New writer for CJR's The Audit

Dean Starkman, a former Wall Street Journal reporter, will take over writing the Columbia Journalism Review’s online blog called The Audit that critiques business journalism, according to a press release posted on the Romenesko site.

The Audit has itself been criticized in the past for missing the mark on certain issues. I’ve criticized it for not having enough on it. Starkman’s post today was only the second on the blog in the past month.

Starkman covered real estate, white collar crime and the paper industry for the Journal. He also worked for the Providence Journal, where he was on a team that won a Pulitzer Prize. He also worked for the Anniston Star.

The release stated, “At CJR, Starkman will be the first Kingsford Capital Fellow, courtesy of a grant from Kingsford Capital Management LLC, an investment firm in Point Richmond, California.

“The Audit is made possible by Herbert Winokur, Jr., a business executive turned investment manager, and by other individuals who share a concern about the quality of business reporting.

“Our sharper focus on business journalism is part of a renewal project here at Columbia Journalism Review. We’re proud to be a finalist this year, for the first time, for a National Magazine Award. We redesigned the print magazine in March, and later this spring we will launch a new and redesigned Web site.”

Read more here.