Monday, May 18, 2009
Who are You?
I write stuff about people all day, every day. I can distill legal arguments, even lives into a sentence or two. Why can't I do the same when it comes to writing about myself?So, I got a fellowship to go to the annual journalism fete in Tampa this year. As a part of the requirements, they want us to write a short biography -- anything from a sentence or two to a short paragraph -- about who we are and what we do.
I was hoping I'd sent them a bio last year that I could update and recycle. No such luck. I went trolling the Internet for old bios that I could recycle. They were all woefully out of date, or inappropriate to the point where it would take a lot of rewriting to make it applicable for the fellowship.
This sucks. And I feel sucky for not being able to just bang this out. Maybe if I imagine I'm not writing about myself:
T-Dot is a justice reporter for a major metropolitan daily in New England, specializing in courts and technology. She covers two suburban courthouses and the Town of Smithfield and has been with the paper for 4 years. She is a 2005 graduate of Hampton University {begin optional trim} where she studied print journalism and served as editor in chief of her school newspaper, The Hampton Script, for two years {end optional trim}.
Eh. Not bad. I'll figure something out I suppose.
Labels: convention, NABJ
continue...Friday, May 08, 2009
Wiki-user to Journalists: "PWN'D"
From the Agence France Presse:DUBLIN (AFP) - An Irish student's fake quote on the Wikipedia online encyclopaedia has been used in newspaper obituaries around the world, the Irish Times reported.Now.... I don't know about you, but I kinda got the whole "don't-trust-Wikipedia" meme when I was just a lowly student in journalism, oh so many years ago. I always thought everyone knew, "Don't use Wikipedia!"
The quote was attributed to French composer Maurice Jarre who died in March.
Shane Fitzgerald, 22, a final-year student studying sociology and economics at University College Dublin, told the newspaper he placed the quote on the website as an experiment when doing research on globalisation.
Guess not.
What's more troubling is how this reflects on our already shaky industry. "Not good" are two words that come to mind. This tech blog summed it up another way:
A key part of the argument for maintaining traditional journalism is that its trained reporters can perform research and investigations that the untrained masses can't, and the content they produce is run by editors and fact-checkers. The revelation that their research is often no more sophisticated than an average Web surfer's, and that the fact checking can be nonexistent, really doesn't help that argument much."Doesn't help that argument much"? Heck, it almost shoots it into the ground. Corrections be damned, we're supposed to get it right. And I can't help but wonder how an unchecked wiki quote could make it past the copy desk and into print. Was it a lowly intern obit writer who didn't know better? A seasoned obit writer who, regretfully, isn't as seasoned in technology? Or just another reporter who felt no need to stay at work late to check his facts?
Being that the quote showed up in more than one place, I suppose it's anyone's guess.
But I know one thing for sure -- thank God for Kee Malesky, the veteran NPR librarian who has no qualms about shouting from the top of the building...
Labels: deep doo-doo
continue...Thursday, May 07, 2009
Lamentations on the Future of our Business
A column from the WP's Dana Milbank about the Senate hearing on the future of Newspapers:And later:They came as if to their own funeral.
Reporters from Hearst, USA Today, McClatchy, the Dallas Morning News, The Washington Post, the Washington Times and the Boston Globe -- their employers in varying stages of decline or death -- took their places at the press table for a Senate subcommittee hearing yesterday titled "The Future of Journalism."
"I hope I get laid off," one of the reporters could be heard telling a Senate staffer, "so I can get the severance."
But it was (David) Simon, once a Baltimore Sun reporter, who struck the strongest blow for newspapers. Though scolding publishers for their "martyrology" and mismanagement, he spoke of how "aggregating Web sites and bloggers contribute little more than repetition, commentary and froth" and added: "The parasite is slowly killing the host."
Go read it.
So, I'm procrastinating on writing a story (that got held anyway) and I stumble across this column in the Boston Globe by Kevin Cullen.
As a journalist, I got pulled in by his lede (even if it is a rehash of what was drilled into us in j-school) because really, don't we all think our jobs are more noble than that of those we cover?
If you ask anybody why they got into this business and they say it was for the money, they are either certifiably insane or no longer in the business.
Few in journalism call it a business. We like to think we forfeited bigger paychecks to pursue something that is essential: speaking truth to power, comforting the afflicted, afflicting the comfortable.
I'm here in New England watching as the Globe struggles with wage cuts and other concessions in an effort to stay afloat. I have to say as a newspaper snob myself, I always thought the Times was better than this. I had this notion that if any paper would understand the value of journalists, it would be the Times. And they would do what it took to make sure they continued supporting great journalism. But as Cullen said, the Globe relationship with the Times wasn't a marriage, it was a business deal. And, really, I think we all knew that if it came down to the Times and anything else, the Times was going to take care of home first. Shoot, I was told by Times employees not to go to a Times regional paper expecting the same treatment as I would in New York. Only The New York Times is The New York Times. Cullen continues:
It would be easier to get worked up if there were shining examples of an enlightened newspaper company figuring all this out. The Times has made lots of mistakes. I wish they didn't build the Taj Mahal on Eighth Avenue. I wish they'd close the International Herald Tribune before they gut the Globe. And, at the very least, the bigshots at the Times should have climbed aboard the Acela and come up here to explain to us, and to you, their threat to close the Globe. When an essential element of your business is demanding transparency of others, it looks pretty shoddy when you expect none from yourself.
But hating The New York Times is like hating the Yankees: It might make you feel better, but it means nothing in the standings.
Labels: dismay, dying newsroom, fear, frustration, industry analysis, media ownership, the industry, union, Washington
continue...Wednesday, May 06, 2009
The Web's Got the Power!
The third and final installment of tips, tricks and sites to check out from the New England First Amendment Coalition's Freedom of Information/Investigative Journalism Seminar. Check out the first and second installments as well.Government Contracts: http://www.usaspending.gov/
- search by company, state, agency, product, or congressional district and export the data to a spreadsheet
- know these Web sites can be incomplete; cross check with press releases, news stories, agency Web sites and SEC filings
- Check out the S-1 reports from companies selling stock; the 10-Q quarterly filings; the 10-K annual report; the Def-14 proxy that is filed before a shareholder meeting and the 8K used for special reports and announcements
- Other sites to check out:
- www.10kwizard.com (subscription)
- www.secfilings.com (subscription)
- Finance.yahoo.com (Free and has other features for following companies)
- www.guidestar.com
- Foundationcenter.org
- Nccs.urban.org/database/index.cfm
- Philanthropy.com (Chronicle of Philanthropy –– offers a free subscription to journalists)
- File an annual report with the Labor Department called an LM-2
- Find them here: http://erds.dol-esa.gov/query/getOrgQry.do
For searching multiple sites at once:
- Zoominfo: http://www.zoominfo.com
- Pipl: http://www.pipl.com
- Icerocket: http://www.icerocket.com
- Domain Tools http://www.domaintools.com
- Allwhois http://www.allwhois.com
- The Wayback Machine: www.archive.org/index.php
- Cybercemetery: http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/default.htm
- GPO Access GAO reports: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/gaoreports/index.html
- FedStats: http://www.fedstats.gov/
- NationMaster http://www.nationmaster.com
- Excluded Parties List System (GAO) http://www.epls.gov/
- Federal contracts http://www.usaspending.gov
- National Sex Offender Public Registry: http://www.nsopr.gov
- Center for Responsive Politics: http://www.opensecrets.org/
- State financial disclosure at Center for Public Integrity: http://www.publicintegrity.org/StateDisclosure/
- Lobbying Disclosure Act Database http://soprweb.senate.gov/
- Congressional staff salaries/Congressional travel http://www.legistorm.com
- Congressional travel reports from the original source: http://soprweb.senate.gov/giftrule/
- Maplight (combines contributions and voting records): http://www.maplight.org
- Official government site for campaign finance data: www.fec.gov/disclosure.shmtl
Labels: FOIA, investigative journalism, seminars/workshops, Web sites
continue...Public Records Hiding in Plain Sight
Second installment of tips and info from the New England First Amendment Coalition Freedom of Information/Investigative Journalism seminar. Check out the other installment here.- Rule of Thumb: If the public pays for it, the records are public
- Know that federal agencies have more time (20 days) to provide information than state agencies (10 days)
- Ask if the information you’re looking for has been requested before –– you can FOIA a FOIA request
- If they deny your request, ask for it in writing and keep the denials, in case you need to appeal –– and to include them in your stories
- Know the appeal process for FOIA documents and use it (It can be found here: http://www.mrm.mms.gov/FOIA/appeal.htm)
- When sending FOIA letters, ask for access to information, not copies of it, in order to circumvent costs
- They should have digital copies of the info. If they don’t, there’s probably a story there
- Use the general law/charter/document that created the agency to find out what information they have to keep and who they have to report to. Use that info to request documents you know they have to keep.
- Records Retention Schedule dictates how long they have to keep documents. RI’s can be found here: http://www.sec.state.ri.us/Archives/pra/sched_dev/general_schedules/
- Also look for agency reports to other state or federal agencies; agency indexes of lawsuits, settlements or disciplinary decision
- Get copies of their policy and procedure books –– use their language in your requests
- Settlements are public if taxpayer money is being used to pay for it
- Use the Federal Audit Clearing House to search for federal audits (to know what to request) from agencies like the local housing authority or any agency that has to make a report to the federal government: http://harvester.census.gov/sac/
- Get Federal Criminal Justice Grant applications and awards for local courts, as well as performance reviews (for past grant rewards): http://www.ojp.gov/funding/solicitations.htm
- Talk to career civil servants rather than political appointees –– they’ll be more willing (sometimes) to give you information because they are proud of their work and unconcerned about politics.
- Programmers are your friends: if an agency says it will take X amount of hours to create a document, ask to speak to the programmer. You’ll usually find the search you’re looking for can be done in a few minutes.
- Unless the fee for FOIA requests is free, don’t pay for it. Know that you can also apply for a fee waiver.
- American Community Surveys are the best census data available for smaller communities. Otherwise, the best you’ll get is the older census data. Find the ACS here: http://www.census.gov/acs/www/
Labels: FOIA, investigative journalism, seminars/workshops, tips and tricks
continue...That information? It's free.
My paper sent me to the New England First Amendment Coalition's Freedom of Information/Investigative Journalism Seminar last week at the Boston Globe. The seminar was a full day chock full of tips, tricks and cool stories from seasoned journalists about how to get information from the government when they don't want to give it to you. I had to present what I learned to my team today at work, so I figured, "why not share the fruits of my labor with loyal Ten95 readers?"So here you are, readers. The first installment of my notes from the seminar. Enjoy!
Mark Benjamin (Salon.com)
Story about US soldiers in
- A “15-6” is Army speak for an informal investigation where an officer investigates him/herself.
- When asking for a copy of an Army investigation, you often get a summary, not the entire document.
Pulitzer finalist for report on mentally unfit soldiers being sent into war: http://dartcenter.org/content/mentally-unfit-forced-to-fight
- use government language to ask for information they say you can’t have
- good FOI letter generator: http://www.rcfp.org/foialetter/index.php
- understand the law better than the bureaucrats using it to restrict your access
- know the timetable of how long an agency has to keep a document
- personnel matters are not confidential
- If you start an FOI request, finish it to the end. Otherwise, agencies will begin to think that if they give you a hard time, you’ll drop the issue.
- Make all requests to a higher official, not the press person, when possible, that way, if you have to get into a fight, you’re dragging the higher official into the issue as well
- Documents created as part of an investigation aren’t open while the investigation is ongoing, but documents that existed prior to the investigation (that may be included as evidence in the investigation) are open
- Ask what the investigation is –– specifically, ask for the letter from the person ordering the investigation to the investigator. You’ll find out if they are really investigating the right thing and it could lead to another story.
Labels: FOIA, investigative journalism, seminars/workshops, tips and tricks
continue...