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A few principles for how I operate as a critic
“What are the proper grounds for criticism of a program like Candy Crowley’s State of the Union on CNN, or a news story in the Washington Post, or a blog post at Gawker? The decisions I make about that...
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The Snowden Effect: definition and examples
It’s about what he set in motion by taking the action he did. The Snowden effect, a definition: Direct and indirect gains in public knowledge from the cascade of events and further reporting that...
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Criticizing CNN: Goodbye to that.
I used to say: I criticize because I care. But I no longer do. CNN’s transition is now complete. The entire channel is basically a version of the Nancy Grace show. — Dan Gillmor (@dangillmor) July 8,...
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The rise of the personal franchise site in news
“This is in many ways how major media has domesticated blogging.” Yesterday the buzz in newsland was all about Nate Silver’s decision to move his FiveThirtyEight.com franchise from the New York Times...
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The Toobin principle
Repeal the concept of an informed public, repress your decision to take such a drastic step. But it’s not just Jeffrey Toobin. Congress did it too. Last week on his CNN program Piers Morgan had just...
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Edward Snowden, meet Jeff Bezos
What we do know about Snowden is something we don’t know about the new owner of the Washington Post: whether he can go up against the most powerful and secretive forces on the planet… and win. In...
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When you’re in a Fourth Estate situation
As things stand today, the Fourth Estate is a state of mind. Some in the press have it, some do not. Some who have it are part of the institutional press. Some, like Ladar Levison and Edward Snowden,...
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Conspiracy to commit journalism
“If sunlight coalitions are to succeed, they won’t succeed by outwitting surveillance. Not better technology, but greater legitimacy is their edge.” The mood toughened just over a month ago, when I...
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To make journalism harder, slower, less secure
That’s what the surveillance state is trying to do. It has the means, the will and the latitude to go after journalism the way it went after terrorism. Only a more activist press, working together,...
View ArticlePressThink is ten years old. To celebrate I’m asking its readers to de-lurk....
Your turn: so who are you and what do you do and what interests you enough to show up here occasionally and read these posts? Tell us. It was ten years ago this week that I was writing test posts and...
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The production of innocence and the reporting of American politics
“What those involved in it fail to acknowledge is their own investment in a permanent and unyielding image of political symmetry. But I think the high point has passed for this kind of reporting.” For...
View ArticleThe BBC’s 16 questions to Glenn Greenwald
Hey, that was a tough interview! No, not really. This week Glenn Greenwald was interviewed on the BBC for the first time since the revelations from Edward Snowden began to flow. The program on which he...
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Why Pierre Omidyar decided to join forces with Glenn Greenwald for a new...
Yesterday word leaked out that Glenn Greenwald would be leaving the Guardian to help create some new thing backed by Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay. I just got off the phone with Omidyar. So I can...
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Old testament and new testament journalism
“Each form can spur the other, keep it honest.” This is the sketch I am going to present in a few hours to the Public Knowledge Forum at the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia. Because it is only...
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Will CBS News apologize for the reckless denials before its Benghazi story...
It happened in 2004 with the Air National Guard story that ended Dan Rather’s career. There too the network refused to concede that there were genuine problems with the story until it was forced to by...
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Out of the press box and onto the field
I have a personal announcement. I am joining up with the new venture in news that Pierre Omidyar, Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras and Jeremy Scahill are creating, along with Liliana Segura, Dan...
View ArticleA First Look at NewCo’s structure
Today Pierre Omidyar announced some details about how his new venture in news will be organized. My summary and explanation… First, the official release: PIERRE OMIDYAR PROVIDES INITIAL FUNDING OF $50M...
View ArticleThree things I learned from the Snowden files
Before the year ends, I wanted to capture a few points that stand out for me about what is unquestionably the biggest news story of 2013. The document shows for the first time that under the Obama...
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Bill Gannon joins First Look Media: My Q & A with him about intelligent...
Today Pierre Omidyar announced a key hire: recently Bill was editor of Entertainment Weekly, before that boss of the Yahoo home page. This is from the official press release: I’m pleased to announce...
View ArticleSlow Live Blogging: Ezra Klein Leaves the Post Bill and Simmons Apologizes in...
Instead of composing myself into an essay first, notes and comment throughout the day. Check back or I will alert you on Twitter. 2:00 pm. Today in between appointments and tonight when I get back to...
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