Mark Obbie's Blog, page 25
June 16, 2014
Deca’s debut: more hope for quality longform
Just as pioneering e-singles publisher Byliner evidently teeters at the brink, another innovator, using an interesting and experimental model, has emerged. Not surprising to readers of this blog, the first story published out of the gate is a true-crime narrative: Mara Hvistendahl’s And the City Swallowed Them, a murder mystery inside China’s “opaque legal system.” As […]
June 12, 2014
On the nightstand: Thursday, 6/12/14
Today’s good reads and reporting coups in criminal-justice journalism, with an emphasis on stories central to my interests in victims and reforms in sentencing and prisons: Emily Bazelon leads a roundtable discussion with parents of mass-shooting victims to talk about their decision to work for new gun regulations, and how they make their arguments while combatting […]
June 11, 2014
Tools of my trade
When hackers yesterday and today took down Evernote and Feedly, I hardly knew what to do with myself. So of course I quipped about it on Facebook — and then started thinking more about the ways in which my craft’s essential tools have changed so dramatically during my career. For an old guy who started […]
A cocaine courier’s story on two levels
The first essential ingredient of strong narrative is a strong character. Sam Dolnick passes that test easily with this story in next Sunday’s New York Times Magazine about Leo Sharp, a “stud” in the world of day-lily growers — and a 90-year-old cocaine mule for the Sinaloa cartel. From a routine court hearing, Dolnick paints a […]
June 10, 2014
On the nightstand: Tuesday, 6/10/14
Today’s good reads and reporting coups in criminal-justice journalism: Michael Hall, whose excellent work I’ve celebrated before, wrote a tribute to the courage of Richard LaFuente, who just completed 28 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. Though he had the chance to get released many times over the years, the price — […]
June 9, 2014
On the nightstand: Monday, 6/9/14
Today’s good reads and reporting coups in criminal-justice journalism: Jon Hand looked at racial tensions surrounding a crime-victim double whammy involving Nepalese and Bhutanese refugees in Rochester: they’re preyed upon by violent criminals, and shockingly large numbers of them fail to report their crimes. (Democrat & Chronicle) Ted Gest follows up on earlier reporting about big […]
Post-traumatic growth, one year later
Over the weekend, the organizer of a public-service campaign in my hometown announced that he was shutting it down. That caught my eye because of the significance I had attached to it in this story for Pacific Standard magazine (and related blog post) about the aftermath of a shocking crime in that town, Webster, New York, on […]
June 6, 2014
On the nightstand: Friday, 6/6/14
Today’s good reads and reporting coups in criminal-justice journalism: Kyria Abrahams’ story, “The Lookout’s Last Stand,” reexamines the case of Pascual Carpenter, who has served 24 years in prison for acting as a lookout in a New York robbery in which one of his fellow robbers killed a tourist. The story deftly revisits the infamous “wolf pack” […]
June 4, 2014
A good cry
With one more interview this evening and a return flight home tomorrow, I wrap up the first of multiple reporting trips for my upcoming “Victim Mentality” series at Slate, this time in and around Houston. In meetings with victims, survivors, and prisoners past and present, I believe I set a new personal record for witnessing (and […]
June 3, 2014
On the nightstand: Tuesday, 6/3/14
Today’s good reads and reporting coups in criminal-justice journalism: This is what a good reporter does to satisfy curiosity: Todd Frankel explains the grief and empathy motivating Robert Bergdah’s bushy beard and Pashto-speaking appearance after his son was rescued from his captors. (Washington Post) Brian Levinson wrote a perceptive, frank essay offering an alternative take on Elliot Rodger’s reasoning (such […]
