Category: News and Opinion

Mental hazards of reporting not just a danger for war correspondents

After covering shootings several days in a row, Chicago freelancer Evan Moore had to report from a press conference that featured mothers of gun violence victims. It was almost Memorial Day in 2016, and the mothers, now anti-violence advocates, were urging people to stop the violence ahead of what historically has been a very violent…

Rodney Davis volunteer poses as student journalist in opponent’s press conference

A top Republican campaign operative supporting Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Ill., posed as a reporter for a college newspaper during a press conference earlier this month in an attempt to embarrass Davis’ Democratic opponent. Miranda Lintzenich, the editor-in-chief at The Alestle – SIU Edwardsville’s student newspaper, said she was concerned when she learned the Davis volunteer…

News Analysis: Health care podcast helps listeners navigate complex medical system

With discourse around health care becoming increasingly polarized, Dan Weissmann’s podcast, An Arm and a Leg, offers an insight and understanding into the complex system. But more than that, it serves as a guide for how to create narrative news podcasts.   Weissmann is both a traditional print reporter as well as a radio reporter. He…

Southern Illinois paper breaks story in print about state cancelling Confederate Railroad band. It still goes viral.

Just days before the 4th of July holiday, the DuQuoin Weekly in Southern Illinois got a tip that the country music band, Confederate Railroad, would no longer be playing at the DuQuoin State Fair in August.  At first it appeared like a typical scheduling conflict, which wouldn’t have been much of a story. But earlier…