Channeling Violence: The Economic Market for Violent Television Programming

Hamilton approaches television violence in the same way that other economists approach the problem of pollution: that is, as an example of market failure. He argues that television violence, like pollution, generates negative externalities, defined as costs borne by others than those involved in the production activity. Broadcasters seeking to attract viewers may not fully bear the costs to society of their violent programming, if those costs include such factors as increased levels of aggression and crime in society. Hamilton goes on to say that the comparison to pollution remains relevant when considering how to deal with the problem. Approaches devised to control violent programming, such as restricting it to certain times and rating programs according to the violence they contain, have parallels in zoning and education policies designed to protect the environment.

Dirty Votes: The Race for Miami Mayor

Revealed corruption in Miami’s city administration, exposing the irregularities of the city’s electoral contest in 1998, such as buying votes and falsifying votes of deceased persons and of criminals.

Dan Rather

The Colonel: The Life and Legend of Robert R. McCormick, 1880-1955

Drawing on McCormick’s personal papers and years of research, Richard Norton Smith has written the definitive life of the towering figure known as The Colonel.

Abuse of Campaign Finance Laws

Duffy, Novak and Weisskopf labored at the nexus of big money and politics. This required them to pore for days at a time over cartons of Federal Election Commission and court documents, to wheedle information from reluctant sources a sentence at a time. Their persistence paid off in three dozen pathbreaking stories on campaign finance in 1997, many of which were picked up and credited by major newspapers and TV news shows.

Fear in the Fields – How Hazardous Wastes Become Fertilizer

A Seattle Times investigation found that, across the nation, industrial wastes laden with heavy metals and other dangerous materials are being used in fertilizers and spread over farmland. The process saves dirty industries the high costs of disposing of hazardous wastes.

Illegal Democratic Campaign Contributions

The team of reporters from the Los Angeles Times uncovered large contributions to the Democratic party by influential Asian donors. Subsequent to the reportage, the Democrats returned nearly $1.2 million in donations and sparked a nationwide debate on campaign finance reform.

Barbara Walters

Going Negative: How Political Advertisements Shrink and Polarize the Electorate

Drawing on both laboratory experiments and the real world of America’s presidential, gubernatorial, and congressional races, the authors show that negative advertising drives down voter turnout – in some cases dramatically – and that political consultants intentionally use ads for this very purpose.

Military Secrets and Prisoners on Payroll

Journalists Russel Carollo, Carol Hernandez, Cheryl Reed and Jeff Nesmith published a series of investigations, reporting on the lenient handling of sexual misconduct cases by the military justice system.