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Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Freedoms in America and Russia
We were talking last class period about the First Amendment and how freedom of the press in America differs from some other countries. Read this about a Russian journalist--quite an eye-opener.
Today is the birthday of Russian journalist Anna Stepanova Politkovskaya (books by this author), author of Putin's Russia and A Small Corner of Hell: Dispatches from Chechnya.
Anna was born in New York City in 1958 while her parents, who were Ukrainian diplomats, were at the United Nations, but she grew up in Moscow, graduating from the Moscow State University's school of journalism in 1980 with a thesis on the Russian and Soviet poet Marina Ivanova Tsvetaeva.
Anna married and had two children and settled down to the business of becoming a fearless, award-winning reporter who would speak for the victims of conflict even in the face of great personal risk.
Anna began her career as a reporter and editor for the accidents and emergencies section at a long-running Russian newspaper, Izvestia, then moved to another paper where she wrote about social problems, in particular the plight of refugees. But it was at Novaya Gazeta, a strongly investigative Russian newspaper that was critical of the post-Soviet regime, that Anna came into her own.
She was highly critical of Vladimir Putin, the former KGB lieutenant colonel who had become the second president of the Russian Federation. As she wrote of him in a later article, "Poisoned by Putin," it was under him that Russia was "hurtling back into a Soviet abyss, into an information vacuum that spells death from our own ignorance ... if you want to go on working as a journalist, it's total servility to Putin.
Otherwise, it can be death, the bullet, poison, or trial — whatever our special services, Putin's guard dogs, see fit."
During the Second Chechen War, which began in 1999 when Russian forces entered Chechnya to end its de facto independence and reestablish Russian federal control of the territory, Anna distinguished herself reporting on what she called "state versus group terrorism," documenting torture, mass executions, kidnappings, and the sale by Russian soldiers of Chechen corpses to their families so that they might be given proper Islamic burials.
She came to the conclusion that the only response one could possibly expect to such treatment would be more militant resistance, more terrorism, and the recruitment of more resistance fighters.
Anna reported directly from the killing fields, putting herself in harm's way, exposing what she called "medieval barbarity" in all its red and vivid brutality. In 2001, in the course of investigating punitive raids by the Russians on Chechen families, she was detained by Russian military officials who beat her, threatened horrific acts on her children, staged a mock execution of her with a rocket launcher, and forced her to drink poisoned tea to make her sick.
Anna received numerous death threats, at least nine according to a colleague at Novaya Gazeta; she never denied being afraid, but her personal sense of responsibility and concern for her informants and for the people she spoke for would not allow her to give up or run away.
She never spent more than a few weeks of her life outside of Russia, and though she had a passport and a U.S. visa, she apparently never even considered leaving Russia to report from a safer location. She said once, during a 2005 press conference in Vienna, that, "People sometimes pay with their lives for saying aloud what they think ... I am not the only one in danger."
In 2004, Anna was poisoned as part of what has come to be seen as a triple-whammy against free press in Russia. En route to cover the Beslan school hostage crisis, Anna, who had taken nothing that day because in her own words, "war has taught me that it better not to eat" before a conflict, was given a cup of tea and was unconscious within minutes.
She later woke in a regional hospital where her doctors told her she had been poisoned and that the tests that had been performed at the airport were already destroyed. A second journalist who reported on Chechen war atrocities and who had also suffered a kidnapping by Russian forces was detained and jailed en route to Beslan, the third hit coming when the editor of Izvestia was sacked following that paper's graphic accounts of the Beslan massacre.
On the afternoon of October 4th, 2006, Anna returned to her central Moscow flat from a shopping trip with a load of bags and parcels. She dropped the bags in her apartment and then took the lift back down. As the lift doors opened, she was shot four times in the chest and once in the head at point blank range, and was found by a neighbor, lying on the floor with the handgun and empty shell casings beside her. She was 48.
Anna's murder by all accounts appeared to be a contract killing. And in a page straight out of Ian Fleming, two years later Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB and FSB officer turned journalist who spoke against Putin for Beslan and accused him of acts of terrorism and of ordering the death of Anna Politkovskaya, was poisoned and killed by the rare and radioactive isotope polonium-210.
He had apparently been poisoned by a pot of tea.
Today is the birthday of Russian journalist Anna Stepanova Politkovskaya (books by this author), author of Putin's Russia and A Small Corner of Hell: Dispatches from Chechnya.
Anna was born in New York City in 1958 while her parents, who were Ukrainian diplomats, were at the United Nations, but she grew up in Moscow, graduating from the Moscow State University's school of journalism in 1980 with a thesis on the Russian and Soviet poet Marina Ivanova Tsvetaeva.
Anna married and had two children and settled down to the business of becoming a fearless, award-winning reporter who would speak for the victims of conflict even in the face of great personal risk.
Anna began her career as a reporter and editor for the accidents and emergencies section at a long-running Russian newspaper, Izvestia, then moved to another paper where she wrote about social problems, in particular the plight of refugees. But it was at Novaya Gazeta, a strongly investigative Russian newspaper that was critical of the post-Soviet regime, that Anna came into her own.
She was highly critical of Vladimir Putin, the former KGB lieutenant colonel who had become the second president of the Russian Federation. As she wrote of him in a later article, "Poisoned by Putin," it was under him that Russia was "hurtling back into a Soviet abyss, into an information vacuum that spells death from our own ignorance ... if you want to go on working as a journalist, it's total servility to Putin.
Otherwise, it can be death, the bullet, poison, or trial — whatever our special services, Putin's guard dogs, see fit."
During the Second Chechen War, which began in 1999 when Russian forces entered Chechnya to end its de facto independence and reestablish Russian federal control of the territory, Anna distinguished herself reporting on what she called "state versus group terrorism," documenting torture, mass executions, kidnappings, and the sale by Russian soldiers of Chechen corpses to their families so that they might be given proper Islamic burials.
She came to the conclusion that the only response one could possibly expect to such treatment would be more militant resistance, more terrorism, and the recruitment of more resistance fighters.
Anna reported directly from the killing fields, putting herself in harm's way, exposing what she called "medieval barbarity" in all its red and vivid brutality. In 2001, in the course of investigating punitive raids by the Russians on Chechen families, she was detained by Russian military officials who beat her, threatened horrific acts on her children, staged a mock execution of her with a rocket launcher, and forced her to drink poisoned tea to make her sick.
Anna received numerous death threats, at least nine according to a colleague at Novaya Gazeta; she never denied being afraid, but her personal sense of responsibility and concern for her informants and for the people she spoke for would not allow her to give up or run away.
She never spent more than a few weeks of her life outside of Russia, and though she had a passport and a U.S. visa, she apparently never even considered leaving Russia to report from a safer location. She said once, during a 2005 press conference in Vienna, that, "People sometimes pay with their lives for saying aloud what they think ... I am not the only one in danger."
In 2004, Anna was poisoned as part of what has come to be seen as a triple-whammy against free press in Russia. En route to cover the Beslan school hostage crisis, Anna, who had taken nothing that day because in her own words, "war has taught me that it better not to eat" before a conflict, was given a cup of tea and was unconscious within minutes.
She later woke in a regional hospital where her doctors told her she had been poisoned and that the tests that had been performed at the airport were already destroyed. A second journalist who reported on Chechen war atrocities and who had also suffered a kidnapping by Russian forces was detained and jailed en route to Beslan, the third hit coming when the editor of Izvestia was sacked following that paper's graphic accounts of the Beslan massacre.
On the afternoon of October 4th, 2006, Anna returned to her central Moscow flat from a shopping trip with a load of bags and parcels. She dropped the bags in her apartment and then took the lift back down. As the lift doors opened, she was shot four times in the chest and once in the head at point blank range, and was found by a neighbor, lying on the floor with the handgun and empty shell casings beside her. She was 48.
Anna's murder by all accounts appeared to be a contract killing. And in a page straight out of Ian Fleming, two years later Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB and FSB officer turned journalist who spoke against Putin for Beslan and accused him of acts of terrorism and of ordering the death of Anna Politkovskaya, was poisoned and killed by the rare and radioactive isotope polonium-210.
He had apparently been poisoned by a pot of tea.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Journalists Run to the Weather Story
From "Stuff Journalists Like"
Weather story "How about this weather?"
There are some things in life that can be counted on: people will always complain about gas prices, politicians under investigation will resign late Friday afternoon and if there is an abnormal amount of rain wind, snow or sleet, there will be some poor khaki-clad journalist out there reporting on the weather.
When journalists wakes up to a hurricane or blizzard, they know that before the end of the day they will be drenched, knocked down by wind, and forced to choose between life and story. They usually choose the story.
If this is a journalist's first time reporting on the weather, a vital lesson will be discovered - pens don't work in the cold. Use a pencil!
Truck stops, motels, Red Cross stations, restaurants and bars are all places journalists flock to during weather stories to capture that "human element" of the story. And without a hint of irony, journalists will ask residents what they why they haven't fled the storm.
Weather stories are the reason experienced journalists always carry a change of clothes in the trunk of their car that includes galoshes, boots, gloves, coats, a hard hat and a Nomex suit. Journalists never know when they will go from covering a city council meeting to the front lines of a hurricane in the span of an hour.
Journalists especially like it when their editors, from the comfort of their desks, direct journalists into the heart of a forest fire, hurricane, tornado or flood zone. As the rest of humanity is evacuated from a disaster area, journalists and first responders are the only ones headed into the storm.
Once a journalist has risked life and limb to cover the storm, which seven out of 10 times could have been accomplished by simply looking out the window, he or she will then hunt down a wi-fi connect to crank out a 20-inch story. The story will then inform readers about the weather the next day when it is nice and sunny out.
Happy Birthday, Theodore Dreiser!
Saturday, August 27 is the birthday of Theodore Dreiser, born in Terre Haute, Indiana (1871). He arrived in Chicago as a youth and became a newspaper reporter. As a reporter, he wrote his first novel, his great masterpiece, in just a year. Sister Carrie was about a chorus girl who becomes a success, and it came out in 1900.
Sister Carrie begins: "When Caroline Meeber boarded the afternoon train for Chicago, her total outfit consisted of a small trunk, a cheap imitation alligator-skin satchel, a small lunch in a paper box, and yellow leather snap purse, containing her ticket, a scrap of paper with her sister's address in Van Buren Street, and four dollars in money. It was in August, 1889. She was eighteen years of age, bright, timid, and full of the illusions of ignorance and youth. Whatever touch of regret at parting characterised her thoughts, it was certainly not for advantages now being given up. A gush of tears at her mother's farewell kiss, a touch in her throat when the cars clacked by the flour mill where her father worked by the day, a pathetic sigh as the familiar green environs of the village passed in review, and the threads which bound her so lightly to girlhood and home were irretrievably broken."
NOTE: Dreiser lived in Warsaw from 1884-1886. In 1916 he wrote A Hoosier Holiday, which describes his travels back to Warsaw years later. There is a lengthy quote from him about his experiences in Warsaw, including some of the stores and lakes, on pages 93-94 of Michelle Bormet's "A History of the City of Warsaw, Indiana."
Sister Carrie begins: "When Caroline Meeber boarded the afternoon train for Chicago, her total outfit consisted of a small trunk, a cheap imitation alligator-skin satchel, a small lunch in a paper box, and yellow leather snap purse, containing her ticket, a scrap of paper with her sister's address in Van Buren Street, and four dollars in money. It was in August, 1889. She was eighteen years of age, bright, timid, and full of the illusions of ignorance and youth. Whatever touch of regret at parting characterised her thoughts, it was certainly not for advantages now being given up. A gush of tears at her mother's farewell kiss, a touch in her throat when the cars clacked by the flour mill where her father worked by the day, a pathetic sigh as the familiar green environs of the village passed in review, and the threads which bound her so lightly to girlhood and home were irretrievably broken."
NOTE: Dreiser lived in Warsaw from 1884-1886. In 1916 he wrote A Hoosier Holiday, which describes his travels back to Warsaw years later. There is a lengthy quote from him about his experiences in Warsaw, including some of the stores and lakes, on pages 93-94 of Michelle Bormet's "A History of the City of Warsaw, Indiana."
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Former Warsaw Paper Employee Charged With Theft
From today's Fort Wayne News-Sentinel:
Ex-circulation manager for Warsaw paper charged with theft
From staff reports
The former circulation manager of the Warsaw Times-Union has been charged with felony theft after an investigation led police officers to allege she did not deposit thousands of dollars in cash receipts for the newspaper.
According to a news release from the Warsaw Police Department, Rebecca Walton, 35, of Warsaw, did not deposit cash receipts from contracted newspaper carriers for five or six years, between 2005 and 2011. The release said a completed audit indicated more than $58,000 was not deposited.
Walton was arrested today, according to the release. She is charged with two counts of Class D felony theft. She was being held in the Kosciusko County Jail on $60,000 bond, the statement said.
The news release also stated there was no evidence to support that Walton had help performing the alleged thefts.
Ex-circulation manager for Warsaw paper charged with theft
From staff reports
The former circulation manager of the Warsaw Times-Union has been charged with felony theft after an investigation led police officers to allege she did not deposit thousands of dollars in cash receipts for the newspaper.
According to a news release from the Warsaw Police Department, Rebecca Walton, 35, of Warsaw, did not deposit cash receipts from contracted newspaper carriers for five or six years, between 2005 and 2011. The release said a completed audit indicated more than $58,000 was not deposited.
Walton was arrested today, according to the release. She is charged with two counts of Class D felony theft. She was being held in the Kosciusko County Jail on $60,000 bond, the statement said.
The news release also stated there was no evidence to support that Walton had help performing the alleged thefts.
Monday, August 22, 2011
400 Updates to Oxford Dictionary
Woot! New additions to dictionary reflect today's culture
By Phil Gast, CNN
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Concise Oxford Dictionary announces more than 400 new words, phrases
It's an abridged version of the Oxford English Dictionary
The smaller dictionary is meant to "cover the language of its own time"
(CNN) -- Don't be a denialist. Instead put on your jeggings (breathe in) or mankini (be careful) and retweet this article.
After all, it's hip to be in the know on the 400 new words and phrases in the 12th edition of Concise Oxford English Dictionary, the abridged version of the Oxford English Dictionary. The smaller dictionary is meant to "cover the language of its own time."
Beware: Not all words are built to last, wrote dictionary editor Angus Stevenson in a blog posting last week.
"Sadly, the new edition has no room for tremendous words like brabble 'paltry noisy quarrel' and growlery 'place to growl in, private room, den' -- what we might call a man cave these days," Stevenson wrote on a blog.
Some of the new words:
-- cyberbullying: n. the use of electronic communication to bully a person, typically by sending messages of an intimidating or threatening nature.
-- denialist: n. a person who refuses to admit the truth of a concept or proposition that is supported by the majority of scientific or historical evidence.
-- jeggings: pl. n. tight-fitting stretch trousers for women, styled to resemble a pair of denim jeans.
-- mankini: n. (pl. mankinis) a brief one-piece bathing garment for men, with a T-back.
-- retweet: v. (on the social networking service Twitter) repost or forward (a message posted by another user). n. a reposted or forwarded message on Twitter.
-- sexting: n. informal the sending of sexually explicit photographs or messages via mobile phone.
-- woot: exclam. informal (especially in electronic communication) used to express elation, enthusiasm, or triumph.
The dictionary also adds new definitions of familiar words.
Thought a cougar was just an ornery old cat you might encounter in the American West? By now you know a cougar also is "an older woman seeking a sexual relationship with a younger man."
By Phil Gast, CNN
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Concise Oxford Dictionary announces more than 400 new words, phrases
It's an abridged version of the Oxford English Dictionary
The smaller dictionary is meant to "cover the language of its own time"
(CNN) -- Don't be a denialist. Instead put on your jeggings (breathe in) or mankini (be careful) and retweet this article.
After all, it's hip to be in the know on the 400 new words and phrases in the 12th edition of Concise Oxford English Dictionary, the abridged version of the Oxford English Dictionary. The smaller dictionary is meant to "cover the language of its own time."
Beware: Not all words are built to last, wrote dictionary editor Angus Stevenson in a blog posting last week.
"Sadly, the new edition has no room for tremendous words like brabble 'paltry noisy quarrel' and growlery 'place to growl in, private room, den' -- what we might call a man cave these days," Stevenson wrote on a blog.
Some of the new words:
-- cyberbullying: n. the use of electronic communication to bully a person, typically by sending messages of an intimidating or threatening nature.
-- denialist: n. a person who refuses to admit the truth of a concept or proposition that is supported by the majority of scientific or historical evidence.
-- jeggings: pl. n. tight-fitting stretch trousers for women, styled to resemble a pair of denim jeans.
-- mankini: n. (pl. mankinis) a brief one-piece bathing garment for men, with a T-back.
-- retweet: v. (on the social networking service Twitter) repost or forward (a message posted by another user). n. a reposted or forwarded message on Twitter.
-- sexting: n. informal the sending of sexually explicit photographs or messages via mobile phone.
-- woot: exclam. informal (especially in electronic communication) used to express elation, enthusiasm, or triumph.
The dictionary also adds new definitions of familiar words.
Thought a cougar was just an ornery old cat you might encounter in the American West? By now you know a cougar also is "an older woman seeking a sexual relationship with a younger man."
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Is Editorial Outsourcing Unhealthy?
I love my editor, mainly because he's local
Thursday, August 11, 2011
By Brian O'Neill, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Can we call The Hartford Courant "the nation's oldest newspaper" if it's older than the nation itself?
That's the kind of minutia that copy editors live for -- excuse me, the kind of minutia for which copy editors live. They'd make sure there's an apostrophe in "it's" while they're proofreading, too.
I have my eye on the Courant because, starting this fall, Connecticut's largest newspaper is going to be produced in Chicago. That's right. All the copy editing and design will be done by its sister paper, the Chicago Tribune, to save money.
We all know about outsourcing. Just try to buy a toy, a shirt or flashlight made in America. And when your personal computer's on the fritz and you call technical services for help, there's going to be some guy in Mumbai, India, who has taken the alias "Mike" who's going to walk you through it.
I have difficulty seeing how anything as unique as your local newspaper will benefit by some outlander looking for errors, though.
Oh, sure, they'll be able to find the errant comma. (Our own copy editor John O'Brien once planned an entire book on that exciting subject alone, "The Comma Sutra.") But what is a wordsmith in Illinois going to know about the streets of Hartford, Conn., or the politics of Connecticut?
Only an editor who knows the terrain can save the reporter from truly embarrassing mistakes.
Take Pittsburgh's 90 neighborhoods or Allegheny County's 130 municipalities. Do you think an out-of-town fact-checker would know his Edgewood from his Edgeworth, or Sewickley Heights from Sewickley Hills?
Pittsburgh's neighborhood boundaries are even murkier. Their outlines are among the most democratic and elastic boundaries on Earth, constantly redefined and renamed by either popular will or some power broker's rebranding (e.g., "the North Shore," which will never be anything but the North Side, or simply "The Ward," to old-timers).
Many years ago, I went round and round with a copy editor who insisted that Central Catholic High School was in Squirrel Hill, because an official city map -- but no person in its vicinity -- put everything south of that stretch of Fifth Avenue in Squirrel Hill.
I wasn't able to wrestle the school back into Oakland until I pointed out that if we set it in Squirrel Hill, we'd have to inform students that they'd been taking the wrong bus to school for generations.
Knowledge like that can't come from dictionaries or the Associated Press Stylebook, but many newspaper number-crunchers want to consolidate production to save money. Gannett, Media General and the Tribune Co. are all centralizing their editing operations.
The Daily Press in Newport News, Va., has been produced about 900 miles away, in Chicago, for more than a year now. Its reporters and editors speak the same language, but the Tidewater accents that make the coastal city distinct will inevitably be lost in some Midwestern translations.
Perhaps I can make that point clearer by revealing my own modus operandi: When I have what looks like a final version of a column, I shoot it to a nearby copy machine and walk it over to an editor who is as Pittsburgh as "The Steelers Polka."
Maybe a half-hour later, he'll walk back with a half-dozen or more suggested changes. Sometimes he has corrected spelling or grammar, sometimes he seeks greater clarity and occasionally he asks me to defend an opinion.
You don't need to know your West End from your East End to do that, but just a few weeks ago, I had a brain cramp and inexplicably wrote "Steelers Coach Bill Cowher" when I meant "Mike Tomlin."
There was nothing in the context of the column that would have told you that was wrong, but the editor caught it because he recognized the main character in my column was unlikely to have known Mr. Cowher.
Would a copy editor in Chicago have caught that? Not on your autographed picture of Mike Ditka.
I don't expect the journalistic outsourcing trend to reverse itself, however. Newspaper chains can save millions of dollars by downsizing, and so they do it, and the change is not immediately obvious.
Mindworks Global Media in India has gotten outsourced work from American publications for a few years now. Tonight, when I hit my knees, I may ask God to make sure that nobody in New Delhi ever has to figure out where Bloomfield ends and Garfield begins.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11223/1166589-155-0.stm#ixzz1Vbz3bPkp
Thursday, August 11, 2011
By Brian O'Neill, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Can we call The Hartford Courant "the nation's oldest newspaper" if it's older than the nation itself?
That's the kind of minutia that copy editors live for -- excuse me, the kind of minutia for which copy editors live. They'd make sure there's an apostrophe in "it's" while they're proofreading, too.
I have my eye on the Courant because, starting this fall, Connecticut's largest newspaper is going to be produced in Chicago. That's right. All the copy editing and design will be done by its sister paper, the Chicago Tribune, to save money.
We all know about outsourcing. Just try to buy a toy, a shirt or flashlight made in America. And when your personal computer's on the fritz and you call technical services for help, there's going to be some guy in Mumbai, India, who has taken the alias "Mike" who's going to walk you through it.
I have difficulty seeing how anything as unique as your local newspaper will benefit by some outlander looking for errors, though.
Oh, sure, they'll be able to find the errant comma. (Our own copy editor John O'Brien once planned an entire book on that exciting subject alone, "The Comma Sutra.") But what is a wordsmith in Illinois going to know about the streets of Hartford, Conn., or the politics of Connecticut?
Only an editor who knows the terrain can save the reporter from truly embarrassing mistakes.
Take Pittsburgh's 90 neighborhoods or Allegheny County's 130 municipalities. Do you think an out-of-town fact-checker would know his Edgewood from his Edgeworth, or Sewickley Heights from Sewickley Hills?
Pittsburgh's neighborhood boundaries are even murkier. Their outlines are among the most democratic and elastic boundaries on Earth, constantly redefined and renamed by either popular will or some power broker's rebranding (e.g., "the North Shore," which will never be anything but the North Side, or simply "The Ward," to old-timers).
Many years ago, I went round and round with a copy editor who insisted that Central Catholic High School was in Squirrel Hill, because an official city map -- but no person in its vicinity -- put everything south of that stretch of Fifth Avenue in Squirrel Hill.
I wasn't able to wrestle the school back into Oakland until I pointed out that if we set it in Squirrel Hill, we'd have to inform students that they'd been taking the wrong bus to school for generations.
Knowledge like that can't come from dictionaries or the Associated Press Stylebook, but many newspaper number-crunchers want to consolidate production to save money. Gannett, Media General and the Tribune Co. are all centralizing their editing operations.
The Daily Press in Newport News, Va., has been produced about 900 miles away, in Chicago, for more than a year now. Its reporters and editors speak the same language, but the Tidewater accents that make the coastal city distinct will inevitably be lost in some Midwestern translations.
Perhaps I can make that point clearer by revealing my own modus operandi: When I have what looks like a final version of a column, I shoot it to a nearby copy machine and walk it over to an editor who is as Pittsburgh as "The Steelers Polka."
Maybe a half-hour later, he'll walk back with a half-dozen or more suggested changes. Sometimes he has corrected spelling or grammar, sometimes he seeks greater clarity and occasionally he asks me to defend an opinion.
You don't need to know your West End from your East End to do that, but just a few weeks ago, I had a brain cramp and inexplicably wrote "Steelers Coach Bill Cowher" when I meant "Mike Tomlin."
There was nothing in the context of the column that would have told you that was wrong, but the editor caught it because he recognized the main character in my column was unlikely to have known Mr. Cowher.
Would a copy editor in Chicago have caught that? Not on your autographed picture of Mike Ditka.
I don't expect the journalistic outsourcing trend to reverse itself, however. Newspaper chains can save millions of dollars by downsizing, and so they do it, and the change is not immediately obvious.
Mindworks Global Media in India has gotten outsourced work from American publications for a few years now. Tonight, when I hit my knees, I may ask God to make sure that nobody in New Delhi ever has to figure out where Bloomfield ends and Garfield begins.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11223/1166589-155-0.stm#ixzz1Vbz3bPkp
Orlando Paper Outsources Editing to Chicago
Orlando Sentinel: 20
Posted 08.16.11 • 2011 layoffs, Paper Cuts
0 3
Orlando, Fla.
Owner: Tribune Co.
Announced: Aug. 8, 2011
Most copy editing and design work is being outsourced to the Chicago Tribune. The Sentinel will design its own A1, sports and living pages; 20 employees will be laid off.
Source: Orlando Business Journal
Posted 08.16.11 • 2011 layoffs, Paper Cuts
0 3
Orlando, Fla.
Owner: Tribune Co.
Announced: Aug. 8, 2011
Most copy editing and design work is being outsourced to the Chicago Tribune. The Sentinel will design its own A1, sports and living pages; 20 employees will be laid off.
Source: Orlando Business Journal
CNN: Digging Up the Best Sources
How to dig up the best sources
Editor's note: This piece is part of a CNN.com series about storytelling and reporting skills called iReport Boot Camp. In this edition, CNN.com technology writer John D. Sutter shares his advice on finding great sources. Read up, then give Sutter's advice a try in this week's iReport Boot Camp challenge.
(CNN) -- Characters make or break stories.
If you're writing about -- or photographing -- a unique, knowledgeable or quirky person, then readers are sure to remember your work.
If the people you interview are boring and uninformed, you run the risk of telling a story that is, at best, forgettable and, at worst, wrongheaded.
But don't fret, boot campers. Finding fascinating sources isn't as hard as it sounds. (Choosing a story topic, which was your assignment last week, is actually the hardest part, I think. So congrats on making it to week two.)
Here are a few tips on how to approach the source selection process. If you have any questions, feel free to holler in the comments section, or join us for a roundtable discussion of this iReport Bootcamp topic on August 25.
Read about the topic
It's not an awesome idea to go hunting for sources until you understand generally what kind of people are out there and what issues are at stake. Read other news coverage, government reports, books and scholarly articles to figure out who the experts are in this field. Who do other reporters quote? What kinds of people are missing from these stories? Then reach out to them directly. It can be scary to cold-call a professor or a corporation, but don't let that stop you. The hardest part is usually picking up the phone.
If calling the person directly doesn't work, you can ask for the public relations office. It may be able to help.
'Normal' people are the most important
When many young reporters get an assignment, they make the mistake of only interviewing people with five-word titles from big and official-seeming organizations. Those people are important, but don't forget the little guy (or gal).
To find him or her, think about your topic and imagine the type of person who is most affected by the issue -- who has the most intimate knowledge of it, or who has the most at stake. If it's about the economy and foreclosures, find a person whose house has been foreclosed upon. If it's about homelessness in your town, talk to homeless people. When I got assigned a story about the mysteries of the deep ocean after the 2010 BP oil spill, I found the guy who manufacturers robots that work at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.
Date around, but don't fear commitment
It's often a good idea to find one super-interesting person who most represents the topic you're researching and then center the story on him or her.
Picking that person, however, can be pretty stressful. I remember an early assignment when I was writing about a softball team in Florida for people over the age of 75. I wanted to do a profile of a player, but couldn't decide which one to pick. Eventually, an editor told me sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith: Use your gut to determine who is most interesting and then talk to that person at length. In this case, I found Kenny Marsh, who was the basis for my story about the softball team, by attending the games and talking to players.
Crowdsource with social media
Don't be afraid of the Internets. Use Facebook, Twitter and Google+ to find friends of friends or other random online types who can be your sources. Sometimes the best way to do this is to put out a solicitation.
Something such as: "Hi, I'm working on a story for CNN iReport about people who get married after they meet on 'World of Warcraft.' Know anyone like that? If so, please send me a note at (your e-mail address here)."
Be sure not to use contact information you don't want to be public.
And vet these sources when you do talk to them to make sure they are who they say they are. In the "World of Warcraft" example, you could double-check the story by asking who else was around when the couple met. Or ask to talk to their friends and family members about the situation.
I found the main guy featured in this story about "smartphone obsession" using the @cnntech Twitter feed. I talked to his friends and family members -- even a guy at his church -- to make sure his story lined up.
Troll the message boards and blogs
Some subcultures and professions have lively message boards and blogs online. Read through some of these and contact people if they have something interesting to say, or if they fit with your story.
Play off of people's connections
When you find one source, they can lead you to several others. Always end your first interview with these two questions: "Is there anything else you'd like to tell me that I didn't ask about?" and "Do you know anyone else whom I should speak with about this topic?" If you reach out to a couple of people with inside knowledge of your subject, they can connect you with other sources of interest.
This is particularly useful if you're working on an emotionally sensitive story. It's easier to get an interview with crime victims, for example, if someone they know and trust can vouch for you and your reasons for wanting to talk with them.
Wandering isn't a waste of time
If your story is rooted in a place, spend some time wandering around there, talking to people and "taking the pulse" of the situation.
Say you're doing a video about cuts to your local parks department's budget. Go to a few of the parks and talk to people about their thoughts. You may have to explain the situation to them before they'll offer an opinion, so go prepared.
If you're writing about life in a particular community, go to the places where people naturally hang out -- coffee shops or popular restaurants are a good place to start since people are already killing time there -- and talk your way around. Tell them who you are and why you want to chat.
These so-called "man-on-the-street" interviews can result in great sources; they also give you more authority on your topic since you can survey a range of opinions and get a sense of what's really going on in a place.
Tell the sources what to expect
A lot of journalists talk about access -- and when they do, they mean, to what degree can you actually talk to and/or hang out with this person. If someone is too busy for you, or doesn't seem interested in your story, they may not be the absolute best person to hang your whole project on. Tell your sources what you expect of them upfront and then see if they agree to the terms. Usually, I say that I'd like to use the person's real name; that I want to hang out with them while they're going about their normal routine; and I give a time range. If it's a phone interview, about 20 to 40 minutes is reasonable. In-person interviews tend to last longer and are always preferable when it's possible.
Think through all of the angles
Finally, a note on fairness: It's smart to think through all of the potential angles of your story and make sure that you understand them all.
One way to do this is to make a "stakeholder wheel." Think of all of the types of people who have stake in your topic. If you're writing about a new power plant in your town, a short list of stakeholders might include people who live nearby, power company officials, workers at the plant, environmental regulators, competing businesses and local government officials. Your topic is the hub of the wheel, and all these people branch off from it as spokes.
You don't have time to talk to every potential stakeholder, of course, but charting this out helps you see what your options are and ensures you're talking to people on all sides of an issue.
Editor's note: This piece is part of a CNN.com series about storytelling and reporting skills called iReport Boot Camp. In this edition, CNN.com technology writer John D. Sutter shares his advice on finding great sources. Read up, then give Sutter's advice a try in this week's iReport Boot Camp challenge.
(CNN) -- Characters make or break stories.
If you're writing about -- or photographing -- a unique, knowledgeable or quirky person, then readers are sure to remember your work.
If the people you interview are boring and uninformed, you run the risk of telling a story that is, at best, forgettable and, at worst, wrongheaded.
But don't fret, boot campers. Finding fascinating sources isn't as hard as it sounds. (Choosing a story topic, which was your assignment last week, is actually the hardest part, I think. So congrats on making it to week two.)
Here are a few tips on how to approach the source selection process. If you have any questions, feel free to holler in the comments section, or join us for a roundtable discussion of this iReport Bootcamp topic on August 25.
Read about the topic
It's not an awesome idea to go hunting for sources until you understand generally what kind of people are out there and what issues are at stake. Read other news coverage, government reports, books and scholarly articles to figure out who the experts are in this field. Who do other reporters quote? What kinds of people are missing from these stories? Then reach out to them directly. It can be scary to cold-call a professor or a corporation, but don't let that stop you. The hardest part is usually picking up the phone.
If calling the person directly doesn't work, you can ask for the public relations office. It may be able to help.
'Normal' people are the most important
When many young reporters get an assignment, they make the mistake of only interviewing people with five-word titles from big and official-seeming organizations. Those people are important, but don't forget the little guy (or gal).
To find him or her, think about your topic and imagine the type of person who is most affected by the issue -- who has the most intimate knowledge of it, or who has the most at stake. If it's about the economy and foreclosures, find a person whose house has been foreclosed upon. If it's about homelessness in your town, talk to homeless people. When I got assigned a story about the mysteries of the deep ocean after the 2010 BP oil spill, I found the guy who manufacturers robots that work at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.
Date around, but don't fear commitment
It's often a good idea to find one super-interesting person who most represents the topic you're researching and then center the story on him or her.
Picking that person, however, can be pretty stressful. I remember an early assignment when I was writing about a softball team in Florida for people over the age of 75. I wanted to do a profile of a player, but couldn't decide which one to pick. Eventually, an editor told me sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith: Use your gut to determine who is most interesting and then talk to that person at length. In this case, I found Kenny Marsh, who was the basis for my story about the softball team, by attending the games and talking to players.
Crowdsource with social media
Don't be afraid of the Internets. Use Facebook, Twitter and Google+ to find friends of friends or other random online types who can be your sources. Sometimes the best way to do this is to put out a solicitation.
Something such as: "Hi, I'm working on a story for CNN iReport about people who get married after they meet on 'World of Warcraft.' Know anyone like that? If so, please send me a note at (your e-mail address here)."
Be sure not to use contact information you don't want to be public.
And vet these sources when you do talk to them to make sure they are who they say they are. In the "World of Warcraft" example, you could double-check the story by asking who else was around when the couple met. Or ask to talk to their friends and family members about the situation.
I found the main guy featured in this story about "smartphone obsession" using the @cnntech Twitter feed. I talked to his friends and family members -- even a guy at his church -- to make sure his story lined up.
Troll the message boards and blogs
Some subcultures and professions have lively message boards and blogs online. Read through some of these and contact people if they have something interesting to say, or if they fit with your story.
Play off of people's connections
When you find one source, they can lead you to several others. Always end your first interview with these two questions: "Is there anything else you'd like to tell me that I didn't ask about?" and "Do you know anyone else whom I should speak with about this topic?" If you reach out to a couple of people with inside knowledge of your subject, they can connect you with other sources of interest.
This is particularly useful if you're working on an emotionally sensitive story. It's easier to get an interview with crime victims, for example, if someone they know and trust can vouch for you and your reasons for wanting to talk with them.
Wandering isn't a waste of time
If your story is rooted in a place, spend some time wandering around there, talking to people and "taking the pulse" of the situation.
Say you're doing a video about cuts to your local parks department's budget. Go to a few of the parks and talk to people about their thoughts. You may have to explain the situation to them before they'll offer an opinion, so go prepared.
If you're writing about life in a particular community, go to the places where people naturally hang out -- coffee shops or popular restaurants are a good place to start since people are already killing time there -- and talk your way around. Tell them who you are and why you want to chat.
These so-called "man-on-the-street" interviews can result in great sources; they also give you more authority on your topic since you can survey a range of opinions and get a sense of what's really going on in a place.
Tell the sources what to expect
A lot of journalists talk about access -- and when they do, they mean, to what degree can you actually talk to and/or hang out with this person. If someone is too busy for you, or doesn't seem interested in your story, they may not be the absolute best person to hang your whole project on. Tell your sources what you expect of them upfront and then see if they agree to the terms. Usually, I say that I'd like to use the person's real name; that I want to hang out with them while they're going about their normal routine; and I give a time range. If it's a phone interview, about 20 to 40 minutes is reasonable. In-person interviews tend to last longer and are always preferable when it's possible.
Think through all of the angles
Finally, a note on fairness: It's smart to think through all of the potential angles of your story and make sure that you understand them all.
One way to do this is to make a "stakeholder wheel." Think of all of the types of people who have stake in your topic. If you're writing about a new power plant in your town, a short list of stakeholders might include people who live nearby, power company officials, workers at the plant, environmental regulators, competing businesses and local government officials. Your topic is the hub of the wheel, and all these people branch off from it as spokes.
You don't have time to talk to every potential stakeholder, of course, but charting this out helps you see what your options are and ensures you're talking to people on all sides of an issue.
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