National Catholic Reporter • 25th September 2019

Inside NCR: In pursuit of intergenerational audiences

Once a week, staffers at the National Catholic Reporter take turns writing a letter to subscribers and contributors who have signed on with NCR's membership initiative, NCR FORWARD. Here's mine, a letter (in mailchimp format) from Las Vegas, of all places.

Medium • 14th February 2019

Abramson story needs one more chapter

As the furor surrounding the plagiarism in Jill Abramson’s new book fades, there's an important story still undone: a detailed account describing exactly what happened.

SlideShare • 28th January 2019

Ethics session for Northeastern's student newspaper

I'm on the board of the Huntington News, and met with the staff for a discussion of ethical decision making for journalists.

Facebook • 7th December 2018

George H.W. Bush and the "mournful pundits"

Like Trump, George H.W. Bush tried to undermine critical media coverage by mocking journalists ("mournful pundits," as he called us). But never "enemies of the people."

Poynter.org • 5th December 2018

Memo to Hollywood: Get real with movies about real people

Hollywood is about entertainment, not news. But they're muddling history & they could do less of that without sacrificing audience engagement.

Detroit Free Press • 26th November 2018

Behind "The Front Runner": A tick-tock on the story

Several days after the Herald broke its Hart story in May 1987, Detroit Free Press colleague Billy Bowles & I collaborated on this assessment of the journalism issues it raised.

Indiana Public Radio • 16th November 2018

How Should Journalists Cover President Trump?

Five of us discuss journalism's challenges in the Trump era. Best ways to pursue the truth when the President repeatedly responds with untruths and attacks on reporters?

Poynter.org • 23rd August 2018

Time for journalists to force accountability on bishops

With Catholic bishops answerable only to the pope, they function as their own bosses. Their cover-up of clergy sexual abuse hammers home how well that's worked out.

National Catholic Reporter • 26th June 2018

Kathy Shaw, relentless tracker of clergy abuse, got the story out

Kathy was one of the unsung heroes of the story behind the story told by the Spotlight film. It was a role she happened into, and proceeded to do extraordinary work with it for more than 15 years.

The New York Times • 22nd June 2018

THE MEDIA BUSINESS; In San Jose, Knight-Ridder Tests a Newspaper Frontier

The transition to electronic journalism is bringing with it some challenges to old rules of the trade. Mercury Center, for instance, includes news and business employees, breaching the traditional wall that separates the two at most newspapers. Its executives say they are committed to maintaining editorial independence, but contend that news and business employees must work together to shape the new venture into a money-making enterprise. To the consternation of some in the newsroom, editors of

Minnesota Public Radio • 13th June 2018

When an obituary is more like an attack ad

A piece I wrote a few years ago about writing the obit for Carol's Uncle Bob prompted Minnesota Public Radio to give me a ring about this case.

bmitch.org • 6th November 2017

Face-to-face with an audience that can’t click away

Several days after attending the second edition of the Boston Globe's in-person story-telling show, an email exchange with one of the creators shed new light on what happened there.

Poynter.org • 17th May 2017

Lights, camera, journalism: The Boston Globe goes live

The Boston Globe this week unveils the latest step toward figuring out its future: onstage storytelling. Don’t confuse this, as I did, with the already established revenue stream known as...

National Catholic Reporter • 18th October 2016

Can Chris Wallace make sense of debate nonsense?

As moderator of Wednesday night's third and final presidential debate, Chris Wallace of "FOX News Sunday" faces a more extreme challenge -- and bigger stakes -- than the journalists who...

National Catholic Reporter • 27th September 2016

How Lester Holt's limitations triggered his success as a debate moderator

As moderator of the first presidential debate Sept. 26, Lester Holt failed to distinguish himself as a fact-checker or even, for that matter, as much of a referee of civil...

JRNL 4650 Journalism Ethics Fall 2016 • 1st September 2016

Journalism Ethics and Issues, Fall 2016, Northeastern University

Media ethics involves common sense, of course, but quite a bit more. The most interesting ethical decisions involve a choice between two or more relatively good options. Sometimes it’s a...

Poynter.org • 6th June 2016

No, Clinton won't 'clinch the nomination' tomorrow. Here's why.

News organizations will face an important decision when the polls close Tuesday night in New Jersey. If all goes as expected and Hillary Clinton wins even close to a majority...

Science Friday • 27th May 2016

Back to the Future of Electronic Newspapers

In 1994, newspapers were going online and Science Friday convened experts to talk about what this new technology might mean for newspapers. One of those guests, Bill Mitchell, was director...

Poynter.org • 6th November 2015

The Spotlight Movie: Why it works and how it matters

The new Spotlight movie opening this weekend is such a big deal in Boston that several university journalism programs staged special advance screenings. After failing to worm my way into any of those, I showed up at Spotlight’s first public unveiling Thursday night.

Poynter.org • 3rd November 2015

On the Ethics of Family Obit Writing

When I finished the first draft of Uncle Bob’s obit last week, I shared it as a Google Doc with family members and invited their “edits, trims or additions.” Although I failed to realize it at the time, I was making a fundamental declaration of my loyalties, the sort of critical...