Welcome to the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications

Professor Mark Obbie

November 19, 2007

by Jim Baxter

Nobody could have been more surprised than Associate Professor Mark Obbie when ABC News called to get his opinion about Dan Rather's lawsuit against CBS.

The thought that ran through his head, he remembers, was "Why do you think I'm an expert?"

The answer is his growing reputation for an excellent blog about legal journalism called LawBeat. Law Beat has been selected as a top blog by the American Bar Association (ABA) Journal for the publication's inaugural "Blawg 100." The list encompasses the 100 best websites by lawyers, for lawyers, as chosen by ABA Journal editors. LawBeat was ranked seventh under the "Generally Speaking" category.

On LawBeat, Obbie finds endless examples of shortcomings in the mainstream media's coverage of high-profile court cases and other legal topics. The blog watches the journalists who watch the law and is intended to start a conversation about the quality of journalism focused on the justice system, lawyers and the law.

Obbie, who teaches magazine editing, news reporting and writing, also directs the Carnegie Legal Reporting Program at Newhouse. Funded by a grant from the Carnegie Journalism Initiative, this two-year-old program offers training for students who want to specialize in legal reporting.

"When I started the legal reporting program, I wanted to do something that would bring the news to students," Obbie says. "And I also wanted a way to publicize the program, to let the world know that we were active in this field.

"I had a marketing website up but I wanted substance. I didn't want a static brochure website for this program. I wanted to do journalism or journalism commentary, and so the blog was central to my idea in the beginning."

Obbie reasoned that a blog would be a good way to talk about good and bad legal journalism, and to interest students in articles that they might not otherwise see. He made it a goal to write every day, and he's met - and even exceeded - that goal.

Professor Melissa Chessher, director of the Magazine, Newspaper and Online program at Newhouse, remembers Obbie's dedication to his blog even on the busy day when Newhouse III officially opened.

"I was standing by him on the hill when Justice Roberts spoke at the dedication," she says, "and he was furiously taking notes and working out his thoughts about what the chief justice said so that he could dash off and be the first to blog about it. And he was. Seriously, I wonder if the man sleeps."

Obbie does appear to be a man with boundless energy. In addition to directing the Carnegie program and writing LawBeat, he's formed a solid alliance with SU's Law School and Maxwell School to create a separate but related program called The Institute for the Study of the Judiciary, Politics, and the Media at Syracuse University.

"Most importantly," Obbie adds, "I've had approximately 25 students in a new course and I've talked to several more who plan to take future versions of the course."

That course, "News Perspectives on Crime, Courts and Justice" will be joined in the Spring by a 500-level course for graduate students, juniors and seniors called Law, Politics and Media.

Obbie came to Newhouse from American Lawyer magazine, where he was executive editor. He also has managed the Internet operations for a network of legal magazines and newspapers, and was editor and publisher of the Dallas-based weekly newspaper Texas Lawyer.

In a relatively short time at Newhouse, Obbie has proven himself to be a distinguished and popular teacher.

"Students routinely come to me to share that he is one of the toughest teachers they have and also one of their favorites - that's a delicate balance," Cheshire says. "They like him for three reasons - he creates a lively classroom, he teaches them a lot, and he is incredibly generous with his time."

Obbie's blog, like his teaching, combine the two things he loves most: journalism and the law. His commentary is often quoted in the blog Jim Romenesko writes for the Poynter Institute and the legal blog Howard Bashman writes called How Appealing. These are his favorites.

"Whether it's getting called for a comment or simply getting linked to by other news organizations or blogs," Obbie says, "I feel like I'm making an impact on part of the world that I care about."