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Essays and Articles
Five Political News Sites
Rachel Boynton
Rachel Boynton is the director of the documentary Our Brand is Crisis, her first feature and the winner of the 2005 IDA award for Feature Documentary. Previously she worked as an Associate Producer on several feature-length documentaries, including Well-Founded Fear, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and aired nationally on PBS's P.O.V., and the PBS series People Like Us: Social Class in America. She also produced for ARD, a German television station. She received an M.S. in journalism from Columbia University, Graduate School of Journalism, a B.A. in International Relations from Brown University and a Certificate of Political Studies from L'Institut d'Études Politiques (Sciences Po) in Paris, France. She is based in New York City.
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Al Jazeera
When it comes to politics, I believe it's vital to try to understand perspectives other than your own. Al Jazeera's website in English is essential viewing for anyone interested in understanding the situation in the Middle East from an Arab perspective.
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Open Secrets
There's nothing like cold, hard facts to inform a political position. Open Secrets is Sponsored by the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan research group that tracks money in politics and its effect on elections and public policy. Go here to find out exactly which organizations are financing your candidate.
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Democracy Now!
Democracy Now! is a national, daily, independentradio program hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez. Go to their website to listen to engaging coverage of politics on the home front and elsewhere. (You can also read the transcripts.) Thought-provoking and thorough.
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The International Crisis Group
The International Crisis Group is a non-governmental organization, dedicated to preventing and resolving deadly conflict around the world. Their reports are based on field research in countries where violent conflict is all too common. Go here for fascinating analysis of Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan – you name the conflict, ICG will lay out the facts and explain them.
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Global Voices
Run by Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard, Global Voices promotes citizen journalism around the world, aiming "to aggregate, curate, and amplify the global conversation online — shining light on places and people other media often ignore." The site features blogs about a variety of topics from developing countries worldwide. Go here to see politics from a new perspective.
