Remembering a great journalist, investigator, teacher, mentor and friend When I woke up the day after William A. Recktenwald died this week, the first thing I heard in my head was his gravelly voice asking, “How are you doing my friend?” It was a greeting I had heard from “Reck” dozens of times over the past 15 years at the SIUC School of Journalism where we were … [Read more...] about Remembering William ‘Reck’ Recktenwald
‘Front Page’ to Ferguson: A memoir of half a century of St. Louis journalism
As a rookie reporter at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch five decades ago, I sat directly in front of Ted Link, a Post-Dispatch legend. Link never said a word to me. I never said a word to Link. But I looked up to him as one of those crusty veterans who had made the Post-Dispatch great. One thing about Link unnerved me. Each morning, he walked to his desk, opened the … [Read more...] about ‘Front Page’ to Ferguson: A memoir of half a century of St. Louis journalism
Jan. 6 insurrection raised misunderstood 1A issues about censorship and incitement
The Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol raised a host of questions about free expression where the law of the First Amendment is widely misunderstood. Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, who went to Stanford, graduated from Yale Law School and clerked for Chief Justice John Roberts, claimed Simon & Schuster assaulted the First Amendment by canceling his book contract because … [Read more...] about Jan. 6 insurrection raised misunderstood 1A issues about censorship and incitement
Trump’s War on Truth: Year 4. The final act?
The 2020 election and Trump presidency are stress tests for American democracy and its first principles of freedom, equality and democratic elections. In our democracy, an enlightened citizenry, informed by a free press, renders its judgment and a losing incumbent peacefully transfers power to a new president. The transfer of power has happened so many times we take … [Read more...] about Trump’s War on Truth: Year 4. The final act?
Clarence Thomas ‘documentary’ was no documentary
Clarence Thomas is not evil as many of his critics say nor the hero his backers worship. He’s not the legal incompetent his detractors ridicule. Nor is he the legal visionary many conservatives describe. He’s not the Uncle Tom of racist caricatures drawn by some liberal cartoonists. But his vision of equality couldn’t be more at odds with that of the first black justice … [Read more...] about Clarence Thomas ‘documentary’ was no documentary