My sister attends classes at a small Catholic school just twenty miles outside of Pittsburgh. The area is mostly white, suburban and situated in what pundits affectionately call the heartland. This time of year, towns like hers appear on television only as placard-filled auditoriums; ubiquitous…

When Gary Webb was coming up, news reporting was a noble virtue. There was a lot to get excited about-black power, queer and women's rights, state marijuana decriminalization measures, and most importantly, a war that nobody wanted. During this journalistic golden age of the '60s and early…