Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

On Wednesday, I attended a panel discussion on the legacy of muckraking, self-publishing journalist I.F. Stone, on the 100th anniversary of his birth. (Image from I.F. Stone official site . Here's some Stone audio , part of an interview with biographer Myra McPherson.) The panel--two biographers, two former colleagues, plus an academic--summarized the lessons from Stone's career: Think for yourself. Get your facts right. Base opinion and analysis on reporting. Read original documents. Don't accept the spin from those in power. Don't be flattered by access to the powerful. The Voice's Tom Robbins summed it up : While all but forgotten today, Stone was an inspiration to radicals in the 1960s, and to such current muckrakers as Seymour Hersh. There was also some suggestion at the event... that Stone just might have been the first blogger, even though he died in 1989, long before thousands of erstwhile cyber-detectives took to their keyboards. There are clear similariti...