Adam H. Johnson
Host, The Appeal podcast. Media analyst at FAIR.org and host of the Citations Needed podcast.
The Appeal Podcast: Documenting the Death Penalty
With Jordan Smith and Liliana Segura of The Intercept.
Adam H. Johnson Feb 13, 2020
A Lack Of Evidence Doesn’t Keep The New York Times From Declaring a ‘Spike In Crime’
In two articles, the Times asserts a ‘spike’ in crime since the passage of bail reform in New York, an increase that the articles themselves note they can’t prove.
Adam H. Johnson Feb 10, 2020
The Appeal Podcast: Police Abuse In American Schools
With journalist Roxanna Asgarian.
Adam H. Johnson Feb 06, 2020
Singling Out Crime ‘Suspects’ As Homeless Is A Media Double Standard That Unjustly Penalizes The Poor
Leading with housing status for homeless people is a common trope in the news reporting business and one in urgent need of re-examining.
Adam H. Johnson Jan 31, 2020
Police and Sheriff’s Departments Join Media Campaign Against Bail Reform In New York State
A wave of sensationalist press is not just coming from New York City, but also from county sheriff and city police departments frustrated by bail reform that they claim is ‘too broad.’
Adam H. Johnson Jan 27, 2020
The Appeal Podcast: Re-examining the Science of Shaken Baby Syndrome
With Appeal staff reporter Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg.
Adam H. Johnson Jan 23, 2020
‘Weird News,’ ‘Dumb Criminals’ and the Media’s Monetization of Human Misery
There’s a cynical local-to-national news pipeline designed to mock the powerless under the guise of “odd” news stories.
Adam H. Johnson Jan 16, 2020
The Appeal Podcast: Substandard Healthcare in American Prisons
With Taylor Elizabeth Eldridge, a Type Investigations Ida B. Wells Fellow and Appeal contributor.
The Media’s Misguided Backlash Against Criminal Justice Reforms in D.C. and New York
Many liberals support reform in theory. But when unpopular decisions need to be made, it’s back to the 1990s “Tough on Crime” playbook.
Adam H. Johnson Jan 09, 2020
Misplaced Outrage Over Kentucky Governor’s Pardons Harms Criminal Justice Reform
Sensational headlines may score short-term partisan points, but long term they contribute to a toxic culture of Willie Hortonism.
Adam H. Johnson Dec 20, 2019
The Appeal Podcast: The Regressive Pseudoscience of Our ‘War on Opioid Addiction’
With Appeal contributor Zachary Siegel, a journalism fellow at Northeastern University Law School’s Health in Justice Action Lab, and Lev Facher of STAT News.
Adam H. Johnson Dec 12, 2019
The Appeal Podcast: The Cruel Roadblocks to Getting Innocent People Out of Prison
With Daniel Harawa, assistant professor at Washington University in St. Louis School of Law.
Adam H. Johnson Dec 05, 2019
The Appeal Podcast: Imagining A Post-Incarceration World
With Danielle Sered of Common Justice
Adam H. Johnson Nov 21, 2019
The Appeal Podcast: States Turn To Nitrogen Gas For Executions, Despite Serious Concerns
With Appeal staff reporter Lauren Gill
Adam H. Johnson Nov 14, 2019
Uncritical Reporting on a Biased Baltimore Spy Plane Poll
A close examination of a poll backed by a business group reveals loaded questions, undisclosed conflicts of interest, and the shortchanging of very real privacy concerns.
Adam H. Johnson Nov 07, 2019
The Appeal Podcast: When Criminal Justice Reform Preserves The Status Quo
With Civil Rights Corps founder Alec Karakatsanis
The Appeal Podcast: When Police Officers Double as Prosecutors
With Appeal contributors Julia Rock and Harry August
Adam H. Johnson Oct 31, 2019
The Appeal Podcast: A Lack of Basic Rights for Incarcerated Workers
With journalist Sessi Kuwabara Blanchard
Adam H. Johnson Oct 24, 2019
Exploiting New York City’s Chinatown Killings to Attack Bail Reform
The New York Post used a tragedy to target bail reform activists, rather than point to the challenges of a failed mental health system and poverty.
Adam H. Johnson Oct 21, 2019
A One-Sided Report on North Carolina Gun Violence
The Charlotte Observer built a narrative on gun crime that relies almost exclusively on police and prosecutors, ignores the violence of incarceration, and offers zero non-carceral solutions.
Adam H. Johnson Oct 11, 2019
U.S. Prisoners on Death Row Endure Permanent Solitary Confinement Before Execution
With Appeal staff reporter Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
Adam H. Johnson Oct 03, 2019
Helping ICE Stir Up Anti-Immigrant Fervor in Maryland
WJLA’s Kevin Lewis selectively reports on immigrants arrested for sex crimes to paint a misleading picture of violence in Montgomery County.
Adam H. Johnson Oct 01, 2019
The Appeal Podcast: The War on Drugs Continues In Family Court
With Miriam Mack and Elizabeth Tuttle Newman of The Bronx Defenders
Adam H. Johnson Sep 26, 2019
The Appeal Podcast: Chesa Boudin And The Meaning of ‘Reform’
With Chesa Boudin, candidate for San Francisco district attorney
Adam H. Johnson Sep 19, 2019
How Local Media Should Report on Safe Injection Sites
In a rare case of local media nuance, a Boston TV news station provided a humane and health-focused segment on safe drug use.
Adam H. Johnson Sep 17, 2019
Report Praises High School in Jail But Fails to Ask Why Kids Are Locked Up at All
A Pittsburgh public radio piece lacked critical reporting about the many problems with jailing children in adult facilities.
Adam H. Johnson Sep 13, 2019
The Appeal Podcast: The Rise of Registries
With Appeal contributor Guy Hamilton-Smith and Elizabeth Letourneau of the Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Adam H. Johnson Sep 12, 2019
Assuming Guilt While Reporting on Mass Arrests
Kansas City news outlets called scores of people ‘violent criminals’ based solely on the word of police and the federal government.
Adam H. Johnson Sep 03, 2019
Bail Isn’t Supposed to Be a Punishment. Why Does the Media Keep Acting Like it Is?
How high or low bond is isn’t a measure of how severe the state considers a crime.
Adam H. Johnson Aug 28, 2019
Painting a Distorted Picture of Crime ‘Spikes’ in New York City
Murder rates are at an all-time low in Brooklyn, but one would hardly know it reading the New York Times.
Adam H. Johnson Aug 16, 2019
Sensationalist Tale of an Elderly Killer Feeds False Narrative
The New York Times’s coverage of the one-off case of a 77-year-old man omits key facts about how older adults are treated by our punitive legal system.
Adam H. Johnson Aug 09, 2019
Stoking Hostility Toward Homeless People
Dozens of reports about an indigent man in Bradenton, Florida, showed the cruel excesses of local news’s homelessness coverage.
Adam H. Johnson Jul 31, 2019
Media Frame: 5 Common Tactics Used to Discredit Reform D.A.s
The backlash is underway against a recent wave of prosecutors who champion criminal justice reform. Here are some methods of attack.
Adam H. Johnson Jul 19, 2019
The Appeal Podcast: The Media’s Misguided Fentanyl Hype
With Appeal contributor Maia Szalavitz
Adam H. Johnson Jul 18, 2019
Media Frame: Chicago ‘Bean’ Graffiti Outrage Prioritizes Property Over People
Outlets ran over 200 articles covering the vandalism. The outsize attention will likely damage young lives.
Adam H. Johnson Jul 11, 2019
The Appeal Podcast: Pleading Guilty Just To Go Home
With Appeal reporter Josh Vaughn
Media Frame: A ‘War on Cops’ Narrative Without Evidence
ABC News claims anti-police violence is on the rise but offers no data.
Adam H. Johnson Jul 02, 2019
Media Frame: Time to Ban Ride-Along Police TV
Reality shows like ‘The First 48,’ ‘Live PD,’ and ‘Cops’ are interfering in legal cases, exploiting people of color, and threatening lives.
Adam H. Johnson Jun 24, 2019
The Appeal Podcast: Qualified Immunity, A Roadblock to Reform
With Appeal contributors Amir H. Ali and Emily Clark of the MacArthur Justice Center
Adam H. Johnson Jun 20, 2019
The Appeal Podcast: What’s Changed Since The 2018 Prison Strike?
With Jailhouse Lawyers Speak spokesperson and Right 2 Vote national coordinator Amani Sawari
Adam H. Johnson Jun 13, 2019
Media Frame: Stoking Panic Over ‘Flood’ of ‘Juveniles’ in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor
The sensationalist coverage of a handful of fights highlights local media’s misplaced priorities.
Adam H. Johnson Jun 07, 2019
The Appeal Podcast: American Cities’ Growing Reliance on Surveillance
With Appeal contributor Mike Hayes
Adam H. Johnson Jun 06, 2019
The Appeal Podcast: Criminal Justice Reform Hits Roadblock in Arizona
With Caroline Isaacs of the American Friends Service Committee
Adam H. Johnson May 30, 2019
The Appeal Podcast: Reframing The Bronx 120 Raid
With City University of New York law professor Babe Howell
Adam H. Johnson May 23, 2019
The Appeal Podcast: Generational Harm, A Hidden Cost of Mass Incarceration
With Chicago activist Celia Colón
Adam H. Johnson May 16, 2019
The Appeal Podcast: NYPD-SVU’s Low Clearance Rate for Sexual Assault
With Appeal contributor Meg O’Connor
Adam H. Johnson May 02, 2019
The Appeal Podcast: Policing Public Health
With Leo Beletsky, Appeal contributor and Associate Professor of Law and Health Sciences at Northeastern University.
Adam H. Johnson Apr 25, 2019
The Appeal Podcast: The Baltimore Police Department’s Troubled Homicide Unit
With Appeal contributor Amelia McDonell-Parry
Adam H. Johnson Apr 18, 2019
The Appeal Podcast: The Long, Troubled History of Gravity Knife Prosecution
With Appeal contributor Jon Campbell
Adam H. Johnson Apr 11, 2019
The Appeal Podcast: The Risks of Risk Assessment
With Hannah Sassaman and Matt Henry
Adam H. Johnson Apr 04, 2019
The Appeal Podcast: Pushing For Police Accountability in Sacramento
With Appeal senior staff reporter Aaron Morrison
Adam H. Johnson Mar 14, 2019
The Appeal Podcast: The Backlash Against Expanding Voting Rights
With Appeal staff reporter Kira Lerner
Adam H. Johnson Mar 07, 2019
The Appeal Podcast: Mayor of Jackson Faces Uphill Battle for Police Accountability
With Appeal contributor Ko Bragg
Adam H. Johnson Feb 28, 2019
The Appeal Podcast: Prisoners With Disabilities Fight for Equal Rights
With Appeal contributor Keri Blakinger
Adam H. Johnson Feb 21, 2019
The Appeal Podcast: How Police Unions Are Fighting California’s New Transparency Law
With Appeal contributor Darwin BondGraham
Adam H. Johnson Feb 14, 2019
The Appeal Podcast: A Pattern of Jail Deaths in Western New York—and Across the Country
With Appeal contributor Raina Lipsitz
Adam H. Johnson Feb 07, 2019
The Appeal Podcast: Debunking the Stories About Federal Prisoners Dining on Steak
With Craig Cesal and Amy Ralston Povah
Adam H. Johnson Jan 24, 2019
The Appeal Podcast: Brutality in Baton Rouge
With Appeal contributors Clarissa Sosin and Daryl Khan.
Adam H. Johnson Jan 17, 2019
The Appeal Podcast: The Power of Sheriffs
With Appeal contributor Jessica Pishko.
Adam H. Johnson Jan 10, 2019
The Appeal Podcast: How Local Governments are Pushing Back Against ICE
With Appeal senior reporter Debbie Nathan.
Adam H. Johnson Dec 13, 2018
The Appeal Podcast: Black Lives Matter and Racism in the Criminal System
With Angela J. Davis, Appeal contributor and professor of law at American University's Washington College of Law.
Adam H. Johnson Dec 06, 2018
The Appeal Podcast: The Pseudoscience behind Forensic Science
With Jessica Brand, Legal Director at The Justice Collaborative and Appeal contributor.
Adam H. Johnson Nov 29, 2018
The Appeal Podcast: Real Reform vs. Faux Reform
With Appeal senior staff reporter, and co-host of the Justice in America podcast, Josie Duffy Rice.
Adam H. Johnson Nov 15, 2018
The Appeal Podcast: Criminalizing Trans Lives
With Appeal writer Aviva Stahl and trans rights activist Ceyenne Doroshow.
Adam H. Johnson Nov 08, 2018
The Appeal Podcast: Neglect and Abuse in Our Prison Healthcare System
With Mercedes Montagnes of the Promise of Justice Initiative.
Adam H. Johnson Nov 01, 2018
The Appeal Podcast: Prison Strikes Are the Front Line Against Mass Incarceration
With Appeal staff reporter Raven Rakia.
Adam H. Johnson Oct 25, 2018
The Appeal Podcast: How Activists Brought Down the Most Powerful Man in Chicago
With writer Kelly Hayes.
Adam H. Johnson Oct 11, 2018
The Appeal Podcast: The Cruelty of Felony Murder Laws
With Appeal contributor Katie Rose Quandt.
Adam H. Johnson Oct 04, 2018
The Appeal Podcast: Why Police Accountability is as Elusive as Ever
With Appeal staff reporter George Joseph.
Adam H. Johnson Sep 27, 2018
The Appeal Podcast: On the Ground in Dallas’s High Stakes D.A. Race
With Dominique Walker of the ACLU, Reverend Edwin Robinson of Faith in Texas, and Joe Estelle of Texas Organizing Project.
Adam H. Johnson Sep 20, 2018
The Appeal Podcast Episode 14: The Prison-to-School Pipeline
With activist and scholar Danny Murillo.
Adam H. Johnson Sep 13, 2018
The Appeal Podcast: Against Innocence
With Appeal contributor Zoé Samudzi.
Adam H. Johnson Sep 06, 2018
The Appeal Podcast Episode 12: When Electronic Cages Replace Steel and Cement
With journalist Kira Lerner.
Adam H. Johnson Aug 16, 2018
The Appeal Podcast Episode 11: Prosecutors Team Up With Walmart to Crack Down on Petty Crime
With journalist Jessica Pishko.
Adam H. Johnson Aug 09, 2018
The Appeal Podcast Episode 10: Racism and Corruption in Child Protection Courts
With journalist Roxanna Asgarian.
Adam H. Johnson Aug 02, 2018
The Appeal Podcast Episode 9: The History––and Promise––of the Bail Abolition Movement
With journalist Bryce Covert.
Adam H. Johnson Jul 26, 2018
The Appeal Podcast Episode 8: The Racist Zeal of ‘Zero Tolerance’ and Trump’s Anti-Immigrant Escalation
With Appeal reporter Max Rivlin-Nadler.
Adam H. Johnson Jul 19, 2018
The Appeal Podcast Episode 7: What Abolitionists Mean When They Talk About Abolition
With William C. Anderson, journalist and co-author of As Black As Resistance.
Adam H. Johnson Jul 12, 2018
The Appeal Podcast Episode 6: The Unique Cruelty of Sentencing Children to Life Without Parole
With journalist Victoria Law.
Adam H. Johnson Jun 28, 2018
The Appeal Podcast Episode 5: How Silicon Valley Supports LAPD Surveillance
With Appeal staff reporter George Joseph.
Adam H. Johnson Jun 21, 2018
The Appeal Podcast Episode 4: How Prison Reform Was Co-Opted to Sell More Prisons
With journalists Raven Rakia and Ashoka Jegroo.
Adam H. Johnson Jun 15, 2018
The Appeal Podcast Episode 3: Turning Users Into Dealers and Overdoses into Murders
Guest Zachary A. Siegel is a journalist covering the opioid crisis.
Adam H. Johnson Jun 07, 2018
Announcing The Appeal Podcast
Our debut episodes feature Josie Duffy Rice on prosecutors and Melissa Gira Grant on criminalizing sex work.
Adam H. Johnson May 31, 2018
The Appeal Podcast Episode 2: The Misplaced Sanctimony of Criminalizing Sex Work
With Melissa Gira Grant, senior staff reporter at The Appeal.
The Appeal Podcast Episode 1: District Attorneys Are The Most Powerful People You’ve Never Heard Of
With Josie Duffy Rice, senior staff reporter at The Appeal.