He has the loudest political voice in the St. Louis area, and arguably the most influential. His web site garners tens of millions of visits every month from all over the country – five to 10 times what stltoday.com attracts. His opinions — on the greatness of Donald Trump, the voting machine shenanigans that robbed…
Every year since I became a journalism professor, I’m asked to do this strange academic ritual called an “annual report.” In that report, I’m required to document every course I teach, every article I’ve written, every meeting of substance, every project. It’s a basic accounting of my time that the college can then use to…
From new chat sites, to Facebook knock-offs, to print and radio, right-wing organizers are finding new ways to spread their message after being banned from social media following the failed Jan. 6 insurrection against the US government. Common messages in the media are that Donald Trump supporters weren’t responsible for the insurrection and that the…
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s decision to grant one-on-one interviews to journalists of color conjures my own thoughts about the unbearable whiteness of Chicago news media. Her decision reminded me of spring 2019 when I hurriedly left a Manhattan classroom to board a plane to Chicago for the highly anticipated Chicago Headline Club annual Lisagor awards.…
Halfway through her first term, Chicago’s Black mayor told reporters that she would give preference to Black and brown journalists doing two-year anniversary pieces, declining interviews with some white political reporters in the city. The blowback to the policy was immediate for the first-time mayor, although criticism came predominantly from white reporters and the white…