By Richard Tofel/ProPublica

The news that BuzzFeed had deleted posts critical of advertisers got some of us at ProPublica wondering about instances when news organizations stood up to advertiser pressure. As it turns out, ProPublica president Richard Tofel wrote a whole chapter of a book about one of those cases: In 1954, the Wall Street Journal and its publisher, Barney Kilgore, confronted General Motors. The little-remembered incident helped establish the notion that news organizations could and should preserve their independence from advertisers.
Here is an adaptation from the book, Restless Genius: Barney Kilgore, The Wall Street Journal, and the Invention of Modern Journalism.

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Posted on May 5, 2015

By Roger Wallenstein

I live across the street from the North Shore Baptist Church, a venerable community institution that’s been around for more than a century. I’m pals with the pastor. I like having the church in the neighborhood – it’s called Lakewood-Balmoral – because it’s a stately, tasteful building that houses many social programs in addition to its religious mission.
Aside from Sunday morning, it also frees up a lot of on-street parking for the residents. North Shore Baptist is in the midst of some major renovations and improvements to its facility. And this is where the NFL draft, complete with the conditions it has imposed on our city, intersects with my neighborhood. Let me explain.

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Posted on May 1, 2015

By The Illinois Public Interest Research Group

Thicker wallets gave big donors an outsized voice in this year’s mayoral election, according to new analysis of campaign finance data by Illinois PIRG Education Fund.
Contributions greater than $1,000 accounted for 92% of the money contributed to the Emanuel and Garcia campaigns, while under 2% of the money contributed came from contributions of less than $150. A clear majority – 58% – of money contributed, came from donors living outside Chicago.

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Posted on May 1, 2015