Mark Obbie's Blog, page 8
February 16, 2015
On the nightstand: Monday, 2/16/15
Recent good reads in criminal-justice journalism, with an emphasis on longform narrative stories and original reporting about crime, crime victims, and reforms in sentencing and prisons: In a two-part series “Cops See It Differently,” a team of This American Life producers brilliantly illustrates why both sides in the race-and-policing fight talk past each other, and how … Continue reading On the nightstand: Monday, 2/16/15 →
Two cop cases, two discrete questions
Be still, my law-nerd heart! A story fronting Saturday’s New York Times actually spells out at length the legal questions at the heart of two grand jury decisions in cases of New York Police Department shootings. One of the primary weaknesses in legal reporting, as I see it, is the frequent failure of news stories to … Continue reading Two cop cases, two discrete questions →
Crime at the Polks
Here are the criminal-justice-journalism winners at one of the industry’s major awards, the Polk Awards, announced yesterday, quoting the descriptions from the press release: Award for Justice Reporting Julie K. Brown of The Miami Herald and two New York Times reporters, Michael Schwirtz and Michael Winerip, will share the George Polk Award for Justice Reporting for uncovering appalling evidence of guards brutalizing inmates at correction and … Continue reading Crime at the Polks →
February 14, 2015
The voices from within
A common tough-on-crime assumption about people convicted of violent crimes is that they lack any sense of responsibility toward their victims; that they hurt or killed out of sheer evil and cruelty, and any remorse they show at trial or in prison is simply a con to win sympathy. But, when we talk to them … Continue reading The voices from within →
February 12, 2015
On the nightstand: Thursday, 2/12/15
Recent good reads in criminal-justice journalism, with an emphasis on longform narrative stories and original reporting about crime, crime victims, and reforms in sentencing and prisons: Emily Bazelon digs into the details of an ambiguous, messy relationship squabble that has blown up into a rape claim against a Stanford University mentor by a former student who claims … Continue reading On the nightstand: Thursday, 2/12/15 →
February 11, 2015
#Blacklivesmatter, brought to life
I can’t make up my mind about whether this was the best of times or the worst of times for me to read Jill Leovy’s stunning new book Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America. I rushed to read it because I am writing a long feature story about the very same neighborhoods and … Continue reading #Blacklivesmatter, brought to life →
February 9, 2015
On the nightstand: Monday, 2/9/15
Recent good reads in criminal-justice journalism, with an emphasis on longform narrative stories and original reporting about crime, crime victims, and reforms in sentencing and prisons: One of the best news-feature writers around, Eli Saslow, profiles Al Sharpton; not the Al Sharpton of the ’80s and ’90s, but today’s version, who is trying to prove to … Continue reading On the nightstand: Monday, 2/9/15 →
Inside the “guilt mill”
On the whiteboard in my office is the phrase “wrongful conv. #s.” It’s been there so long, I may have trouble erasing it. But now I should because it’s just been done so well by someone else. At The Crime Report, David Krajicek has written this detailed, thoughtful report on one of the most important … Continue reading Inside the “guilt mill” →
February 6, 2015
On the nightstand: Friday, 2/6/15
Recent good reads in criminal-justice journalism, with an emphasis on longform narrative stories and original reporting about crime, crime victims, and reforms in sentencing and prisons: Leon Neyfakh tackles one of the most essential and difficult topics in criminal-justice reform: how to move beyond the easiest questions in which “perfect” victims need our help, and to address … Continue reading On the nightstand: Friday, 2/6/15 →
February 4, 2015
Crime journalism worth every penny
Since The Marshall Project‘s highly publicized launch last year, I’ve watched The Crime Report — a predecessor dedicated to much of the same coverage of criminal justice news — with some questions in mind. How it might respond? Would it wither in the face of a slick upstart? Or just seem redundant? In fact, The … Continue reading Crime journalism worth every penny →
