Uh oh. Rick Tulsky just posted this note on his personal page: Sad but true: Absent a miraculous influx of funding, Medill Watchdog is closing its doors in the coming weeks. I like to think we are going out with a bang, not a whimper: Our work with WGN-TV on a judges abuse of contempt powers, sending a series of people to jail for their pants being too low; and our series with The Tribune, examining nationwide the potential dangers awaiting vulnerable youth in residential treatment centers. Both projects were successful because of the tremendous dedication and diligence by a fine group of hard-working interns, all of whom I believe have tremendously bright futures -- and have now appreciated the power and responsibility of careful, accurate, reporting identifying patterns of systemic abuses. And even if it is over, I expect well spend our last weeks trying to do more of this kind of work. I consider it lucky that Ive had the chance to both do this work, and to show that this model, of mentoring dedicated young reporters to expose institutional malfeasance and misfeasance, can work and keep public interest journalism healthy.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 21:52:21 +0000