. LLP, among others, are well represented on the Working marketing, customer She found out she was pregnant with her first child Mother’s 100 Best Companies list, and collectively these service, operations, sales, and other areas while working as a general assignment reporter at The firms top the list in use of flextime. Washington Post. Her own mother had been a stay- Studies have shown that when flexible policies are at-home mom for most of her childhood, and she had thought out and well-adopted, they can improve produc- imagined she might become one, too, especially while tivity and reduce stress. Codifying flexibility can also help she had young children. She decided to take a six-month attract and retain millennial talent, with people in their

nieman reports Summer 2017 33 childbearing years more likely to prioritize paid parental One woman I spoke with was put off by having to leave policies and flexible telecommuting in evaluating commit to her exact leave schedule before her baby was potential jobs. A study conducted by Stanford University born. She saved two weeks for when her daughter was found that when an employer allowed workers to opt- a bit older, and she felt like everyone just treated it as in to a work-from-home arrangement, employees were her going on vacation, with work requests coming in happier, more productive, and less likely to quit. throughout that period. Others I spoke with didn’t feel “We really need to think much bigger in terms of re- there was much leeway to adjust their initial plans once designing and redefining excellent work because right maternity leave began. now we think excellent work means you have to work Some women I spoke with were able to negotiate a all the time and be physically present in an office,” says four-day-a-week schedule, additional work from home Brigid Schulte, a veteran journalist, author, and director options, or leaving earlier in the afternoons at the be- of the Better Life Lab at New America, which focuses ginning of their time back to ease the transition. One on gender roles and family policy, in and out of the woman I spoke with wished she could have started workplace. “Newsrooms need to start understanding smaller projects earlier, at the end of her leave, to give that that’s actually not the way to do the best work. It her a window back into work life. leads to burnout. It leads to inefficient work. It leads to Fusion’s Wides-Muñoz, who at the time worked at fewer innovative, creative, and breakthrough ideas, and the Associated Press, arranged to work from home on it punishes people who have caregiver responsibilities, Wednesdays while her nanny cared for her child in order who tend to be women and mothers, but also are in- to give her a break from commuting and pumping. This creasingly men.” one day a week of flexibility made a world of difference Going from being totally disconnected from work to her, and she thinks could for others as well. “It was to being back in the office full time can be great for the difference between a happy working person and a some, but others crave a different on-ramp and have miserable one,” she says. specific, short-term flexibility needs immediately after A 2014 survey in the American Sociological Review maternity leave. found many benefits to a flexible work schedule.

Collect Data in outside your industry that smart business decision, rather Want Better Your Workplace compete for talent. The best than just an act of altruism. Understand everything about available resource on this is Family Leave your existing policies, and if fairygodboss.com. Be Specific in and Flexibility people have taken leave before Your Requests or arranged flexible schedules, Find Allies The more you put forth at Your collect data on employee Look around your organization concrete well-researched experiences. Circulating a for people who want to proposals with well-reasoned Company? survey to your co-workers advocate for this cause, arguments, the easier it is for Follow These to find out what worked, especially people with leaders to sign off on your what didn’t, and what they’d authority. There is “safety ideas. For example, ask for 5 Steps like to change will help you in numbers” and if many “extension of leave to 16 weeks understand the specific needs employees get behind an effort at full pay,” rather than If you are interested at your organization. for better family leave, it can “a more generous policy.” in approaching your show the leadership that it’s a Research the larger issue rather than just a Whenever possible, avoid organization about Competition concern of one or two people. negotiating individually for improving family leave Doing competitive research better deals, while subpar and/or flexible schedule on what kinds of policies other Make a Business Case policies are kept on the books. organizations offer can provide As extensively detailed in the This reinforces the idea that policies, here are five steps a great template for what to accompanying story, paid adequate family leave is a that will help you make an seek from your employer, and family leave can lead to higher “perk” given to especially effective case such research can be a nudge employee retention rates and valuable employees only. if competitors are doing a save organizations money in Aim to formalize changes that better job. Don’t limit yourself the long run. Plenty of data bring everyone along. to just news organizations in exists to effectively make the your area—include companies case that better policies are a —katherine goldstein

34 nieman reports summer 2017 Researchers found that employ- baby was a bad sleeper. We’d all ees who were given greater con- “ It’s not fair in general, but pitch in to help him out, too,” % trol over when and where they it’s also really bad for parents says Elizabeth Bruenig of The worked, as well as more support when you give parents a lot Washington Post. 14 from their workplace regarding When a leader shows this of choices that you don’t give their family lives, experienced a kind of transparency, it can Percentage of reduction in work-family confl ict. other people, because then have clear benefi ts for parents, U.S. workers While there’s no one-size-fi ts- everyone hates them” but it also creates a culture of in- (private industry all solution, off ering and allowing —Margaret W. Johnson, Romper.com clusion, where anyone can feel + state and local a range of company-sanctioned supported in dealing with a wide government) who options, and the fl exibility to adjust once the realities range of challenges—whether that’s a childcare crisis, of working motherhood set in, can have a major long- caring for ailing parents, going through a divorce, or just have access to term impact on job satisfaction and retention rates. owning up to needing to leave the offi ce for regular ther- paid family leave apy appointments. Prioritize Work-Life Balance for Everyone Yet, the American workplace in general isn’t all that Source: U.S. Bureau of The women I spoke with who felt most supported in great about encouraging work-life balance. A recent Labor Statistics, 2016 National Compensation their workplaces were the ones who also felt like it was study found that the average American only uses 54 Survey. Survey excludes OK to be honest with their bosses and coworkers about percent of their paid vacation time. Another study, with data from federal government employees, the realities of being a working parent. Allison Benedikt, a small sample size, found that the realities of the pro- the military, agricultural who is the executive editor of Slate and has three young fession may lead some journalists to self-medicate with workers, private household workers, and the children, feels she can be up front about the challenges alcohol and caff eine and not get enough sleep, resulting self-employed. of balancing her diff erent responsibilities. (Disclosure: in lower than average abilities regarding creative think- I worked at Slate from 2011–2014, before I was a parent.) ing, problem solving, regulating emotions, and staying She credits David Plotz, who had three young children focused. How managers think about supporting employ- when he was editor in chief at Slate, with creating an ees should extend beyond just being understanding to understanding culture. parents about daycare pickups and school holidays. “If In 2014, upon assuming the role of editor in chief, you create these systems that allow you to have a life Julia Turner, mother of young twins, continued the outside of work but you’re saying it’s only related to culture of promoting transparency about work-life parenting, then you have just frozen everybody else in challenges and confl icts. Now Slate has a Slack channel place,” says Schulte. called “whereabouts” where people regularly post if they “It’s not fair in general, but it’s also really bad for are working from home because of a childcare issue or parents when you give parents a lot of choices that you will be in late because of a kid’s dentist appointment. don’t give other people, because then everyone hates It’s probably no coincidence that Slate has a strong track them,” says Romper.com’s Johnson. She believes fl ex- record of employing working mothers, and 31 percent of ibility and understanding should be applied to all em- Slate’s editorial staff are parents. ployees equally. “I have a lot of young people without A study conducted by Deloitte University found that kids [on my team] who are so smart and work so many 61 percent of all employees felt they needed to downplay hours a day and are at such risk of burnout that I’m con- their personal diff erences from their coworkers, which stantly encouraging people to take vacation.” is termed “covering” and can apply to everything from In an era of cost-cutting and layoff s, ongoing tech- being a parent to being gay to being a member of a racial nological disruption, lack of public trust in our work, minority to dealing with a health issue. Management ex- and a hostile political climate, newsroom environments Have a story perts Dorie Clark and Christie Smith wrote in Harvard still matter. It’s precisely because of these uncertainties about being a mom Business Review that “enabling employees to feel com- that news organizations need to be smart about how to in news? What’s your fortable being themselves could unlock dramatic perfor- keep talented, diverse groups of journalists, including newsroom doing mance gains because they can focus their attention on mothers with young children, in our ranks, doing the (or not doing) to work, rather than hiding parts of themselves.” One of vital work that needs to be done. Paid family leave, in- support working their recommendations for setting the tone in an orga- clusive, fl exible work policies that benefi t everyone, and mothers? Email me at nization is for leaders to share more about their person- improved offi ce cultures are not tangential priorities; katherine.goldstein al challenges and strategies for dealing with work and they are crucial to fostering a pipeline of young, innova- @gmail.com. life. “Everyone on our team knew that my boss’s new tive thinkers—the future leaders of our industry. 

nieman reports Summer 2017 35 nieman watchdog

TELLING INDIGENOUS STORIES

36 nieman reports summer 2017 Neglecting to cover indigenous communities not only represents a missed opportunity, but a significant failure for an industry hoping to find voice and relevance in the 21st century by tristan ahtone

nieman reports Summer 2017 37 Grandma Redfeather of the Sioux tribe and an opponent of the Dakota Access Pipeline Previous page: The pipeline protest was a rare event involving Native Americans that attracted mainstream coverage

ree woman connie long before the killing took place. He metic- communities except when stories such as Oakes said she was in- ulously chronicled each twist and turn in the the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) thrust nocent of the murder case, from a judge’s ban on releasing Wendy Native people into the spotlight. In the case of Casey Armstrong. Scott’s interrogation videos to retrial delays of DAPL, reporters often treated the inci- She said it when due to a prosecutor’s handling of files. After dent as an isolated event despite the fact the police failed to nearly three years of dogged investigation, that the social, historical, and legal environ- C produce fingerprints. Barerra’s reporting helped secure Oakes’ ment that ignited protests in North Dakota She said it when they release from prison. are not unique to the Standing Rock Sioux failed to produce DNA evidence. When the Since Oakes’ release, officials have called Tribe. They are, in fact, shared across Indian jury in the city of Medicine Hat, Alberta, for a public inquiry into how the police in- Country by all tribes. where she and the victim lived, found her vestigation was conducted. But apart from Yet in other parts of the world, media guilty, she said it again. And when the sole APTN’s ongoing coverage, the story has organizations are moving toward more witness to the crime recanted her testimony, received little attention. “We covered it, substantive, representative coverage of in- she said it one more time. we followed it, and thanks to the cover- digenous issues. In the Nordic countries, “The whole case was built on the shoul- age, Connie was, in fact, set free,” says Jean indigenous Sámi news units primarily cover ders of Wendy Scott, who had an IQ of 50 La Rose, APTN’s chief executive officer. Sámi affairs in Finland, Sweden, and Norway and admitted to lying to police,” says Jorge “There was a brief mention of it on the pub- and produce content for the countries’ Barrera, an investigative reporter with lic network in Canada, the CBC, but a very public broadcasting networks. In Australia, Aboriginal Peoples Television Network small mention and that’s it … In the case of BuzzFeed launched an aboriginal affairs beat (APTN) in Canada. “We seemed to be the Connie, it was of interest to us, but not very in 2015 after high demand for indigenous only ones who cared about the case.” much to Canadians.” content from young audiences. During his investigation, Barrera learned The struggle to bring indigenous sto- One solution to covering communities that police fed information to Wendy Scott ries to a wider audience isn’t new and isn’t that have been traditionally closed to out- during interrogations while she was high. uniquely Canadian. Coverage of indigenous siders and distrustful of media: Hire indig- Barrera obtained court documents reveal- affairs often remains limited to dying lan- enous reporters. However, a more radical ing the car police believed was used at the guages, cultural pageantry, disheartening approach is for news organizations to make time of the murder, and he followed a trail of living conditions, or troubling drug, alcohol, reporting in indigenous communities a pri- drugs and money to discover the vehicle had or suicide statistics. In the United States, ority—regardless of whether the reporters been sold to a drug dealer for crack and cash news outlets routinely ignore indigenous are indigenous themselves—and rethink old

38 nieman reports summer 2017 “If you’re going to cover Indian Country, milking the survivors to the point that by the “ IF YOU’RE GOING TO cover it as a place and allow the stories to time the payment came in, they owed most take you where they take you instead of of it to a lawyer,” APTN CEO La Rose says. COVER INDIAN COUNTRY, coming with pre-conceived ideas,” says “If you have a lawyer, who, by settlement APTN’s Barrera, who is not indigenous. agreement, was to charge no more than 10 COVER IT AS A PLACE “Pretend you’re a foreign correspondent percent of the total amount payable to the and you’re going to a different country and survivor who ends up pocketing 80 percent, AND ALLOW STORIES cover it like that.” it’s an illegal act.” According to Barrera, the best way to In the same way reporters cover any oth- TO TAKE YOU WHERE think about Indian Country—a legal term er beat, familiarity with the issues can pay with popular usage denoting areas with off. In 2015, when millions of gallons of tox- THEY TAKE YOU” indigenous populations in the U.S. and ic water spilled out of the Gold King Mine Canada—is to imagine it as an archipelago: in southern Colorado, turning the Animas —JORGE BARERRA, ABORIGINAL Independent entities living in parallel with River bright yellow, reporters from around PEOPLES TELEVISION NETWORK the country in which they exist. Each island the country were quick to cover the disaster. has its own perspectives, histories, heroes, But as the sludge made its way south into agendas, and desires. By focusing on Indian the Navajo Nation, only a handful of news Country as a place, Barrera says journalists outlets followed. can avoid doing the occasional one-off spe- “I think in the very beginning a lot of re- attitudes toward newsgathering in margin- cial coverage series driven by an issue or porters were focused on the discoloration alized communities. a tragedy. Most often, mainstream outlets and sensationalizing the spill but weren’t “I’ve always strongly felt that indig- resort to parachuting into indigenous com- really looking at how it impacted people,” enous journalists telling indigenous sto- munities, leading to a poverty-porn style of says Antonia Gonzales, anchor and produc- ries is critically important,” says Duncan journalism, while stories about sports, food, er of National Native News (NNN). “Part McCue, an Anishinaabe journalist with the technology, education, healthcare, sex, fash- of our coverage that was unique and dif- Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) ion, art, or science rarely make the news de- ferent was exploring the Native angle and and creator of “Reporting in Indigenous spite being integral parts of indigenous life. finding out how the tribes in the area were Communities,” an online guide offering “Comparisons to reporting as a foreign being impacted.” tips for non-Native journalists. “That said, correspondent are apt for most non-indige- Broadcast on over 200 public radio sta- I also believe that indigenous issues and in- nous journalists,” says CBC’s McCue. “You tions in the U.S., NNN serves as a headline digenous communities are not communities wouldn’t simply throw a reporter from an- news service, providing daily newscasts that should be left solely to indigenous jour- other country into the deep end of a foreign with indigenous stories from across the nalists. If we do that, if we simply play in our country and expect daily journalism when United States, Canada, and other parts of own sandbox, then we’re not speaking to the they’re operating on their own in difficult the world. Gonzales says the news is pro- broader audience and we need to be.” circumstances. A foreign correspondent duced from a Native perspective, and her With more than 370 million indigenous needs to have support.” By treating Indian coverage of the Gold King Mine spill is a people on the planet—nearly 5 percent of Country as a place, reporters like Barrera good example. the global population—occupying almost 20 and McCue have been able to follow and en- When the spill happened, Gonzales and percent of the earth’s territory, insufficient gage with communities to advance stories in fellow Navajo reporter Pauly Denetclaw to nonexistent coverage of their communi- meaningful ways. knew two things that informed their cover- ties not only represents a missed opportu- age. First, the Animas River in Colorado fed nity, but a significant failure for an industry the San Juan River, a waterway Navajo farm- hoping to find voice and relevance in the he lack of coverage by main- ers rely on to grow crops and feed livestock. 21st century. stream outlets played out when Second, water is more than a resource for According to the United Nations’ 2015 Canada finalized the Indian Navajo businesses and livelihoods; it’s in- “State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples” Residential Schools Settlement tertwined with Navajo culture and spiritual report, poor living conditions, low employ- Agreement (IRSSA) in 2006. In the beliefs, meaning heavy metal and chemical ment rates, and insufficient access to food, T 1900s, tens of thousands of indige- contamination would have serious impacts water, and health services have severe im- nous children were taken from their on cultural practices. pacts on the health of indigenous communi- families and placed in the residential school The two spoke with Navajo farmers and ties, while climate change and environmental system, a network of boarding schools creat- ranchers near the river who were forced to pollution pose serious threats to indigenous ed to forcibly assimilate Native children into rely on water deliveries to feed livestock well-being. Mix those issues with geographic Canadian culture. The settlement was the and crops; they reported on how the federal isolation, add discrimination, racism, and a largest class action lawsuit in the nation’s government tried, and generally failed, to lack of cultural understanding, and you have history, creating a compensation package aid local families by providing water stor- a recipe for one of the most marginalized of about $2 billion for survivors. While the age containers from reused, unsanitary oil groups in the world. Unsurprisingly, access settlement made national headlines, only a barrels; and they examined how contami- to media is also a serious problem for in- few outlets continued reporting on IRSSA nation impacted corn, a crop with multiple digenous groups, and a lack of educational after the verdict. religious uses that would be tainted by toxic opportunities for indigenous people can so- “APTN, in following the story, started chemicals for generations due to the spill’s

PREVIOUS SPREAD: MICHAEL NIGRO/PACIFIC PRESS/LIGHTROCKET VIA GETTY IMAGES; LEFT: DAVID GOLDMAN/ASSOCIATED PRESS GOLDMAN/ASSOCIATED VIA GETTY LEFT: DAVID IMAGES; PRESS/LIGHTROCKET PREVIOUS SPREAD: MICHAEL NIGRO/PACIFIC lidify existing inequality in newsrooms. to realize that a lot of lawyers were, in fact, impact on soil and sediments.

nieman reports Summer 2017 39 While cultural and geographic knowl- stream outlets, and how little data exists edge helped Gonzales and Denetclaw pro- “ WHAT WE’RE TRYING on indigenous outlets. But students are also duce award-winning coverage, Gonzales asking questions: Does ownership affect the says curiosity and solid shoe-leather report- TO DO IS TO CHANGE… content of indigenous media? Will there be ing was essential, too. “Just because we’re global cooperation among indigenous media Native press doesn’t mean that we have any FROM THE OUTSIDE makers in the future? Are indigenous jour- kind of special access by any means. We get nalists’ watchdogs of their communities or told ‘no’ by people just the same as non-Na- LOOKING IN TELLING spokespersons for the group to non-indige- tive reporters do,” says Gonzales. nous authorities? Other indigenous outlets in the U.S. face OUR STORIES TO THE Canada and Norway aren’t the only the same challenges. Mvskoke Media in countries that have made the decision to Oklahoma covers Muscogee (Creek) Nation INSIDE SPEAKING OUT…” rethink journalism education. In 1991, the politics, community happenings, and other Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths relevant stories for Muscogee readers. The —MARAMENA RODERICK, in Custody in Australia released recommen- outlet’s staff is both Native and non-Native MAORI TELEVISION dations similar to the IRSSA after investi- and, according to Sterling Cosper, Mvskoke gating the deaths of 99 aboriginal people Media’s manager, there are two things re- where arrest or conviction was involved. porters should keep in mind when report- Racial stereotyping by reporters, the report ing in indigenous communities: Leave your concluded, was institutional, stemming assumptions at the door and be respectful. In Norway, Sámi University of Applied from journalists’ inability to abandon pre- “Native issues are important, and we really Sciences, the equivalent of a tribal college conceptions before reporting on aboriginal want as many people as possible covering in the United States, has taken this idea a communities. The commission’s recom- Indian Country, just doing it the right way,” step further by creating what it claims is the mendation: Media organizations should he says. “Don’t go into it thinking you’re world’s first master’s degree in indigenous develop codes and policies relating to the going to be a champion saving some disen- journalism. “[There is an] evident lack of presentation of aboriginal issues; institu- franchised people. Be a humble reporter and education in this field worldwide,” says Tom tions providing journalism courses should do your job.” Moring, a non-indigenous journalism pro- create courses related to aboriginal affairs; Cosper and his reporters cover the com- fessor at Sámi University. “We are talking formal and informal contact should be made munity for the community, writing stories about millions and millions of people, and between media makers and aboriginal or- on everything from how officials dealt with they do not have education in the very, very ganizations to foster better coverage; and a massive deficit in the Muscogee Creek important field of media that would be tar- aboriginal people should control their own Nation’s department of health budget to a geted to these issues.” media and receive adequate funding to do federal audit of the nation’s housing pro- One of the university’s primary goals so. In 2007, National Indigenous Television gram deficiencies. But Cosper adds that is to train Sámi journalists to report Sámi went live, funded by, yet editorially indepen- Indian Country shouldn’t be the sole do- stories for Sámi and mainstream audiences. dent of, the Australian government. minion of Native reporters. However, the program is conducted entire- In Norway, NRK Sápmi—a division Journalism schools in Canada are be- ly in English, and this year’s class includes of Norway’s public broadcasting system ginning to give non-Native reporters the Sámi students as well as students from NRK—has been broadcasting radio and knowledge they need to cover Indian Finland, Hawaii, Ecuador, and Greenland. television news for decades. Beyond pro- Country. As part of the Indian Residential Besides teaching journalism principles and ducing news in the Sámi language for broad- Schools Settlement Agreement, the exploring ethical guidelines for reporting in cast on the state’s national networks, NRK Truth and Reconciliation Commission indigenous communities, the university also has made it a corporate goal to strengthen of Canada was formed to listen to survi- works to create a robust understanding of Norwegian and Sámi language and culture, vors and make recommendations. One of indigenous journalism and media, and stu- primarily by creating content that “provides the commission’s instructions: Require dents choose from a range of research areas shared experiences and strengthens Sámi Canadian journalism and media students to analyze during the two-year program. and Norwegian culture and identity.” to learn “the history of Aboriginal peo- With more options for publication on the In New Zealand, Māori journalists have ples, including the history and legacy of web, through social media, and other distri- created government-supported Māori residential schools, the United Nations bution channels, Moring says indigenous re- Television, which produces content in the Declaration on the rights of Indigenous porters can sidestep mainstream outlets by Māori language as well as English for na- Peoples, Treaties and Aboriginal rights, creating their own indigenous news organi- tional audiences. One of the outlet’s major Indigenous law, and Aboriginal-Crown re- zations or join existing ones. With a strong accomplishments has been telling Māori lations.” “The students who are going to educational base, he says those indigenous stories from a Māori perspective. “What be the next generation of journalists need organizations can fill coverage gaps or even we’re trying to do is change the gaze from to have some sort of baseline of cultural compete with larger outlets. the outside looking in telling our stories to awareness and cultural knowledge about As part of the curriculum, students study the inside speaking out from our own per- Indigenous communities,” says CBC’s the indigenous media ecosystem, exploring spective,” says Maramena Roderick, head of McCue. “[We’re] going to see, I think, a in what parts of the world indigenous media news and current affairs at Māori Television. new generation of journalist who finally operations exist, what those organizations That means events that are important in the are getting the kind of training and back- generally look like in terms of identity and Māori world, but not necessarily to the rest ground every journalist needs.” ethnicity, how content differs from main- of New Zealand, are covered with diligence MAREE WILLIAMS/GETTY IMAGES LISA

40 nieman reports summer 2017 and respect. By honoring cultural protocols vestment. In an attempt to explain why only 3 percent of the Australian population—a and allowing communities to get a sense of foreign investment was important, Abbot statistic similar to indigenous population the journalist, Māori reporters can get stories said: “Our country is unimaginable with- estimates in both the U.S. and Canada— other outlets have a harder time accessing. out foreign investment. I guess our coun- Crerar says his decision to tackle the subject try owes its existence to a form of foreign stemmed from a desire to tell a more com- investment by the British government in plete national story. Although Crerar also n outlet’s proven track re- the then unsettled or, um, scarcely settled, credits audience enthusiasm around aborig- cord in indigenous communities Great South Land.” inal issues for the beat’s creation. can help, as can prior experience BuzzFeed Australia jumped on the story. Indigenous journalism isn’t simply in- working with indigenous people. “We basically gave a history lesson,” says digenous outlets telling indigenous stories But credentials can be a hindrance, editor Simon Crerar. In typical BuzzFeed or indigenous reporters telling stories for A too. With indigenous people, dis- style, the outlet published “This Is How non-indigenous outlets. It’s the ability to trust of media can be genera- ‘Unsettled’ Australia Was Before the British report on the unique realities of the indig- tions-long, and what works in mainstream Arrived In 1788,” complete with images and enous world for indigenous communities society doesn’t always work in indigenous captions explaining the millennia-long his- as well as for wider audiences. Including communities. “Some reporters are sur- tory of aboriginal people in Australia. “It indigenous voices and perspectives in prised when they show up and say, ‘I work went insanely viral in Australia for us,” says mainstream news organizations isn’t for The New York Times’ and expect that Crerar. “That was a signal that our young, about granting concessions to historically that will give them some sort of legitimacy,” engaged millennial audience really—excuse oppressed people or improving diversity says CBC’s McCue. “The outlets we work for my French—gave a shit.” numbers. It’s about revisiting the founding and the value that we place on operating in BuzzFeed hired aboriginal reporter Allan principles of journalism—accuracy, fairness, legacy media may not necessarily bring any Clarke (who has since moved to NITV as a integrity, and respect—and changing what currency in Indian Country if you don’t have presenter) shortly after and established an have long been institutions of power to in- the knowledge and background of Indian aboriginal beat. From reporting on the trans- stitutions of justice. Country to back up your credentials.” gender “Sistergirls” of the Tiwi Islands to cov- “It’s about getting to know your commu- BuzzFeed is taking this approach seriously. ering disgracefully high rates of indigenous nity and getting to know your neighbors and Back in 2014, Prime Minister Tony Abbot youth incarceration in Western Australia, learning about the people you live next door traveled to Tasmania to deliver a keynote BuzzFeed has become one of the only private, to,” says NNN’s Gonzales. “It’s about being address to the Australian-Melbourne non-indigenous mainstream outlets dedicat- a journalist and forgetting that it’s a Native- Institute. During the address, Abbot took ed to covering indigenous affairs. While ab- centered story and handling it as you would a question on real estate and foreign in- original and Torres Strait Islanders make up any other story.” 

Moving beyond racial stereotyping of aboriginal people in Australia is an imperative of the government-funded National Indigenous Television

nieman reports Summer 2017 41 COVERING CONTROVE LUKE SHARRETT/THE NEW YORK TIMES/REDUX NEW YORK LUKE SHARRETT/THE

The University of Kentucky’s campus paper is clashing with the administration over ON sex assault records With an extended reach online, newly energized college journalists are facing off against university administrators ERSIALby jon marcus ISSUES N CAMPUS

nieman reports Summer 2017 43 before admitting them, a departure from the that monitor this and help defend them. university’s longtime practice. The students also know they’re under a The resulting stories and the newspa- spotlight. “At a time when Donald Trump per’s coverage of the conduct case were is shouting ‘fake news media’ on Twitter, mentioned in a Politico email newsletter we’ve really been inspired to keep pushing,” and other national media, scoring more than says Nicole Ares, managing editor and dig- 30,000 hits online on the day of the hear- ital editor of the College Heights Herald at ing—three times the entire newspaper’s Western Kentucky University. typical daily traffic. “It’s interesting that the When Western Kentucky refused its first public hearing in years directly involves public-records requests for files of investi- the Sun itself, and we’re the ones reporting gations into sexual misconduct by faculty on it,” Bogel-Burroughs says with enthusi- and staff, the newspaper appealed, and the asm that belies his lack of sleep. state’s attorney general ordered that the re- Interesting, but not surprising. Student cords be handed over. Instead, the universi- journalists nationwide are forcefully assert- ty, in February, sued the Herald. ing themselves as they report on not just The other thing that has inspired her to homecoming games and visiting speakers persist with this story, Ares says, was a sim- but about such high-profile topics as sexual ilar case at the University of Kentucky, or harassment, athletic scandals, cost, privacy, UK, in which the Kentucky Kernel student and access for low-income applicants and newspaper filed public-record requests for racial minorities. They’ve exposed embar- documents about a sexual harassment case rassing hacks of campus IT systems, toxic involving a faculty member accused of grop- mold in dorms, high-priced travel by trust- ing students. The professor, who denied the U ees, previously undisclosed cases of sexual charges, agreed to resign. The university harassment by faculty and other universi- wouldn’t release the documents, however, ty employees, and private comments by a even after the state’s attorney general ruled college president who spoke disparagingly that they were public. Instead, it also sued about academically struggling students. the newspaper. This kind of coverage has invited con- Even though the information had already flict with universities concerned about been leaked, UK said, it wanted to establish their reputations in the eyes of legislators a precedent that victim confidentiality could and prospective applicants, donors, and be used as grounds to hold back records of funders. Some institutions have taken steps investigations. If they saw that documents university newspapers generally to thwart their own student media, includ- about sexual harassment cases might be come alive at night, and on a gloomy week- ing locking them out of their offices, cutting made public, president Eli Capilouto said, day afternoon the office of The Cornell Daily off funding, and firing advisors. victims would be discouraged from report- Sun is dimly lit and nearly empty. Among the reasons student journalism ing it. He blamed the Kernel for a 37 per- Housed in a former Elks lodge in down- has been getting more and more exposure: cent decline in campus sexual misconduct town Ithaca, New York, the newsroom Publishing online vastly expands its reach reports after it began to cover the story. seems a throwback, paneled in dark wood beyond the campus cafeterias and dorms Student confidentiality is often the basis with wall sconces and a fireplace at one end. where students read their print editions. for public universities denying records re- There are bound copies of back issues dat- It has also filled a void left by cutbacks in quests from student and professional jour- ing from the 1880s and dusty records in file coverage of the higher-education beat by nalists alike. A 1974 federal provision called cabinets. Marked-up pages from previous many other news outlets. Some of the ex- the Family Educational Rights and Privacy editions hang over vacant desks, and assign- treme responses by universities, too, have Act, or FERPA, says records maintained by ments are listed on a whiteboard. had the paradoxical effect of drawing more an educational institution that identify a The Sun is far from sleepy, however. Like attention to the reporting that provoked it. student cannot be released without the stu- a growing number of university and college But what’s increasingly inspired them, dent’s permission. The Student Press Law newspapers, it’s been producing bold and say student journalists, is the experience Center and other advocacy groups contend aggressive journalism. of witnessing a re-energized national me- that it is widely misused to deny requests Alone in the quiet newsroom last semes- dia. They say they’ve seen more of their for public documents, such as those in sex- ter, city editor Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs classmates signing up to write for campus ual harassment cases and athletics scandals. is recovering from an all-nighter he spent newspapers, and more considering careers These groups want the opposite precedent writing about a rare public hearing the pre- in journalism. Bogel-Burroughs and his col- set—that universities not be allowed to au- vious day involving Cornell’s judicial admin- leagues and counterparts, he says, are seek- tomatically keep information about sexual istrator and an undergraduate charged with ing to be “as aggressive as reporters as we harassment cases secret by citing FERPA. violating the campus code of conduct. The see national reporters being.” Student journalists say that’s the only way student was accused of leaking documents Universities and their campus media to scrutinize how the institutions are han- to the Sun disclosing that a working group on have been going head to head more public- dling these cases. which he served might recommend Cornell ly and uncompromisingly and with higher A circuit court judge in January sided

consider transfer applicants’ ability to pay stakes than ever, according to organizations with UK, though the newspaper is appeal- PRESS ERIC RISBERG/ASSOCIATED

44 nieman reports summer 2017 required little or no work and their grades altered to maintain their eligibility to play. Vice chancellor of communications and public affairs Joel Curran responds that the scandal has resulted in the university be- coming more, not less, transparent: “Are we always going to be aligned with the media? Probably not. But we’re as open as we can be in the [sexual assault] policy and how it works. We do make public what we can make public.” Complaints that higher-education in- stitutions are hypersensitive about their images are not unique to UNC. Universities are battling low public approval and mis- trust. Nearly half of people surveyed by the nonprofit Public Agenda said that students now go into so much debt to get a higher education, it’s no longer necessarily a good investment. Nearly 60 percent said colleges mainly care about the bottom line, and 44 percent that they’re wasteful and inefficient. Legislative allocations for public uni- The University of California, Santa Cruz’s response to a public-records request includes versities have only slowly rebounded after heavily redacted documents related to a sexual misconduct case involving a professor dropping sharply following the 2008 eco- nomic downturn; few states have returned ing and the state’s attorney general also is Callaway, president of the College Media to pre-recession spending on higher educa- challenging the ruling. Association and director of student media tion. Private colleges are competing fiercely New scrutiny of how universities and at Rice University. for a shrinking pool of applicants as a de- colleges handle sexual harassment and as- The Daily Californian at Berkeley, mographic dip in the number of high school sault in particular follows national protests for example, using documents obtained graduates enters its sixth year, and enroll- by students and pressure from the Obama through a public-records request, reported ment declines. administration, in response to which many in February that University of California Meanwhile, much more bad news origi- institutions promised transparency and employees and contractors statewide had nates in campus newspapers as off-campus more attention to the issue. Student jour- violated the system’s sexual-harassment ones cut back on higher-education coverage. nalists on many campuses say they are hold- policies at least 124 times in three years. Sixty-five percent of professional journalists ing them to that. These included top faculty, department on the education beat say they have little “We live in a world now where they chairs, and coaches, about one-third of time for in-depth stories, and a third that can’t control that message any more. They whom were still in their jobs. their outlets’ education staffs have shrunk, can produce fun fluff pieces on how great The University of North Carolina’s Daily according to a survey conducted last year it is to go to a university, but the student Tar Heel has been trying since the fall to get by the Education Writers Association. More newspaper is writing about alleged sexual the names of students found responsible than 40 percent of higher-education beat assault by the football team,” says Kelley for sexual assaults there, arguing that other reporters also have to cover primary and students had a right to know. It sued, too, secondary schools. “College journalists al- in November, after the university, citing the most have the field to themselves these days privacy of victims and witnesses, failed to because they’re filling a vacuum,” says Frank respond to a public-records request. A judge LoMonte, who until recently was executive ruled in May for UNC, saying FERPA super- director of the Student Press Law Center. AT A TIME WHEN seded state public-records laws. And colleges “are being more aggressively The university has said its policies for adversarial than ever” toward them. DONALD TRUMP IS dealing with sexual assault and sexual ha- The University of Central Florida, for rassment “are among the best in the coun- instance, asked a court to order that its le- SHOUTING ‘FAKE NEWS’ try, but we can’t see anything about how it’s gal fees be paid by Knight News in a case being executed,” says Daily Tar Heel editor the student-run website brought against it ON TWITTER, WE’VE Jane Wester, who wrote a rare front-page for failing to respond to a public-records editorial at the end of the spring semester request. LoMonte says he thinks it’s an at- REALLY BEEN INSPIRED to demand “that university officials speak tempt to discourage such lawsuits by ratch- clearly to us, their constituents, and stop act- eting up the cost. TO KEEP PUSHING ing like a business bound by profit.” UNC is It was the third time Knight News has still recovering from a scandal in which ath- sued the university for blocking its access —NICOLE ARES, COLLEGE JOURNALIST letes were found to have taken courses that to documents. This time it asked for budget

nieman reports Summer 2017 45 requests from extracurricular organizations director of the Foundation for Individual submitted to the Student Government COLLEGE JOURNALISTS Rights in Education. “But they can go after Association, which controls nearly $19 mil- the advisors.” lion collected from mandatory student fees. ALMOST HAVE THE In yet another case, Fairmont State The university, citing FERPA, redacted the University in West Virginia replaced the names of some student government repre- FIELD TO THEMSELVES faculty advisor to The Columns student sentatives who made the funding decisions. newspaper with an administrative “super- “All the students here pay money, they give BECAUSE THEY’RE visor” after it reported an outbreak of po- activity and service fees to the student gov- tentially toxic black mold in a dorm. Student ernment, and they have every right to know FILLING A VACUUM editors complained that the administrator how that money’s being spent,” says Kyle threatened and intimidated them, and after Swenson, Knight News’s editor in chief. —FRANK LOMONTE, EX-DIRECTOR yet another public outcry, he was removed A circuit court found for the newspaper STUDENT PRESS LAW CENTER from the position. and rejected the university’s argument that The advisor and staff alike at The Collegian the names of student government members of Hutchinson (Kansas) Community College could be withheld as “education records” were locked out of the journalism computer under FERPA. It also threw out the claim for lab and the advisor suspended after the news- legal fees. UCF has separately been report- paper ran stories reporting about a conflict ed to have spent at least $220,000 to block private conversation, suggested that faculty between a faculty member and an admin- Knight News’s public-records requests. encourage academically struggling students istrator. Two reporters were told in writing The university would not answer questions to drop out. “You think of the students as that they could face disciplinary action. about the case, providing only a written cuddly bunnies,” the newspaper quoted the Other student journalists say they also statement saying it treats student journal- president as saying. “You just have to drown have been pressured personally. In a lawsuit ists the same way it treats professional ones. the bunnies … put a Glock to their heads.” brought by the newspaper’s advisor, the edi- In one important way, however, the way When the story exploded nationally, the tor of Northern Michigan University’s North that universities treat student journalists is newspaper’s advisor was fired. Wind said she was warned by an adminis- different from the way it treats profession- The advisor to The Pauw Wow, the stu- trator that continuing to run investigative al reporters: Universities have more tools dent newspaper at St. Peter’s University stories about such things as trustees’ travel available to slow down or discourage report- in New Jersey, also was removed last year expenses threatened her career prospects. ing by campus newspapers. after a Valentine’s Day issue at the private They can run down the clock, for in- Catholic institution included a story about stance. Campus editors say controversial pornography in intimate relationships, an- t cornell, the target was announcements are often timed to coin- other about foods that serve as aphrodisiacs, the whistleblower, Mitch McBride, cide with academic breaks or final exams, and a third called “I Should Be Allowed to who said he leaked documents or that their fights for information go on for Like Sex.” The school’s president phoned from the working group about fi- longer than their time in college. Ares says the printer and ordered that the presses be nancial aid because he feared that her lawyers estimate the lawsuit seeking re- stopped, according to the College Media A reviewing applicants’ ability to pay cords from WKU could take as long as six Association, which censured the school. would put at risk the “any person” years. “I won’t be around to see this play The Mount St. Mary’s advisor was re- part of the university’s mission to be a place out,” she says. hired after a national outcry, and the Mount where “any person can find instruction in Cornell Daily Sun managing editor Josh St. Mary’s president resigned; St. Peter’s has any study.” “I think they wanted to explain Girsky says the university asked him to de- tentatively reached a settlement with the it in their way. And I think that’s why they lay reporting on that proposal to consider College Media Association to remove its went after me,” says McBride, who took the transfer applicants’ ability to pay until a fi- censure. But many other student newspaper unusual step of asking that his hearing on nal report was ready. He refused. “Maybe advisors are finding themselves under pres- charges that he violated Cornell’s code of they thought they could avoid some of the sure with no such public fanfare, according conduct be public. uproar that might happen,” Girsky says. to the American Association of University Even though McBride was acquitted, “But I think it’s very important to publish Professors, the College Media Association, he and student journalists said bringing while deliberations are going on, and I think the National Coalition Against Censorship, charges against him could chill the willing- people should have a voice in the policies and the Student Press Law Center. ness of other whistleblowers to come for- that affect them.” The university also asked At least 20 advisors to student media ward, a fact not lost on angry students and that the Sun not run a story about a for- have been pushed by university and college faculty who lined up outside a classroom eign hack of one of its schools’ IT systems, administrators to control, edit, or censor where the hearing was being broadcast. which, after cyber experts elsewhere said student journalism for coverage that was Cornell would not respond to this sug- public knowledge of hacks helped improve critical or put the institutions in a bad light, gestion. John Carberry, senior director of security, it published anyway. those groups reported in December. None of media relations, who often deals with the Colleges unhappy with their student the incidents was publicized. “Universities Sun and its reporters, declined to discuss newspapers can also remove or fire facul- realize the law is pretty much on the side the case and said no one at the university ty advisors. That’s what happened when of students when it comes to punishing stu- would comment. He instead provided a link The Mountain Echo at Mount St. Mary’s dent journalists, which doesn’t mean they to a letter to the Sun from provost Michael

University reported that the president, in a won’t try,” says Robert Shibley, executive Kotlikoff that did not dispute the accuracy of NEWS CHU/MERCURY ANDA

46 nieman reports summer 2017 At University of California, Berkeley, students protest sex harassment, a subject that The Daily Californian has covered extensively the documents McBride leaked to the news- legal defense, with many of the contribu- election. The decision was reversed after paper but complained they’d been reported tions coming from professional journalists, the Daily Kansan sued. “without context and misrepresented as an and The Daily Tar Heel’s suit against UNC Like that editorial, much coverage by attempt to disadvantage poorer students was joined by The Charlotte Observer and university media remains decidedly inward and enroll more wealthy students,” which The Durham Herald. looking. But student journalists are also he called “a gross mischaracterization,” and At Duke, when The Chronicle persist- covering big stories off campus. The Indiana that a “lack of respect for confidentiality un- ed in reporting that the executive vice Daily Student at the University of Indiana dercuts our ability to work together.” president hit a campus parking attendant ran a long, poignant feature about a Syrian Of course, university crackdowns on with his car and then yelled a racial ep- refugee family after then-Governor Mike student journalists and leakers have the pre- ithet at her—he acknowledged uninten- Pence banned Syrian refugees from the sumably unintended result of bringing more tionally hitting the attendant but denied state. The student newspaper at California attention to their work, not less. “If the uni- using the slur—it didn’t escape notice Polytechnic State University exposed sex versity was trying to distract people from that the same executive vice president trafficking in San Luis Obispo. the substance of the documents” by putting oversees the rental agreement for The There are also signs that more students McBride on trial, Bogel-Burroughs said, “the Chronicle’s campus office space. But there are newly interested in careers in journal- whole process had the opposite effect.” were no overt repercussions, says Amrith ism in what LoMonte calls the same sort of In the end, the working group on which Ramkumar, who covered the story and is “Trump bump” law schools say may have McBride served dropped the idea of consid- now sports editor. “The administration contributed to an increase in the number of ering transfer applicants’ ability to pay, as the knows they can yell at us off the record applicants this year. senior vice provost in charge of the commit- but they probably can’t do much more,” Far more than usual turned up to apply tee, Barbara Knuth, announced in the Cornell Ramkumar says. The Chronicle, too, he for jobs at The Daily Tar Heel in the spring Chronicle, the newspaper produced by the says, has a board of directors made up of semester, for example, its editor, Wester, university’s media relations department— alumni who are journalists, including at says. She’s since graduated and gone on to bypassing the Sun. “It’s very much a shame The Wall Street Journal. a job as a police reporter at The Charlotte that the Daily Sun picked it up,” Knuth would It’s not just university bureaucracies Observer. Bogel-Burroughs has an intern- later say of the matter when she spoke be- with which student journalists often find ship with Reuters, Girsky with NBC News, fore a Student Assembly meeting attended themselves at odds, however. The student and Ramkumar with The Wall Street Journal. by people protesting the proposal and other government at the University of Kansas cut Ares is heading off to graduate school in changes to financial aid policies. the budget of The University Daily Kansan communication and Swenson, who hopes to Crowdfunding campaigns have helped by 50 percent after the newspaper ran an become a financial reporter, has an intern- the Kentucky Kernel cover the costs of its editorial critical of a student government ship at the Orlando Business Journal. 

nieman reports Summer 2017 47 nieman associate editor and columnist the course of a generation, 2012 notes at The Washington Post, has the country has experienced a served as a member of the stronger strain of autocracy. Fred Khumalo is the author board since 2010. of “Dancing the Death Drill,” 2005 which was published by 1996 Cheryl Carpenter has Jacaranda Books in February. Tim Golden is the writer and joined the University of A fictionalized account of co-director of “Elián,” a CNN Montana School of Journalism a survivor of the SS Mendi, Films documentary about Elián as the T. Anthony Pollner the book commemorates González and the tensions Distinguished Professor for the 100th anniversary of the 1986 between Cuba and the U.S. The the 2017-18 academic year. sinking of the troopship, Madeleine Blais is the author film aired at the Tribeca Film Carpenter had been the which killed 646 people, most of “To the New Owners: A Festival in April. Washington, D.C. bureau chief of them black South African Martha’s Vineyard Memoir,” for McClatchy newspapers soldiers. about her in-law family’s house, 2004 since 2015. enjoyed for decades before Masha Gessen has penned 2013 it was sold. The book was a new book, “The Future is Amy Goldstein’s first book, Finbarr O’Reilly is the co- published by Atlantic Monthly History: How Totalitarianism “Janesville: An American author of “Shooting Ghosts: Press in July. Reclaimed Russia,” which will Story,” published by Simon A U.S. Marine, a Combat be published by Riverhead & Schuster, is a close-up of a Photographer, and Their 1988 Books in October. The book— small Wisconsin city that lost a Journey Back from War,” Eugene Robinson has been which follows four people slew of jobs when the nation’s published by Viking in August. elected chair of the Pulitzer born as Russia emerged as a oldest operating General Written with Marine Sergeant Prize Board, a one-year successor state of the Soviet Motors assembly plant closed Thomas J. Brennan, the joint appointment. Robinson, an Union—illustrates how, in during the Great Recession. memoir sheds light on their

Cornelia Bowling Carrier, a pioneering Audubon, recalled, “She was completely “A Good, environmental reporter for The Times- uninterested in anything shallow and Picayune in New Orleans, died April 8, in had a very fierce reputation from having True Friend” Charleston, South Carolina. She was 78. resurrected the organization from near Pioneering environmental reporter Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Cornelia grew death.” At the same time, her friends Cornelia Carrier, NF ’76, is up in Nashville, Tennessee, and received loved her charm and loyalty and her degrees from Tulane University and the tender concern for wildlife, Norris said. remembered by her classmates University of California, Berkeley. Nieman classmate Lester Sloan said, for her tenacity and love of birds The 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill, the “She was a globe-hopping bird watcher first Earth Day rallies a year later, and a who tolerated my desire to ‘capture’ burst of federal laws and regulations, them with a camera. Her library reflected elevated environmental protection to an interest in everything from crystal to front-page rank in the 1970s. Cornelia was voodoo. She peppered her conversation one of the first reporters in the South to about people with metaphors that focus on the environment, The Post and reflected her various interests.” Courier in Charleston noted a decade ago. Paris was one of Cornelia’s favorite Her reporting on the threats to destinations and she often stayed with Louisiana marshlands from real estate Nieman classmate Robert Fiess and his development led to her Nieman wife, Inge. She was “a good, true friend, fellowship. She returned to The with whom we shared precious moments. Times-Picayune, continuing to expose Her intelligence and her sense of humor environmental hazards as a reporter, made our encounters always interesting columnist, and editorial writer. Her and with peals of laughter,” they wrote. appointment as the state’s tourism Nieman classmate Arnold Markowitz director followed, and later, Cornelia recalled a visit from Cornelia two or three taught at the University of Texas and the years ago when she stopped in Miami after College of Charleston. a birding trip to Cuba. “I drove her around Her concern for the environment in rural areas to find South Florida birds never waned. Cornelia wrote recently she wanted to see. I’ll never forget how to The Post and Courier advising that thrilled she was to see limpkins up close.” Cornelia Bowling Carrier, one of the the city “should place a moratorium In her final years, Cornelia battled first environmental reporters in the South on all development of sea-level land cancer with toughness and wry humor. until they have a plan in hand to protect “One of Cornelia’s favorite expressions and a 1976 Nieman Fellow, died April 8 at those developments from tides that will regarding foreign travel was, ‘I got that the age of 78. Her Nieman classmate Peter inevitably rise year after year.” behind me,’” Lester Sloan said. “She Behr wrote this obituary, with comments Jessica Hardesty Norris, who followed embraced her last journey as a satisfied from some of their fellow fellows: Cornelia as president of the Charleston traveler.”

50 nieman reports summer 2017 unlikely friendship and how it Chicago-based reporter on a helped them both recover— team that plans to grow to 10 physically and mentally—from news staffers later this year. A Career That Spanned From the trauma they experienced as Since 2007, he had worked as Asia to the States and Beyond an embedded photojournalist an investigative reporter at the Melvin M.S. Goo, NF ’77, held top and Marine squad leader in Chicago Tribune. newspaper jobs in Japan and Taiwan Afghanistan. Laurie Penny’s new book 2014 “Bitch Doctrine: Essays for Susie Banikarim is the new Dissenting Adults” takes a look editorial director of Gizmodo at some of the definitive issues Media Group, where she will of our time, from transgender oversee all eight of the group’s rights to Donald Trump’s sites: Gizmodo, Deadspin, election. It was published by Splinter (formerly Fusion), Bloomsbury in August. Jezebel, Kotaku, Lifehacker, Jalopink, and The Root. She Vladimir Radomirović has most recently served as chief been elected president of the content officer for Vocativ. Journalists’ Association of Serbia, the largest journalistic Cristian Lupsa is an organization in the country. organizer of the seventh Radomirović is the editor in edition of The Power of chief of Pistaljka, an online Melvin M.S. Goo, a 1977 Nieman Fellow and a longtime Storytelling festival taking investigative journalism outlet journalist who reported from Asia, died in Honolulu on October 25, place Oct. 17-22 in Bucharest, that he founded in 2010. 2016. He was 68. Romania. 2016 Nieman classmate Paul Solman writes, “Mel was the most Greg Marinovich has Wenxin Fan has joined The gentle [member of our class]: always shyly smiling, always accepted a position as a Wall Street Journal in Hong understated, always kind. I visited him once in Hawaii many years ago and he was his unfailingly gracious self, visiting associate professor at Kong as a reporter. taking me around Oahu to show me its sights, its snorkeling, Boston University’s College of 2017 its cemetery.” Communication, where he has Former Nieman curator Howard Simons, Solman writes, served as an adjunct lecturer Lewis W. Diuguid is the “used to deride our class, playfully, for having produced so since 2014. Marinovich won author of “Our Fathers: many ex-journalists: a pair of Ph.D.s and a law school J.D. the Pulitzer Prize for spot Making Black Men,” which among them. It was Mel who got the law degree, in 1982.” Born in Macau, China, Goo attended Iolani School, a news photography in 1991 was published in March preparatory school in Honolulu, Hawaii, before spending a year for his coverage of a brutal by Universal Publishers. at the University of Southern California and then transferring murder by supporters of the A memoir of his father, it to the University of Washington. He graduated with a degree in African National Congress in focuses on his St. Louis political science in 1970. South Africa. neighborhood, where African- Having held internships and part-time jobs at The American businessmen in the Honolulu Advertiser, The Washington Post, the Seattle Post- 2015 mid-20th century created Intelligencer, and Newsweek while in college, Goo began his journalism career—while serving in the Army, based in Fort Jason Grotto has joined a sense of community for Ord, California—at the San Francisco Examiner as a part-time ProPublica Illinois as a their boys. copy editor. In 1972, he returned to Hawaii and began working for The Honolulu Advertiser, holding several reporting and editorial roles over the next 18 years, traveling on writing assignments to Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. In 1990, Goo joined The Nikkei Weekly, an internationally- circulated English-language publication covering the Japanese Visiting Fellowships economy. He spent nearly a decade, rising to the position Each year Knight Nieman Visiting Fellows of chief news editor, at the paper. In addition to his editorial spend up to 12 weeks on Harvard’s campus and managerial responsibilities, he wrote op-ed columns on working on ideas to improve journalism political and economic issues. In 1999, he became managing editor of the Taiwan News, a daily English newspaper based In nearly six years of supporting visiting fellows, the Nieman in Taipei, and soon became editor in chief, responsible for all Foundation has welcomed editors and academics, reporters and news policies and operations of the newspaper. developers, veterans and junior practitioners from the U.S. and Goo was also a licensed member of the Hawaii Bar abroad. The foundation is accepting applications online through Association, earning his J.D. from the University of Hawaii. Sept. 29 for the next group of visiting fellows who will spend time He lived in Hong Kong and Shenzhen between 2011 and 2014 on campus in 2018. Many visiting fellows have produced publicly before returning to Honolulu for cancer treatment. He is available reports about their research on subjects such as the survived by two sisters, two brothers, and several nieces future for news on wearables, an alternate vision for public radio and nephews. membership, and rewriting the future for journalism schools.

nieman reports Summer 2017 51 sounding tioned me not to be frightened of them as if our idea was only suitable for Facebook they could grant you a wish. or Google, not a news organization. He was I became obsessed with looking for right. Facebook soon launched the feature. djinns through my childhood, but never I already knew more journalism, better found one. Yet the tale kept returning to journalism, would not be enough. Without me during my time at Harvard—a year of abandoning what we do, I believed we could tremendous social, political, and media up- apply it beyond its current scope to become heaval. It came to me when I thought about the connecting tissue of society once again. people who are not seen by those with pow- Yet now we are increasingly losing our ca- er. It came to me when I reflected upon what pacity to innovate. All roads are leading to journalism is missing at this moment. platforms. I should explain that I entered journalism Newsrooms are designed to describe through an unusual path—writing an algo- the present. Yet the institutional structures rithm as an undergrad to automatically sort that help us chronicle events as they unfold and filter company news for young people to can also make us blinkered. We exploit op- help them decide where they want to work. portunities within sight, but are much less The news service, which ran on a com- good at looking around corners and beating puter in my dorm room, landed me my first new paths. full-time position at Reuters’ headquar- To respond, we must find the djinns in Djinns in the ters—a handsome stone edifice on Fleet our newsrooms. Naturally curious, they Newsroom Street, the storied home of the British press. roam free and wide, seeing broader patterns. I quickly discovered that news is marked Unafraid of what they do not know, they What journalists can by fiefdoms. Words compete with visuals, ask questions and are constantly learning. learn from the courage immediacy opposes depth, journalistic en- As outsiders, they are better at seeing blind deavor confronts commercial opportunity. spots and finding opportunities within them. and creativity of Islam’s It struck me as obvious that all elements Able to transform themselves, they work mythological creatures must act together to thrive. fluidly across disciplines, finding partners by jassim ahmad Young and naive, I followed the work both inside and beyond an organization’s I saw needed to be done, pushing past the boundaries. They experiment, pushing ideas edges of my role. It was not long before I in multiple directions to present alterna- encountered resistance. What could an en- tives. Importantly, they can hold the para- gineer know about storytelling? Journalism dox between the present and future. y grandmother was well belonged exclusively to journalists. You are thinking shape-shifters are a fan- known for telling extraordinary To openly collaborate the way I want- tasy, but they are already in your newsroom. tales. One in particular has stuck ed, I first had to create a space for it. Over I will tell you how to find them. M with me since the summer I was time I gained the trust of supportive man- Though they work behind the scenes, you dispatched alone to her in Delhi. agers and talented colleagues to run experi- can spot them pushing against institution- At the time, I was living in Kuwait where my ments. Working with journalists, designers, al walls. They reveal themselves with the father had found work. I was 6 years old and and developers, we explored how to use strong sense of conviction they convey in my parents were worried I was losing touch technology to tell stories in new ways, from everything they do. As they help others real- with where we came from, so off I went. interactives to installations. Among the sto- ize their potential, their sphere of influence I can recall my grandmother and I were ries was a re-examination of the war in Iraq is noticeable for being greater than their role. taking a morning stroll through the walled and a look at how the financial crisis had What my grandmother did not tell me gardens of Humayun’s Tomb, just behind touched lives everywhere. is that djinns cannot act alone. They only my father’s childhood home. Built some 450 Yet in recent years something larger has thrive with the talents of others in environ- years ago as a vision of paradise for a Mughal shifted. It struck me whilst competing in a ments open to learning. Supported and nur- emperor, it was a fantasy playground to me. news hackathon on London’s Old Street, tured, they may grant you a wish. Isolated or Plucked from a fairy tale, the monu- home to hundreds of digital startups. My ignored, they will disappear into the dark- ment’s white marble dome rose above tiers team had just won a prize with our concept ness from whence they came. of sandstone vaults. Around it, peacocks for improving live news video with automat- Channeling the djinn demands acknowl- grazed amongst a geometric network of wa- ed highlights, when one of the judges asked edging its existence—allowing for a mal- ter channels and paths, ignoring the signs to leable role which constantly shifts. It also stay off the grass. requires creating a space for their work—a It was here that my grandmother told me separate playground for disciplines to meet the story of djinns: supernatural creatures that and explore radical ideas, free from estab- roamed the earth with humans and angels. lished processes. Journalism needs to be According to Islam, these third beings “Though djinns work bold now, more than ever. were made of fire and could transform themselves into any form, human or beast. behind the scenes, you Jassim Ahmad, a 2017 Nieman Fellow, works Though shape-shifters were difficult to spot, can spot them pushing across disciplines as the head of multimedia they were cunning and courageous. She cau- against institutional walls innovation at Reuters in London OPPOSITE: PERSON + KILLIAN PHOTOGRAPHY

52 nieman reports summer 2017 Nieman Online

From the Archives In “Sharing Their Stories,” a feature that accompanied Anna Griffin’s “Where Are the Women?” in the Summer 2014 issue of Nieman Reports, women in news leadership—such as CNN Digital’s Meredith Artley, The Texas Tribune’s Emily Ramshaw, and The Chicago Reporter’s Susan Smith Richardson— explain how they got there, and how other female journalists can follow in their footsteps.

Opinion: Ethics Columnist Issac Bailey, a 2014 Nieman Fellow, argues that the public would be better served if more outlets unmasked sources who use anonymity to push politically-motivated falsehoods.

Newsonomics Hearst, which is privately held, isn’t a major part of industry conversations about the future of newspapers. But—considering the newspaper chain’s profits have grown for the past five years, and it’s looking to buy more papers—that may be about to change, writes news industry analyst Ken Doctor.

U.S. Press Freedom Tracker A new site established by the Freedom of the Press Foundation, pressfreedomtracker. us, intends to be the place to find an up- to-date status report on violations of press freedom. Peter Sterne, a former media reporter at Politico, is managing editor.

The Nieman Foundation’s 80th anniversary celebration in October 2018 will include a dinner in Bates Hall at the Boston Public Library and a reunion of Nieman Fellows

America’s Gun Violence Epidemic Storyboard spotlights stellar literary journalism about the alarming prevalence of gun violence in the U.S., taking a closer look at narratives published in the Los Angeles Times, HuffPost’s Highline, and Mother Jones.

SAVE THE DATE What Guides a Pulitzer Winner Next year the Nieman Foundation turns 80. Join us at Harvard Oct. 12–14, 2018 “Katherine Boo’s 15 Rules for Narrative for an anniversary weekend and alumni reunion. We’ll discuss this historic Nonfiction” has received a lot of love on Twitter—for good reason. Among the moment with some of the brightest stars on campus; explore new ideas and investigative journalist’s guiding lights are innovations to strengthen journalism; and celebrate the work of extraordinary such gems as “Memory sucks” and “I try Niemans around the world who continue to “promote and elevate the standards never to forget that my ‘subjects’ are my of journalism.” Additional details will follow in the coming months. co-investigators.” SUMMER 2017 VOL. 71 NO. 3 The Neman Foundaton for Journalsm TO PROMOTE AND Harvard Unversty ELEVATE THE STANDARDS One Francs Avenue OF JOURNALISM Cambrdge, Massachusett s 02138