NIEMAN REPORTS Nieman Reports One Francis Avenue Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 Nieman Reports THE NIEMAN FOUNDATION FOR JOURNALISM AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY VOL. 62 NO. 1 SPRING 2008 VOL. 62 NO. 1 SPRING 2008 21 ST CENTURY MUCKRAKERS THE NIEMAN FOUNDATION HARVARDAT UNIVERSITY 21st Century Muckrakers Who Are They? How Do They Do Their Work? Words & Reflections: Secrets, Sources and Silencing Watchdogs Journalism 2.0 End Note went to the Carnegie Endowment in New York but of the Oakland Tribune, and Maynard was throw- found times to return to Cambridge—like many, ing out questions fast and furiously about my civil I had “withdrawal symptoms” after my Harvard rights coverage. I realized my interview was lasting ‘to promote and elevate the year—and would meet with Tenney. She came to longer than most, and I wondered, “Is he trying to my wedding in Toronto in 1984, and we tried to knock me out of competition?” Then I happened to keep in touch regularly. Several of our class, Peggy glance over at Tenney and got the only smile from standards of journalism’ Simpson, Peggy Engel, Kat Harting, and Nancy the group—and a warm, welcoming one it was. I Day visited Tenney in her assisted living facility felt calmer. Finally, when the interview ended, I in Cambridge some years ago, during a Nieman am happy to say, Maynard leaped out of his chair reunion. She cared little about her own problems and hugged me. Agnes Wahl Nieman and was always interested in others. Curator Jim Tenney was a unique woman, and I thoroughly Thomson was the public and intellectual face of enjoyed her friendship. After my Nieman year, while the benefactor of the Nieman Foundation the Nieman Foundation; Tenney was its warm I was working in Washington, she happened to heart. —Michael McDowell, NF ’79 be in town, and I invited her for dinner. We had fun that evening, comparing New England and In our 1979 class, there were four women. I think Southern food, plants, cooking and other interest- it was a record number back then, as Curator Jim ing differences. I will never forget Tenney. She was Thomson was working hard to expand the number thoughtful, much loved, and very dear. of women Niemans. The four of us—Peggy Simpson, —Kathryn Johnson, NF ’77 Kat Harting, Nancy Day, and I—decided to devote Vol. 62 No. 1 Spring 2008 an entire issue of Nieman Reports to women’s issues Tenney was the inspiration for the [Summer 1979] in journalism. Tenney, then its editor, was entirely issue of Nieman Reports devoted to women in jour- Nieman Reports supportive of this takeover and cheered us on as nalism. Those of us in our class were among those The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University we made efforts to include every woman who had who worked on the issue and, at least in my case, won the award previously. I think we dedicated wrote a retrospective article about my coverage of the issue to Agnes Wahl Nieman, because so few the women’s movement and my own observations people outside the circle knew that it was a woman about the barriers facing women who wanted to be Bob Giles | Publisher who started and funded the fellowships. hard news reporters. That article was among those Melissa Ludtke | Editor Tenney was the warmest friend you could have in chosen as the best in the half-century of writing Cambridge. Her passion for words, birds, gardens— for Nieman Reports, and I always hoped Tenney Lois Fiore | Assistant Editor but most of all Nieman Fellows—was legendary. We got the credit due her, for that and much more. Sarah Hagedorn | Editorial Assistant believed she secretly liked our class best, a fiction She might have looked the genteel New Eng- undoubtedly believed by every class she touched. I land lady but, in my mind, she was ahead of the Diane Novetsky | Design Editor will miss her Christmas letters and talking baseball curve in spotting news and in helping make good with her. Next time I’m in Cooperstown, I’m going articles happen. She was a bastion of good sense, to look for the glove her namesake grandfather, a humor and a sort of serenity during our somewhat lefty pro player, developed. chaotic Nieman year. I also thought that she grew, Nieman Reports (USPS #430-650) is published Editorial Tenney was a big reason the Nieman Fellowships with us, in confronting those bumps in the road. in March, June, September and December Telephone: 617-496-6308 are so beloved by several generations of journalists. —Peggy Simpson, NF ’79 by the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University, E-Mail Address: —Margaret Engel, NF ’79 One Francis Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138-2098. [email protected] As with Michael McDowell, it was Tenney Leh- Subscriptions/Business Internet Address: Tenney Lehman was such a grand lady. Remember man who told me I had won the Nieman. The call Telephone: 617-496-2968 www.nieman.harvard.edu that easy smile and twinkle in her eyes? It reminded reached me in the Senate Press Gallery in 1978, E-Mail Address: you that she knew more than she let on but wasn’t and I closed the door to one of the old telephone [email protected] Copyright 2008 by the President and giving away any secrets. Tenney was New England booths in the gallery as Tenney told me that Har- Fellows of Harvard College. to the core, wise, kind, fun, smart. She was den vard was offering me a Nieman Fellowship and Subscription $20 a year, $35 for two years; add $10 per mother and mentor and, over wine at a North End wanted to know if I would accept. year for foreign airmail. Single copies $5. Second-class postage paid at Boston, restaurant, drinking buddy as well. When I look “Sweet Jesus, yes!,” I replied (or words to that Back copies are available from the Nieman office. Massachusetts and additional entries. back on my Nieman year, I will always see the face effect). of Tenney Lehman. —David Lamb, NF ’81 What I recall most is Tenney’s gentle admonition Please address all subscription correspondence to POSTMASTER: One Francis Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138-2098 Send address changes to that I refrain from telling anyone until the official and change of address information to Nieman Reports, It was during my interview for a Nieman Fellowship announcement. Sorry, Tenney, but within 24 hours P.O. Box 4951, Manchester, NH 03108. P.O. Box 4951, when Tenney Lehman’s warmth and compassion I had told the known universe. ISSN Number 0028-9817 Manchester, NH 03108. first became apparent to me. That was also the first Rest in Peace. time I had ever met her. The selection committee —Frank Van Riper, NF ’79 that year included Robert Maynard, then publisher Nieman Reports | Spring 2008 109 Vol. 62 No. 1 Spring 2008 Nieman Reports THE NIEMAN FOUNDATION FOR JOURNALISM AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY 4 21st Century Muckrakers 6 Publisher, Editor and Reporter: The Investigative Formula | By Steve Weinberg Watchdogs in Washington 8 The Press and the Presidency: Silencing the Watchdog | By Murrey Marder 10 Decision-Making: A Visual Journey Inside the Iraq War | By Michael Kirk and Michael Wiser 12 Determining the Reliability of a Key CIA Source | By Bob Drogin 15 Digital Records Reveal Corruption on Capitol Hill | By Marcus Stern and Jerry Kammer 19 Classified Documents: Secrecy vs. Citizenship | By Steven Aftergood 21 Investigative Reporting About Secrecy | By Ted Gup Nonprofit Approach 23 Seeking New Ways to Nurture the Capacity to Report | By Charles Lewis 27 New Sources of Funding, New Sources of Reporting | By Gilbert Cranberg 30 Going Online With Watchdog Journalism | By Paul E. Steiger 32 Watchdog Reporting: Exploring Its Myth | By Florence Graves 36 Understanding the Value of Investigative Reporting | By Bill Buzenberg 38 When a Few Dollars Make a Big Difference | By John Hyde 41 Transparency Increases Credibility | By Mark Schapiro 43 Good Journalism Can Be Good Business | By Daniel Brogan The Digital Transformation 45 Digital Journalism: Will It Work for Investigative Journalism? | By Barry Sussman 47 Reporting With the Tools of Social Science | By Stephen K. Doig 50 Reporting Is Only Part of the Investigative Story | By Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele 52 When Video Is King | By Stuart Watson 54 Are Reporters Doomed? | By David Leigh Cover Photo: Nieman Reports Online Cartoonist Udo J. Keppler used an octopus to represent the Standard www.nieman.harvard.edu Oil Company. 1904. Courtesy of Library of Congress. Newsroom Investigative Reporting 55 Changing Equations in Investigative Reporting | By John Robinson 58 Instilling a Watchdog Culture in the Newsroom | By Lorie Hearn 60 Redefining a Newspaper’s Watchdog Approach | By Les Zaitz and Brent Walth 62 A Vital Responsibility in Need of Support | By Rick Rodriguez 65 Using Expertise From Outside the Newsroom | By Betty Wells Global Watchdogs 67 Beacons of Hope: Investigative Journalism Centers | By Brant Houston 68 Confronting Pressure From Donors | By Aung Zaw 71 Global Efforts at Investigative Reporting | By Fernando Rodrigues 73 Squeezing Substance Into the ‘Sensational and Superficial’ | By Sheila S. Coronel 77 Circumventing Censorship With Technology | By Karl Idsvoog 78 The Investigative Journalist’s Digital Tool Kit | By Joe Murray 79 Democracy Can Complicate the Job of Journalists | By Dharma Adhikari 82 Words & Reflections 83 Secrets and the Press | By Walter Pincus 85 Loud Noises, Sharp Elbows, and Impolitic Questions | By Jim Boyd 87 Urgent Issues the Press Usually Ignore | By Danny Schechter 90 Intimidation and Convictions of Journalists | By Morton Mintz 93 Teaching Multimedia Journalism | By Rebecca MacKinnon 96 Journalism 2.0—And Then What? | By Christine Gorman 3 Curator’s Corner: Recognizing Excellence | Bob Giles 97 Nieman Notes | Compiled by Lois Fiore 97 Journalists Portray a Complex, Self-Destructive Texas Politician | By Dave McNeely and Jim Henderson 100 Class Notes 108 End Note: Tenney Lehman: Inspirational Editor and ‘Warm Heart’ of the Nieman Foundation | Remembrances by Nieman Fellows 2 Nieman Reports | Spring 2008 Curator’s Corner Recognizing Excellence The Nieman Foundation becomes a home for two investigative journalism awards.