Mark Obbie's Blog, page 22
July 25, 2014
Don’t drag these victims into a firefight
Dahlia Lithwick calls it a “grotesque” prospect that the upshot of the Joseph Wood execution in Arizona would be a credibility contest between what the victims’ family observed, on the one hand, and what some journalist observers described, on the other. I agree — and not just because she’s my editor for my upcoming series […]
Published on July 25, 2014 08:09
July 23, 2014
On the nightstand: Wednesday, 7/23/14
Today’s good reads in criminal-justice journalism, with an emphasis on longform narrative stories on crime and original reporting on crime victims and reforms in sentencing and prisons: Greg Hanlon’s long, deeply reported narrative about former Yankee Mel Hall documents his serial predation of young girls, sometimes with the tacit approval of their parents who were dazzled […]
Published on July 23, 2014 14:02
July 21, 2014
On the nightstand: Monday, 7/21/14
Today’s good reads in criminal-justice journalism, with an emphasis on longform narrative stories on crime and original reporting on crime victims and reforms in sentencing and prisons: Kevin Johnson writes the first of what’s promised as an occasional series in coming months on mental illness and America’s criminal justice system. The first installment looks at the […]
Published on July 21, 2014 14:08
Durham-in-Wonderland’s legacy
My blog focuses on reported, narrative journalism about criminal justice. I use it to draw attention to noteworthy examples of the craft — to reinforce the notion that quality journalism on this important topic deserves attention and respect, so that it can survive a traumatic media-business transition. That said, I know that we professional journalists have […]
Published on July 21, 2014 08:06
A cure for pitchfork-and-torch fever
I’m in post-vacation tab-clearing mode, catching up on interesting articles published while I was semi-unplugged for a week. One in particular that merits attention is this piece by Terrence McCoy in the Washington Post on July 16. It’s on a topic I last wrote about here, when I called social-media shaming of crime suspects the […]
Published on July 21, 2014 04:23
July 20, 2014
Hollow at the core
Michael Sokolove’s New York Times Magazine feature on the prosecution of former Penn State president Graham Spanier paints a sympathetic and readable portrait of the man’s life and career, and tells a clear, plainspoken account of his role in the sex-abuse scandal involving former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. What it doesn’t do well […]
Published on July 20, 2014 08:57
July 18, 2014
Elusive truth
My blogging and tweeting have been fairly light the past week, as I took a family vacation and tried to set the laptop and phone aside now and then. But that doesn’t mean I turned off my brain in the reading I chose. I finally made time to read a book that’s been on my […]
Published on July 18, 2014 05:08
July 15, 2014
On the nightstand: Tuesday, 7/15/14
Today’s good reads in criminal-justice journalism, with an emphasis on longform narrative stories on crime and original reporting on crime victims and reforms in sentencing and prisons: Michael Winerip and Michael Schwirtz obtained a report on brutality at New York’s Rikers Island jail, and then put names and dates to the 129 recent instances of guard-on-inmate […]
Published on July 15, 2014 14:44
July 13, 2014
On the nightstand: Sunday, 7/13/14
Today’s good reads in criminal-justice journalism, with an emphasis on longform narrative stories on crime and original reporting on crime victims and reforms in sentencing and prisons: Walt Bogdanich’s story line may be familiar, but the depth of his reporting is what stands out in this story of a college’s evidently botched handling of rape accusations […]
Published on July 13, 2014 14:05
July 10, 2014
On the nightstand: Thursday, 7/10/14
Today’s good reads in criminal-justice journalism, with an emphasis on longform narrative stories on crime and original reporting on crime victims and reforms in sentencing and prisons: Nikole Hannah-Jones’ family memoir, “Ghosts of Greenwood,” serves as a disturbing reminder of what all the Freedom Summer at 50 hoopla is about: the sacrifices and violence of the […]
Published on July 10, 2014 15:01