Jim Slusher
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Between Solomon and M*A*S*H*: Choosing sensitivity over drama at the water coolerJul 10, 2025 4:00 am - Columnist Jim Slusher: A newspaper editorial team debates whether to publish a photo of misbehaving kids on e-bikes, weighing newsworthiness against sensitivity.
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Celebrate freedom and attend to its cracks and fissuresJul 03, 2025 4:00 am - Columnist Jim Slusher: On Independence Day, contemplate freedoms like speech and press, which face new challenges in the internet era. Support local journalism to maintain an informed democracy.
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When ‘anything goes’ extends to a president’s public languageJun 26, 2025 4:00 am - It is, of course, far more consequential to consider issues surrounding President Trump’s authorization of dropping actual bombs on another country than to wring one’s ha...
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Two different pictures and a confusion of masksJun 12, 2025 4:00 am - Columnist Jim Slusher: I’ve seen two very different pictures of journalism and journalists last week. One that is prominent and almost everyone sees. One that is more isolated and rarely rises to the level of the public consciousness.
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The role of ‘Homes & Garden’ in a seasonal artistryJun 05, 2025 1:27 pm - Columnist Jim Slusher: As spring arrives, suburban gardens burst into color, transforming neighborhoods into art galleries, thanks to dedicated amateur gardeners inspired by sources like the Sunday Homes & Garden section.
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The unique lessons hiding within a familiar type of pictureMay 22, 2025 4:00 am - Columnist Jim Slusher: Graduation photos may seem repetitive, but each one captures a unique moment in time for an individual. The images reflect community value, the transition to adulthood and much more.
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Keeping the degrees of separation close to the new popeMay 15, 2025 4:00 am - Some statisticians claim that each of us is no more than six degrees of separation from any other person on the planet. With that as a rough measure, Chicagoans were che...
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The complicated, unproductive search for ‘the narrative’May 08, 2025 4:00 am - Columnist Jim Slusher: When I taught high school journalism back in the 1970s, it wasn’t hard to lean on famous quotes that attempt to summarize some formula for deciding what deserves to be reported and how. But the truth today - as in the past really - is that news judgment cannot be compacted into a single clever phrase.
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New rules on investigating reporters present a risky testMay 01, 2025 4:00 am - It remains to be seen whether a new U.S. Justice Department policy on journalists’ privacy rights will be a simple impediment to reporting sensitive stories about the gov...
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Taking our traffic conversations beyond simple complainingApr 24, 2025 4:00 am - Columnist Jim Slusher: Sick of traffic jams? Meet the woman who knows all the insider tricks to help you get around Chicagoland faster.