Hopefully everyone had a chance to read what Jeremy Scahill calls the saddest and most moving story he’s ever written: his interview with Mohammed Kinani, father of the youngest victim of the Blackwater mass shooting in Baghdad’s Nisour Square in 2007. Here is a powerful slideshow from the interview, with images of Kinani’s beloved son Ali. We’ll have video of the interview up this week, and will continue tofollow Kinani’s struggle for justice. To date, Blackwater remains unaccountable for their actions in 2007.

A few things from our orbit this week:

A new video and a major forum on the future of journalism …

The hype this week over the "I-Pad" prompted another round of media soul searching. We spoke last year with a group of journalism students at the annual CampusProgress/The Nation Student Journalism conference fortheir take on where the media is heading. In this video – the latest in our "Journalism in Ten" video series, college journalists give their take on where investigative reporting is going, and how J-Schools are responding:

The future of journalism is also the subject of a big event Wednesday night at New York City’s Ethical Culture Society. John Nichols and Robert McChesney, authors of the new book "The Death and Life of American Journalism" (Nation Books) will be part of a conversation with media experts David Carr of The New York Times and Pamela Newkirk of New York University, moderated by GRIT TV’s Laura Flanders. Everyone agrees that a free society requires a free press. But a free press without the resources to compensate those who gather information, is, Nichols and McChesney argue, like a seed without water. So how do we save journalism? Join us at 7PM (doors open at 6) at 2 West 64th Street on Wednesday. More information is here. If you’re not in New York, we’ll have audio and video up soon.

The Breakdown with Chris Hayes …

A spending freeze! What is the President thinking? In this week’s episode of "The Breakdown," our Washington, D.C. Editor Chris Hayes explains what a freeze is, what it would (and wouldn’t) accomplish, and what it means politically. You can listen here:

 Also, you can now subscribe to The Breakdown and other Nation podcasts in Itunes! Search for "The Breakdown" in the Itunes store or click here.

An Award Nomination for A.C. Thompson and The Nation …

Pro Publica reporter A.C. Thompson was named a finalist this week for a prestigious Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting, from Harvard University’s Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy. The Goldsmith honors the best in investigative journalism; they recognized Thompson for his outstanding investigation into police brutality in New Orleans and post-Hurricane Katrina vigilantism. Thompson’s investigation, the cover story of the January 5, 2009 issue of The Nation, has made an impact, sparking two grand jury investigations and leading to a wholesale investigation into brutality in the NOPD.

The award nomination is notable not just for Thompson’s fine work, but because it recognizes the collaborative efforts of The Nation, The Investigative Fund at Nation Institute, Pro Publica, The New Orleans Times-Picayune and PBS’s Frontline. Thompson’s reporting began in The Nation but has been carried forward by a number of committed media outlets. As we look to new models for supporting investigative journalism, this team effort to win accountability and justice in New Orleans is commendable.

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Thanks for reading. As always you can follow me on Twitter, I’m @KatrinaNation. Check back throughout the week at TheNation.com – thisweek’s print edition features a major contribution from Lawrence Lessigabout the state of our democracy. It will be posted Wednesday or Thursday.