A Story About the Collapse of American Journalism, Part 9
Man, it was beautiful when it worked. Even when it was underfunded and imperfect, when it worked, it made our communities better.
A Story About the Collapse of American Journalism, Part 8
The Muckrakers demonstrated the inevitability of a free press by sticking a finger in the eye of power even before Sullivan protected it.
A Story About the Collapse of American Journalism, Part 7
Jefferson, Madison, the Resolutions, and the Long Road to NYT v Sullivan
A Story About the Collapse of American Journalism, Part 6
Wherein you can be charged with sedition for voicing a political opinion. Or just joking about John Adams’s copious ass.
A Story About the Collapse of American Journalism, Part 5
Wherein Congress gives an Executive power over immigration and freedom of expression before an important election.
A Story About the Collapse of American Journalism, Part 4
It’s 1787 and modern air conditioning won’t be invented for another 115 years, so August in Philadelphia is probably hot as shit.
A Story About the Collapse of American Journalism, Part 3
Andrew Hamilton was a Philadelphia lawyer with a severe case of gout, which is relevant only because that shit can make you ornery, and I think it did.
Dispatches From Muckraker Lab: June 8, 2026
You aren’t a victim of lawfare just because someone sues you.
A Story About the Collapse of American Journalism, Part 2
That’s right. There was no Constitution, no American Democracy, and George Washington still had his wooden baby teeth.
Dispatches from Muckraker Lab - June 1, 2026
There isn't much that is more antithetical to the notion of free speech than a person in authority using that authority to attempt to silence people who write unflattering things about them.
A Story About the Collapse of American Journalism, Part 1
Those are the things that hit at our souls, and they are the reasons we care about the things that hit at our wallets.
The Muckraker: An Opening Statement
I bet neither of us really planned to be here right now. In January 2001, I walked into a newsroom for the first time as a real, live newspaper reporter[^1]. In December 2005, I walked out of that same newsroom, headed to law school, having witnessed the collapse of