In light of the residency controversies in Hawaii in recent years, it’s probably worth taking a bit of time to read this week’s Illinois Supreme Court decision in the case of mayoral candidate Rahm Emanuel. It’s always good to go to the source.

Speaking of going to the source, I found myself yesterday afternoon working with Al Jazeera English open in a window on my laptop. It’s coverage of the protests in Egypt was excellent. I suppose that it encourages me to check out how they are reporting other issues closer to home.

You might also want to check out the FAIR blog, which has several recent entries concerning media coverage of the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.

Meanwhile, I just finished my annual reading of Tony Hillerman’s The Fly on the Wall
in honor of the new legislative session. It’s a little dated, with the main character using a teletype to send stories from the state capitol to the newsroom, but it does a very good job laying out a reporter’s investigation. It’s also interesting to see the casual attitude towards accessing public records, including public procurement files, which are just assumed to be accessible. Today, not so much.