WASHINGTON INDEPENDENT (TWI) Washington Independent got a nod from The New York Times this week, when Times columnist Frank Rich referred to — and drove traffic to — John Dougherty’s article from last week about John McCain’s flagging popularity in his home state. That synergy continued with the TWI debut of James Risen, the Times’ [...]

On Sunday, our site in Minnesota — the Minnesota Monitor — was renamed the Minnesota Independent. The new site has an enhanced platform for audio and video, social-media tools for getting the word out and commenting that allows readers to have their say on that site as well as all the others in the Center [...]

Top news this week: Michigan Fellow Eartha Jane Melzer has won an honorable mention for excellence in political journalism in the National Press Club’s annual awards program for her 2007 investigation of the private security firm, Sovereign Deed. Her reporting is a case study of the positive impact investigative reporting can have on public debate. [...]