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...Saturday, September 06, 2008
Election Reporters share tips, opinions
As I mentioned, I'm blogging live from the conference here.Here's a post I wrote earlier about a panel on election coverage. I thought the Q&A part would be helpful for our readers.
Election Roundtable: Q&A
A few questions and answers from the session....
Is who makes the most money really the best way to choose how you'll spread coverage around?
Sweet: Obama is a hometown guy; some candidates got more coverage than they deserved because they were interesting, etc.
There's not enough decoding of what is actually meant (should be done by reporters). There are not enough voices of color giving analysis or commenting (to give context like this).
The majority of top reporters covering politics at news outlets are white men over 50, says Jodi.
What do you read, watch, listen to, or not?
Felice: Loves Maureen Dowd, the Politico
Lynn: Mike Allen's Playbook at Politico, The Page (an aggregated site that looks at what moves the day), CBS/ABC aggregates, NYT, Wash Post, Chicago Sun-Times, and the links on her blog. She doesn't pay attention to one on one interviews. She needs places giving lots of information synthesized.
Beth: Mike Allen's Playbook, CNN, NYT for general coverage and Slate's XX Factor
Ann: Michele Cotta from the Republic, Rebecca Traister at Salon
Can the Obama campaign sustain the interest and energy?
Yes, they can sustain the energy, but will the young people who have mobilized for him really vote?? That's the question, said Beth.
Lynn Sweet: Term Obama uses is "intensity gap" -- they say they're ahead of McCain. Palin revs up Repubs the way Obama has done for the Dems.
Places like the Politico don't have the same resource base as the old media institutions -- are there going to be journos covering political campaigns in a new media world? What's our strategy to keep the journalism in the campaign?
Beth said they're doing partnerships with papers like St. Paul Pioneer Press and Denver Post. Also launching Politico network -- content and ad revenue sharing program that will launch on Tuesday. It all has to do with marketing and advertising. Can't see advertising is our enemy.
Labels: convention, election, journalism, McCain, Obama, organization, political coverage, primary, seminars/workshops, the industry, tips and tricks
continue...Multimedia Mini sessions
On camera tips- sit up straight
- breathe -- think of calming things
- consider a Flip video-- $150 for an hour of video
- Use your nervousness and allow it to keep you excited
- Don't "uptalk" (allowing your voice to trail up), keep your voice steady and speak with authority. Don't question what you say. Believe it.
- Think about three points you want to make -- not about stats. Think soundbites -- those are the things that draw emotion out.
- Make eye contact -- try not to use your notes
- Shut up and listen. Let the silence work for you.
- Have fun!
- Check out NYTimes reporter David Pogue, a technology writer, and his Web casts. Engaging!
- Think about what you're wearing: no sleeveless, no low cut necklines, simple, clean jewelry, DON'T wear black or white, or small intricate patterns.
SOCIAL NETWORKS
- It's the Social Mullet: Business in the Front, party in the back
- Business: LinkedIn -- get recommendations, put resume up and make contacts
- Party: Facebook -- put up those pictures of you at your college kegger, but just be sure to set your settings to 'private' so employers won't see your misdeeds (or your midsection)
- Twitter is like microblogging.
- When blogging, be tasteful and be cautious
- Google yourself! Keep in mind what shows up on your search page
- Always, always, ALWAYS set your privacy settings. Always.
BEHIND THE CAMERA TIPS
- Always white balance -- zoom in on something pure white to correct the color in your videos
- Use manual focus
- Audio check the person and adjust the volume so that you don't get spikes in the volume level when someone speaks
- when doing a 'man on the street,' make sure the mic isn't visible in the shot. Also remember that everything in the screen is a part of the story.
- Gain -- it adjusts light sensitivity on a camera. Can be used to brighten a scene if there is very little light. But be careful, it makes quality grainy (think adjusting the brightness of a photo too much)
- Establishing shots help provide context. If it's an interview, show both people sitting first, then feel free to zoom in on one person or the other.
- Adjust the camera so it moves smoothly and as you pan, zoom in so that it is all in one smooth motion.
- LISTEN -- use your journalistic discretion about when to pan and when to focus. Only zoom or move the camera with a purpose.
- Use a tripod if you can; if you can't, hold your breath while you're taking the shot or use a chair or something to steady your arms on the camera -- or if you have a large camera, sandwich the camera between your shoulders and head (a la broadcast) to help steady it.
- Action -- Never leave the scene without "B-roll" --- those supplemental shots of the subject working or (gasp!) shots of whatever you're talking about actually taking place.
- Get as much video as possible, but have a script of what you want. Do your research and know what the subject will be speaking about. If you can, WRITE DOWN THE TIME CODE when something interesting happens. It'll make it easier to find later as you edit.
WEB SITES TO VISIT:
- Journalism 2.0
- Poynter E-Media tidbits
- IWMF.com
- BNHphotovideo.com (to buy multimedia equipment
There was also a session on Flash, but it's just so complicated, I'm thinking it wouldn't do you any good to get a step by step on how to make a mini slideshow. But, do check out online tutorials at a bunch of places to get a handle on this very important program for multimedia.
Labels: broadcasting, JAWS, seminars/workshops, tech corner, technology
continue...Connie Schultz, luncheon keynote speaker
I'm sure you've heard of this woman.Read stories most likely about her, but unless you're from Ohio, probably not by her.
I just heard her speak at the luncheon at the JAWS camp. A few things that stuck out:
- Why she didn't change her name: After telling a story about how her parents thought they were two nobodys who would raise four somebodies, she said she was "proud to have her name." Later, she told us about responding to people who suggest she should change her name and said she tells them that being married does not suck the opinion out of her. "I'd been boring myself because I stoped giving my opinion and instead, was giving his opinion." Her marriage didn't change her opinions, or mean that she couldn't be her own person
- "Speak your mind even if your voice shakes" -- Maggie Kuhn, founder of the Gray Panthers
- "We're in this business because we care," Schultz said. "We got in it not to make money; we wanted to change the world and I'm tired of apologizing for it.
- Race is the issue of this election (Schultz told us a story about how her dad was racist); it is more about having the hard vconversations with people we love and why we don't talk about it. The whole undercurrent is fear.
Labels: convention, JAWS, political coverage, seminars/workshops
continue...Friday, September 05, 2008
JAWS in the mountains
I'm here.
Are you jealous?
So, this weekend, I'll be blogging live (semi-live) from the Attitash Resort in New Hampshire where I am attending the Journalism and Women's Symposium annual camp.
The whole purpose of the camp -- and it seems the organization -- is to empower women and give us a safe and secure place to learn about our industry and, of course, vent our frustrations.
I found out about this organization from Veronica, who attended the 2006 camp as a scholarship winner. And just for fun, I figured I'd post a pic from her Facebook album about the camp, in case you can't click on the link above. So, the camp is a weekend long and you go to sessions and hang out and just bond. At Veronica's camp, they rode horses. I just thought this picture was cool.
Anyway.
Some of the sessions we'll be talking about this weekend include international stories, a multimedia training session (I'm so amped about that one), reinventing yourself, elections, science/environment/technology, and the disconnect between the middle class and Congress.
Did I mention there are cocktails every night AND there's a talent show tomorrow????? And yoga in the morning.
*Swoon*
I may just have to stay forever.
Well, maybe not.
Dinner is in 20 minutes.
Labels: convention, JAWS, seminars/workshops, the industry
continue...Thursday, May 01, 2008
Do It Big, then
I was searching through the newsletter for the Chips Quinn Scholars program (of which, I'm an alumna) and look who I found:This guy.
He may have told me before, but I have a horrible memory.
So, anyway, congrats to Aaron and the rest of the Chipster class of 2008!
And he shouted out the blog in his biography. Gotta love him.
Labels: diversity, fun, inspiration, journalism, seminars/workshops
continue...Thursday, August 02, 2007
LIteracy, Progress and the American Way
Another installment from my time at the Hechinger Institute seminar for New Education Reporters in July. Figured I'd wrap this up since we'll likely be blogging about the seminars we attend at NABJ next week.The notes below -- some are story ideas, others are sites to check out, still more are concepts. Enjoy and ask questions if you have them. I'll be happy to clear up any confusion.
- Get comfortable with the good folks at the National Center for Early Development and Learning (http://www.ncedl.org/)
- Same with the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (http://www.nichd.nih.gov/)
- When you observe a class, describe the emotional, organizational and instructional support to kids – that’s how you accurately assess a class. Check the tone of voice, physical distance that is maintained and eye contact.
- Tips for judging preschool classrooms (http://www.classobservation.com/): check the degree of engagement between kids and teachers – increased interaction shows comfort, security; look at other kids, not just hose close to the teacher – how are they engaged? Everything should be intentional – kids should be interacting, engaged and learning
- Tips for assessing high schools: what hits your eye when you walk through the door: that’s the image the school wants to project ( pictures of top 5 percent of graduates or athletic trophies)
- Test scores are akin to box scores in sports: you can’t describe a team accurately by scores (tests) alone; you have to look at the entire game (classrooms)
- Good principals can’t be found in the office; if they’re in their office, they don’t know what’s in their schools. Principal job is to get everything out of the say so the teachers can teach and students can learn
- How to Increase Access in Public School
- distrust is earned. By nature, news is things that are out of the ordinary.
- Don’t say schools have a “drug problem.” Society has a drug problem. That’s just reflected in the schools.
- Educators are legitimately protective of students (pedophiles, privacy issues, etc)
- Educational writers should write with context (ex: “It’s not easy to educate when parents are unemployed…instead of focusing only on ailing test scores, what factors outside of school building impact learning?)
- You won’t get in where there’s no personal access (get to know people)
- Let them know that the better look we get at the school, the better it is for kids – we can’t see how the school looks unless we get in. - Interviewing questions an educator always asks: How do you view teaching? Is it a calling or a job? Have you played competitive sports? If so, you’ve learned teamwork.
- who gets left out in this age of boutique schools -- are boutique schools tracking for the new millennium?
- The American High School system is obsolete – it needs reinvention and redesign, not reform (that is one take on it)
- Theory of Change: schools have no idea what the problem is or how to fix it because they don’t know what good teaching is supposed to look like. - Who actually gets fired because of the evaluation system? A pro forma system doesn’t foster improvement.
- Relevance and Relationships = how you motivate students. What is the value added? Extent you expect more from a student in the 10th grade than a student in the 4th grade?
Ask teachers what you want students to know and be able to do as a result of their lesson assessment? There are higher standards, yes, but are they performance or content based? Are those standards clear? What does excellence look like for a student? - Have political leaders take the NECAP (your local assessment) and then have them evaluate it.
- What do you mean by rigor and how will you assess it. IS content all you want to teach or do you want to teach competencies? Being able to memorize facts vs. being able to logically defend an argument.
- What does it mean to be a competent high school grad? What do they know? What don’t they know? What is the standard for excellence?
- Talk to people 2-5 years out of high school. What ways has high school prepared or not helped you for the career you’re doing now? What could they have done differently or better? What could they have done to help you? What could they have done to help you stay in school?
- There is no such thing as a grade level. What a 3rd grader in Atlanta learns is different than what a 3rd grader in Detroit learns: states set the grade levels of what students should know – it’s not regulated.
- Check out the Trial Urban NAEP -- http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/reading/results2003/districtresults.asp -- did a major city assessment and found that environment was one of the things that impacts a student’s learning.
- Walk to school with a kid. What do they see? Libraries, businesses and clean parks? Or abandoned houses, graffiti and blight? What they see makes a difference?
- Look at old proficiency tests and see if the after school programs are effective and if it matters if they are cut or not. Compare NECAP (or other state tests) to former assessments.
- What safety nets are there for kids who can’t read in high school? How many kids can’t read? Define their plan of action for fixing things. What teacher training is there to help older learners? What are students reading? What is the class size? How do these learning classes impact their graduation credits?
Labels: education, seminars/workshops, tips and tricks
continue...Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Education 101: Testing
When it comes to covering education these days, it's likely you'll come across an alphabet soup of acronyms you'll need to use in daily reporting. But Drew Gitomer, from Educational Testing Service, and Daniel J. Losen, of UCLA and Harvard Law School, told Hechinger attendees that it's more than just NCLB, IEPs and HSPA***.
Here are a few of the tips, tricks and story ideas they offered:
- Get a technical advisor – someone from a local university to help explain things to you
- Weigh significance over meaning. It can be statistically big but mean nothing in the classroom. Numbers can mean different things to different people.
- Total definitions are wrong: there is no silver bullet or magic wand. It’s likely a combination of things that made the scores come out as they are.
- Testing became the solution, when really, all testing should be is a thermometer.
- Seek confirmation of what the tests say. Compare the test scores to tests that cover the same topics, graduation rates, grade retention, other trends over time. Are low achievers leaving the testing pod? What are your dropout rates?
- Look at the raw data. Has the test changed? What is the enrollment vs. the number of students who were tested? Who was left out?
- Dig beyond your state information: National Assessment of Educational Progress – shows no change in reading progress since NCLB began
- Other factors to focus on: graduation rates, attrition (and English language) mobility, grade retention/advancement (kids being held back to pass test?), suspension/attendance/lost instructional time (suspensions new ‘class trips’ for poor performing kids on test days), teacher quality retention
- Look at 9th graders and see how many actually get their diplomas
- What are the costs of dropouts: Cost of incarceration, welfare, etc?
- If a child receives multiple suspensions, the likelihood that they will drop out before they reach the 10th grade triples.
- Do your own math
- Look at data over time
- Disaggregate data by race, gender, special needs, etc
- Look for data loopholes
- Proficiency means different things in different states. What is the proficiency in your state? How does your coverage area hold up against other students? If I’m not proficient, what’ can’t I do? If I’m proficient, what can I do? What can’t I?
- Contact NAEP – are the tests dumbed down? Are they increase graduation to decrease the number of dropouts? Teachers staying on the job longer? Equating study.
- Get off message: When tests are good, administrators chalk it up to good teaching or new programs (FYI: always wait for a few years to pass before extolling the effectiveness of a program. Anything before then is just conjecture). When results are bad, they blame the budget, special needs students or other factors beyond their control. Ask them this: What did you do differently? That gets to the heart of the results. Evaluate from there.
***NCLB = No Child Left Behind
IEP = Individualized Educational Plan
HSPA = High School Proficiency Assessment
Labels: education, seminars/workshops, tips and tricks
continue...Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Honey, what you don't know could fill a book
This weekend, I attended the McGraw Seminar for Reporters New to the Education Beat at the Hechinger Institute in New York City.The information was really good. The sessions were really dense. Really.
In less than 72 hours, I - along with about 40 other journalists from across the country - got a crash course in No Child Left Behind, Teacher Pay vs. Student Achievement, Literacy and the all elusive Rigor, among other things. I believe I learned more about education in these past few days than I learned in 16 years worth of real education.
I have to say that attending the seminar was enlightening. Really, I suppose humbling would be a better word. By any account, I was a crasher to the conference. Sure, I applied and was accepted, but this seminar was for EDUCATION reporters.
In case you've been living under a rock, I cover the town of West Warwick. All of it. Cops. Courts. Sewers. Municipal Government. Everything. The reason I got in is because a good portion of my coverage is devoted to my local school district. I'm glad they made the exception.
Honestly, I thought I'd been doing a good job covering my school district. I wrote about the budget crisis. I've been following their soon to materialize legal woes. I've spent days observing special needs programs so that I can highlight them. I attend school committee meetings. What else could I do?
Apparently a lot.
Listening to the questions the other attendees asked with such authority, I felt downright ashamed. While they talked about achievement gaps, merit based pay and a whole bunch of acronymns I dare not repeat, I realized that there was so much more to education that I didn't know.
So much more of a story that I was missing.
I stayed relatively quiet during the weekend. Honestly, I felt that my questions would only serve to halt the conversation - not advance it. As a friend of mine once told me, I didn't feel like I knew enough to ask a question. So I listened. And took a lot of notes.
Over the next few days, I'll begin combing through my notes (half a stenopad's worth, front and back) to bring the information I learned to the wonderful readers of Ten95. (Sorry for not blogging sooner -- I didn't have my computer with me at the conference.)
If you get nothing else, I hope you'll be able to pull some story ideas that you can use in your district. Stay tuned.
Labels: education, seminars/workshops, tips and tricks
continue...Thursday, July 05, 2007
Ask and You Shall Receive
The e-mail blared a message of congratulations from the subject line:"You're Accepted! Seminar for New Education Reporters"
So, I know what you're thinking. No, I'm not an education reporter and yes, I have been on my job for almost two years now (my how time flies). But I'm one who always jumps at an opportunity.
A few weeks ago, a message to a journalism listserv I subscribe to mentioned the seminar and encouraged us to apply. I figured it might be cool to get some additional training. I mean, even though I don't cover schools exclusively, almost half of my job is covering my town school department, which makes up about 60 percent of the municipal budget. If a beat reporter ever tells you he or she doesn't need to cover education, pray for them. They're going to need all the help they can get to make it through this industry. I wrote how education stories are vital to understanding a community in my application essay:
Education is the stick by which all communities can be measured. Spend one day in a school and a person is guaranteed to have a better idea of what that community values and what is being passed on to the next generation. Battles over funding are evidenced by tattered social studies books and crowded classrooms. Changes in demographics manifest themselves in additional ESL teachers and adjustments to the curriculum. Racial disputes and criminal trends are often seen in truancy court or disciplinary hearings.
So, I applied. And even though the deadline had long since passed, the organizers agreed to take a look at my application. The next day, I got that congratulatory e-mail.
Just goes to show that it never hurts to ask. I kind of assumed the deadline had passed, but I figured I'd ask if I could still apply. Worst they could say is no. But, it also illustrates how important it is to be cognizant of deadlines: and to meet them. If I'd been keeping up with seminars I was interested in, I wouldn't have needed to be dependent upon the kindness of strangers.
Lesson learned.
Labels: Job survival, seminars/workshops, the industry, tips and tricks
continue...