Mark Obbie's Blog, page 26
June 1, 2014
Weekend reading for Sunday, 6/1/14
Today’s good reads and reporting coups in criminal-justice journalism: Karen Duffin reports on victims’ relationship with journalists after tragedies. Catharsis or exploitation? It depends, say people who’ve been through it. They give public relations advice on finding mutual benefits and explain why telling their stories can provide meaning to what they’re going through. (On the Media, […]
May 29, 2014
On the nightstand: Thursday, 5/29/14
Today’s good reads and reporting coups in criminal-justice journalism: Columnist/reporter Kevin Cullen shows why deep reporting and a writing style that punches hard proves a potent combination in explaining exactly what just happened in a case against Whitey Bulger’s FBI handler John Connolly. (Boston Globe) The great Skip Hollandsworth used his access to the Catt […]
Back to the scene of the crime
Tomorrow I leave on a six-day reporting trip in Texas. I’m almost one month into my one-year Soros Justice Media Fellowship and this is the first of a few road trips I’ll use to supplement the phone reporting I’m doing. There’s no substitute for seeing the people and places you’re writing about, especially when you’re […]
May 28, 2014
Prison project in capable hands
I practically threw my credit card at Beacon Reader when I heard that it was crowdfunding an extensive series of stories by Shane Bauer on America’s prisons. In my post two months ago, I focused not just on the topic’s relevance to my work but also on my admiration for Bauer’s work. Still, I was […]
May 27, 2014
A father’s moment
Perhaps the most difficult thing to witness is a parent’s grief at its freshest and rawest after the unexpected death of a child. It is also, in ways that are both constructive and voyeuristic, what we the public and journalists need and expect after a crime like last Friday’s mass murders in California. With Richard Martinez, […]
On the nightstand: Tuesday, 5/27/14
Today’s good reads and reporting coups in criminal-justice journalism: Top read of the day: Patricia Wen’s searing narrative on the life and death of Jeremiah Oliver. Through deep reporting, Wen expose the gray areas in what had been a simple story of bureaucratic failure. What happens, she asks, when a parent seems to be a […]
May 25, 2014
On the nightstand: Sunday, 5/25/14
Today’s good reads and reporting coups in criminal-justice journalism: Saturday’s mass shooting in California prompted Matt Yglesias to run some numbers on murder, debunking the public’s first assumption when things like this happen that crime is raging out of control. He might also have added stats on mass shootings, which have been fairly constant in number for […]
May 22, 2014
On the nightstand: Thursday, 5/22/14
Today’s good reads and reporting coups in criminal-justice journalism: Cheryl Brumley tells the story of a Texas prison inmate who convinced criminal-law hardliners that he had a good reason for escaping from prison. The history of the defense of necessity, wrapped inside a gripping narrative. (The Life of the Law podcast) Simon Marks’ cover story […]
For my conservative friends
In my personal life, I am surrounded by conservatives: friends and family who, no doubt, see my posts about criminal justice and think “flaming liberal.” So this post is for them. I’ve blogged and tweeted many times about the organization Right on Crime and the phenomenon that has put conservatives — real, red-blooded political and […]
May 21, 2014
On the nightstand: Wednesday, 5/21/14
The past two days’ worth of good reads and reporting coups in criminal-justice journalism: What’s a visit to the new 9/11 museum like for the brother of a victim? Steve Kandell’s searing, brutal account of his visit reminds us how very different this experience is for those directly hurt that day. (Buzzfeed) Do mandatory arrests in […]
