Jeff Horwitz, writing in the latest Columbia Journalism Review, examines the way The New York Times and CBS covered the mortgage lending practices of Golden West Financial Corporation in the years just before it was purchased by Wachovia. This is an important story to get right in all the details, in part because Mr. and Mrs. Sandler, who led Golden West for more than 40 years, have a foundation that is the principal financial backer of the investigative journalism web site ProPublica and other liberal causes.

CJR: The Education of Herb And Marion Sandler