journalism

LibertyWeek 96: Donut Day Disobedience

by Richard Morrison on June 8, 2010

in CEI Projects, Features, Podcast, Zeitgeist

Richard Morrison and Marc Scribner welcome Chris Horner, Sam Kazman, and Ryan Radia to Episode 96 of the LibertyWeek podcast. We cover Chicago’s dishonorable gun restrictions, a special interview with bestselling author Christopher C. Horner, civil disobedience on National Donut Day, a shout out to CEI’s annual dinner gala and the FTC’s proposed “Drudge Report Tax”.

Calling All Liberty-Loving Writers

by Richard Morrison on May 18, 2009

in CEI Projects, Coalitions & Outreach, Culture, International, Zeitgeist

Our good friend and CEI alumna Kendra Okonski is looking for writers and journalists to enter the distinguished and lucrative Bastiat Prize Competition, presented by the International Policy Network. The competition is designed for writers whose published works promote the institutions of a free society. This year, the Prize has been expanded and  includes a new category for online journalism (including blogs and self-published articles). The first place winner will take home $10,000 and a lovely crystal candlestick.

Past winner have included Bloomberg columnist Amity Shlaes, ABC News co-anchor John Stossel, syndicated columnist Deroy Murdock and Atlantic Monthly editor Clive Crook. Visit the IPN website to read the rules and access the entry form.

Sullivan: Blogs Are “More Alive”

by Richard Morrison on October 22, 2008 · 5 comments

in Culture

Veteran journalist and editor Andrew Sullivan pens a love letter to the his favorite literary format, the blog:

No columnist or reporter or novelist will have his minute shifts or constant small contradictions exposed as mercilessly as a blogger’s are. A columnist can ignore or duck a subject less noticeably than a blogger committing thoughts to pixels several times a day. A reporter can wait—must wait—until every source has confirmed. A novelist can spend months or years before committing words to the world. For bloggers, the deadline is always now. Blogging is therefore to writing what extreme sports are to athletics: more free-form, more accident-prone, less formal, more alive. It is, in many ways, writing out loud.

Sullivan acknowledges many of the pitfalls of writing without the kind of prior editorial review that accompanies more traditional outlets, but emphasizes that, for him, the advantages of spontaneity outweigh such hazards. As he puts it, his first experience with unrestricted self-publishing was “intoxicatingly free…like taking a narcotic.” I can’t say I’ve ever felt quite the same while blogging, but perhaps that just reflects my lack of narcotic-taking experiences to compare it to.

Thanks to Megan for the link.