Magic Grantees Alyson Martin and Nushin Rashidian are featured on the NiemanReports website with a piece entitled “Why Cannabis Coverage Needs to be a Serious Beat.” During their time with Brown, Martin and Rashidian created Cannabis Wire, a single-subject news site that “provides smart coverage of the global cannabis industry through original, in-depth nonpartisan reporting and analysis.” Their article for Nieman presents the complexity of reporting on the medical, legal and economic dimensions of cannabis. They write:
“At a time when roughly 200 million Americans live in a state with some form of legalized cannabis, the need for in-depth reporting about the drug is urgent. Patients, doctors, researchers, regulators, recreational consumers, and industry members are arguing over whether to focus on the plant’s pharmaceutical potential or to treat cannabis like alcohol… Many journalists find themselves in new or unfamiliar roles, sometimes taking positions, sometimes becoming part of the story.”