I, Reporter

links for 2006-03-31

• Poynter Online - Wednesday Edition: How to Get a Human on the Phone
  "Look at this cool collection of phone numbers and tips on how to quickly get a real person on the phone." A valuable skill not just for customer service, but for getting through media relations and public affairs phone trees

links for 2006-03-26

• Seeking Community Writers for EPA.net
  This posting is almost a year old. I wonder how this mentoring is working out?
  (tags: collaboration citizen+journalism learning tidbits+fodder California)

links for 2006-03-24

• Rolling Stone : Casting Call: Our New Reality Show
  This could be an interesting opportunity for an enterprising citizen journalism on the entertainment beat!
  (tags: citizen+journalism broadcast magazines events mainstream+media tidbits+fodder)

links for 2006-03-23

• New Media Lecture Series March 27 - 30 (UC Berkeley Journalism)
  "The UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism is hosting eight public talks on issues in new media, citizen media and multimedia March 27 - 30."
  (tags: citizen+journalism conversational+media blogs media+evolution media search tidbits+fodder events journalism)
• How far should journalists strive to be objective in their reporting? (Just call me J)
  "Even a news story containing only facts is a representation of opinion in the form of an editorial judgement. Someone has to choose the angle, structure, sources and facts included within the piece."
  (tags: our+coverage objectivity journalism history academic)
• Trust and transparency (IdeaFestival)
  "The interview reminded me a bit of an Amy Gahran post at Contentious about media objectivity and transparency being two halves of the same coin. In the digital economy, you need both."
  (tags: our+coverage transparency objectivity)

links for 2006-03-17

• phonoirlex: Sunshine Week
  Sunshine Week on a blog: "We're halfway through Sunshine Week, and it seems to be going mostly unnoticed. Kind of ironic. Tennessee is trying to shore up its own Sunshine laws, but its efforts are being rather forcefully attacked."
  (tags: Tennesee sunshine+week blogs law government info+access)
• Peter Porcupine: Trust Me!
  Sunshine Week irony: "at the same time (MA) Atty. General Tom Reilly reveals that he has signed a confidentiality agreement surrounding his 'investigation' into the Big Dig and Bechtel-Parsons-Brinkerhoff's potential financial malfeasance?"
  (tags: sunshine+week Massachusetts media newspapers mainstream+media government info+access blogs commentary)
• Sunshine Week: End The Closed WI Partisan Caucuses! (Talk To Tony)
  "The closed partisan caucuses are the main reason why the proposed C-Span style WisconsinEye television network, if it ever gets off the ground, will be mostly pointless."
  (tags: sunshine+week Wisconsin info+access government politics problem+solving blogs)
• Sunshine Week Polls and News (ASNE release)
  "2 natl. polls on the eve of the second natl. Sunshine Week open government initiative show a public that equates open government with effective democracy and is concerned about the rise in official secrecy at the national, state and local levels."
  (tags: sunshine+week PR+marketing nonprofits info+access government statistics)

Stanford Journalism Fellowship: Citizen Journalists Welcome to Apply

I just found out about a pretty significant journalism fellowship from Stanford University's Center for the Study of the North American West: $3,500-$7,000  plus two weeks' access to the Center's facilities and resources.

The Western Enterprise Fellowship is for "research toward an article, series of articles or broadcast segment on a topic of particular significance to the United States west of the Mississippi, western Canada, or northern Mexico.  Research areas can range widely, and may be related to the demographics, culture, politics, economy, or environment of the region."

Now, the info page for that fellowship also goes on to say, "Since the fellowship is to disseminate new perspectives on these issues to the wider public, fellows must enter the program with an assignment letter from a news organization that commits to publishing or broadcasting the work within twelve months of the fellowship’s completion."

I thought that sounded rather exclusive, so I inquired further...

links for 2006-03-16

• Green Goddess Gazette: Political Weather Forecast
  "Sunshine Week is an indirect result of the climate of fear surrounding 9/11. When Florida lawmakers moved to severely limit access to public information in 2002, the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors declared Sunshine Sunday."
  (tags: sunshine+week info+access government history nonprofits newspapers advocacy blogs)
• Let the sunshine in (Huntsville Times - AL)
  "Closer to home, the issue that hits hardest will be this summer's switch of police reports so that victims won't be identified. And that may be just a first step in further limiting public disclosure of police reports."
  (tags: Alabama sunshine+week law info+access government media mainstream+media newspapers advocacy)
• Alabama's changes to crime reports hurt public's right to know (AP)
  "The blanket policy - approved by the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center Commission in January - makes Alabama one of a handful of states that don't consider the names of victims as part of the public record of a crime,"
  (tags: sunshine+week journalism media mainstream+media info+access government law advocacy)
• A cure worse than disease (Brimingham News, AL)
  "Starting June 4, the public portion of the [AL] police reports... There will be no victims' names, addresses, phone numbers or details about the crimes and where they occurred."
  (tags: newspapers info+access government law sunshine+week advocacy)
• Reuters CEO interview (FT.com / Debates & polls / Ask the expert - Ask the expert: Should old media embrace the new?)
  "Do you see a way where grassroots journalists who really want to do a good job might be given access to resources, or some kind of training (e.g. sponsorship by organisations such as Reuters) to improve the quality of their work and give it credibility?"
  (tags: citizen+journalism skills resources media media+evolution mainstream+media collaboration)

links for 2006-03-14

• Sunshine Law -- MercuryNews.com
  A special package of features, including a draft municipal sunshine law for San Jose, CA
  (tags: sunshine+week newspapers info+access government problem+solving accountability California San+Jose)
• newsobserver.com | Open Government
  Special Sunshine Week features from the Raleigh, NC news and Observer
  (tags: sunshine+week newspapers info+access government)
• Florida public records and more (iDigAnswers)
  See march 12: Great roundup of Sunshine Week links from Florida
  (tags: sunshine+week info+access government Florida mainstream+media media newspapers)
• Poynter Online - Monday Edition: Sunshine Week Ideas and Coverage
  Roundup of Sunshine Week resources from Poynter's Al Tompkins
  (tags: sunshine+week info+access government resources nonprofits newspapers media mainstream+media)
• The Coalition of Journalists for Open Government
  Where it's Sunshine Week all year long...
  (tags: government media info+access journalism nonprofits advocacy sunshine+week)
• State and National Freedom of Information Resources
  From the National Freedom of Information Coalition
  (tags: info+access resources sunshine+week nonprofits)
• Celebrating "The Open Record Blues" | The Daily Page
  Sunshine Week now has a song! Cool!
  (tags: humor sunshine+week info+access government Midwest)
• Behind the News
  Many Sunshine Week links from Infomaniac
  (tags: sunshine+week info+access government mainstream+media media resources)
• USNews.com: Steven Aftergood: Secrecy under scrutiny
  Interview with Steven Aftergood, editor of Secrecy News -- one of my favorite online newsletters.
  (tags: sunshine+week thought+leaders interviews)
• Sunshine Week March 12-18 (washingtonpost.com)
  A special collection of previously published Washington Post features that rellied on access to government information.
  (tags: government info+access sunshine+week mainstream+media media newspapers Washington+DC)

Our Services

Web Site Launch and Maintenance Just getting started with your web strategy? Let us help you craft it from the ground up, from design to implementation to maintenance.

• Understand hosting options Find and use inexpensive online publishing tools
• Implement smart, simple, usable design Define an effective, sustainable content strategy
• Create efficient workflow Choose a successful advertising mix

Enhanced Online Strategy If you already have an online presence, are you using it to its fullest advantage? We’ll help you devise an online news strategy that maximizes your site’s effectiveness and reach.

• Optimize integration with newsroom practices Establish web-friendly content styles
• Create and publish multimedia content, including podcast and downloadable video
• Install a search engine for your site Strengthen reader relationships with feeds and e-mail alerts
• Mine audience data through registration, analytics, online surveys Increase and diversify revenue sources

Citizen Media Strategy Your audience can be your ally in covering the news. We can help you navigate one of the most important trends in new media, and discover what works for your organization.

• Make the most of user comments Foster strong community forums
• Create a citizen journalism team
• Generate citizen photo galleries and citizen media content
• Build a blog hosting service Republish online content in print (“reverse publishing”)

links for 2006-03-13

• We're All Gatekeepers (Micro Persuasion)
  "We all are gatekeepers depending on where the news thread starts. As long as there's news, there will be gatekeepers. Gatekeeping is just much more flat now. Anyone can join in if they have high-value information."
  (tags: tidbits+fodder mycomments media media+evolution influence+ecology info+access)
• Big Credit Card Payment = Inquisition? (Transparent Grid)
  Excellent example of a citizen journalism role: performing fact-checking and editorial oversight on stories that break first in mainstream media. I'll be writing about this in I, Reporter later, after some digging.
  (tags: accuracy accountability citizen+journalism editing fact+checking corroboration)
• Pay too much and you could raise the alarm (Scripps Howard News Service)
  Source story (column) for DHS-banking privacy flap. I've got an inquiry in to the columnist (Bob Kerr) on this.
  (tags: journalism fact+checking corroboration accuracy editing citizen+journalism government mainstream+media newspapers problem+solving)
• One man's mission: Open government (The Saratogian)
  Profile: Robert Freeman, head of the Committee on Open Government. "NY state Assembly is considering a bill requiring courtsto award attorneys' fees to people who prevail when taking legal action to obtain information from a government agency."
  (tags: sunshine+week info+access government nonprofits organizations NewYork)
• SEJ: Sunshine Week Special Features
  A slew of resources and special features highlighting open government concerns and initiatives affecting coverage of the environment beat.
  (tags: sunshine+week journalism resources mainstream+media media nonprofits organizations info+access government)
• Sunshine will open meetings (The Leaf Chronicle, Clarksville, TN)
  "How often are open government rules being defied in Tennessee? The TN Coalition for Open Government reports 115 alleged violations Jan2003 - Oct 2005. And those are just the ones that were reported. Who knows how many others simply slipped by?"
  (tags: government info+access law sunshine+week Tennesee)
• AP Review: Gov't Missing Deadlines, Limits
  "Many federal agencies fall far short of the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act, repeatedly failing to meet reporting deadlines while citizens wait ever longer for documents, an Associated Press review has found."
  (tags: FOIA government info+access sunshine+week)
• States narrow public access to information (AP, via SouthCoastToday.com)
  State "Legislatures have passed more than 1,000 laws changing access to information, approving more than twice as many measures that restrict information as laws that open government books."
  (tags: sunshine+week government info+access analysis mainstream+media)
• Sunshine Week: Are We Safer in the Dark? (Open The Governmen)
  March 13 event: "A panel of experts from around the country will kick off a lively discussion from Washington, DC about open government and secrecy -- the problems, the impact on communities, and what the public can do."
  (tags: sunshine+week events government info+access problem+solving society)