'Reporter Embarrasses Self, Profession of Journalism, Humanity'

Report, confirm. Report, confirm. The more diverse a body of sources you talk to for any given story, the more likely you are to write a good story that triangulates on something like truth and balance. After a semester of Public Affairs Reporting, these basics should be part of your journalistic psyche. I remind you of them because I hope you never do the things that set you up for this kind of criticism.

Alex Tizon: Talk to an ace reporter Dec. 2

Alex Tizon is coming to interview for a job at the J school. He's been a reporter for the Seattle Times and the Seattle bureau chief for the LA Times. Along the way, his writing and reporting have won a passel of prizes, including a Pulitzer in 1997 for exposing fraud in an American Indian housing program.

He's done some fantastic work, evidence of his ability to create opportunities, to know when they present themselves, and to be ready to seize it however it is that opportunity comes calling.

Online, he's fond of saying, "Most big achievements happen when great effort intersects with good luck. I've worked hard, and I've been lucky, which is another way of saying that I've been blessed."

Other bits of advice I find attributed to Tizon may reveal a bit about the personality behind the practice of being blessed:

"Go into dark places and write about them." He made a name for himself covering gangs, race and ethnicity, immigrants and immigration and Native American issues.

"Relax. Don't be a perfectionist." This may be something every person who imagines perfection has to be told from time to time. Chip Scanlon wrote about Tizon's report on the mood of America after 9/11. What may interest you most is Tizon's technique: He gave himself about eight hours to arrive in a town, find, report and write a story. Every day, for two weeks.

"Read, read, read. Think, think, think. Write, write, write." These are things all reporters must do to be ready to do their job. Things that too many fail to take the time for.

Alex Tizon is scheduled to meet with journalism students at 2:15 on Tues. Dec. 2. Probably in 401. Please make it a point to come talk with a great journalist, one who might just be teaching here next year.

What's it take to be a good reporter?

Please, pleeeeze pay attention to Deborah Howell when she says:

What makes a good reporter? Endless curiosity and a deep need to know what is happening. Then, the ability to hear a small clue and follow it.

All of style-book savvy, turns of phrase and feature-finding finesse in the world can't take you to the stories that curiosity and energy can unearth. Go. Read her column. Have a great Thanksgiving.

It is, might be, was. Who said? Oh yeah?

Maybe you all remember, back in the doughnut-filled haze of the day after Election Day, that I said to watch for a surge in the use of unnamed sources as news outlets scramble to be the first to name Obama's cabinet and varsity transition team members. The New York Observer tracked the odd unspooling of the news -- the rumor -- the news that Hillary Clinton was -- is, has been, has accepted -- offered the Secretary of State job.

And the future is ...

Young journalists in San Diego get props for kickin it and taking names. And they're not working for the local newspaper, TV or radio station. Could an enterprise like this be in your future?

Tweep2Tweep: Continuing the conversation

I'm glad Cameron is checking out the Facebook-Twitter relationship. While a few of you may have run screaming from our Twittering experiment, I encourage you to maintain your ties with your Tweeps.

There has been some reluctance to believe that Twittering may be an attractive skill to your next news employer. Don't just take my word for it. Poynter says so. Graphicdesigner tracks the trend as newspapers flock to the tiny updates, and flock they do.

Meanwhile, why wait for newspapers to get your breaking news. Or blogs, or broadcast. First word on the earthquake in China? Tweets.

Report peers into poverty's future

Kids Count is perhaps the most complete long-term study of the quality of life for American kids. It comes out every year. This weekend, Jennifer McKee in Helena reported on the 2007 data, which found among other things:

• The percentage of children living in moderate to severe poverty fell 7 points from 2000 to 2007, down from 49 percent seven years ago.

• The number of children in extreme poverty has almost doubled since 2000, up to 7 percent in 2007, from 4 percent.

Think about the stories begging to be told behind these numbers. What do these numbers tell us about the lives of many Montana children today -- and what do those stories foretell for Montana a decade from now?

Reading this type of data with an open, inquisitive mind can lead to valuable story telling that informs public policy decision making while the process is still malleable, before it devolves into NIMBYisms and city council-style polarity.

Compare Jennifer's version of the story with the AP's. Each interprets the data a bit differently and underscores different social aspects of the study. The AP reports, for instance, that

• The percentage of children living in poverty was unchanged in Montana at 17 percent during both 2000 and 2006. Nationally the rate rose to 18 percent, up 1 percentage point.

I'd argue Jennifer's more nuanced reporting is more valuable in the glimpse it gives behind the numbers. That doesn't mean the AP's version is wrong. It's worth browsing through the data and thinking about the stories the numbers beg you to tell.

Ethics Week Continues: The problems with kids these days (... as sources)

When is it OK to use young people as sources in a story, and when isn't it? The New York Times public editor tackled this question after one reporter queried 15 and 16year old students via Facebook for a story on what kind of person the famously media shy Cindy McCain is, and another reporter used a 12-year-old's account of witnessing alleged police brutality.

Editing II? Glad you asked.

I got the skinny on the Editing 2 situation. The new requirement is that you take a visual literacy class. It could still be J381 Editing 2, that's a news page design class. Or Jour227, intro photo journalism. Or R-TV 151, which is intro to TV production aka video editing. Those of you who have taken photo journalism should consider R-TV 151. The basics of still photography will serve you well as you move to video, and video will serve you well in any Online newsroom opportunities.

Numbers Stories: Get those wheels turning

I saw a lot of blank stares out there when I mentioned the numbers stories. Let's extend that first deadline -- I don't want to be reading a bunch of stories crying out for "just a couple more days!" Your first draft, worth 60 percent of the grade for this piece, is due by noon on Friday the 21st. I will get them back to you by class on Monday. The final draft, then, is still due Dec. 3, which shifts the burden onto your Thanksgiving holiday, something I tried to avoid. If you want to turn your first drafts in early, feel free, just make sure they are complete.

That said, I'd like to see a fairly robust sharing of ideas in the comments to this post. Share your ideas, give feedback on others', help each other refine the best story idea you can. These stories should follow data, or money, to tell a story of change over time. A story, I hope, with a news hook and an impact.

Here are some links to reports that take their inspiration in whole or part from numbers that tell a story. I'm not suggesting you tackle stories this complex in the next two weeks. I am suggesting you open your mind and explore your beat with an eye to what data is available and the stories that data might tell.

• From the public health and safety beat: Chris Halsne of KIRO in Seattle focused on fatal crashes involving high-end recreation vehicles. He used a variety of investigative techniques, including tapping into federal safety data.
• From the education beat: Education funding fraud was the focus of reporting by Thomas Hargrove and Gavin Off who followed the money to find millions of dollars being paid to private charter schools for students who rarely, or never, showed up.
• From the crime beat: Federal funding for rape kit analysis is being withdrawn from strapped police departments nationwide because they haven't spent money from past years and the backlog of analysis just grows and grows. In practical terms, a bureacratic log jam appears to mean that lots of bad guys are going free for want of evidence.

And now that you've made it this far, Swivel's blog is devoted almost entirely to the stories numbers tell.

Nasty ham, ethics and the National Organization of Women

When is it right to include obcenities or vulgarities in a news story? When should a reporter remove themselves from covering a story? This case study, as promised, covers both of these questions.

WTF?

What's the Future of Journalism? Several of you have asked, but why should you listen to me when you can tune into a national forum on this question and even send you questions to the panel in real time.

This NPC Centennial Forum on The First Amendment, Freedom of the Press and the Future of Journalism will feature top national journalists leading the discussion. It will be Webcast from the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on Monday, Nov. 10 at 4:30 p.m. in Anderson 316. If you want to cover this as your Twitter story, you may.

Panelists will include:
Donna Leinwand, national correspondent for USA Today and Club vice president;
Ed Henry, White House correspondent for CNN
James Kotecki, video blogger for Politico.com
Mark Jurkowski, associate director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism.

It will be moderated by Gil Klein, a veteran national correspondent, former National Press Club president and director of the Club’s Centennial Forums program.

Viewers will be able to ask questions of the panelists in real time by sending them to NPCforum@gmail.com. Who knows, maybe you can send question tweets as well.

The forum is part of a nationwide conversation the National Press Club is holding during its 100th anniversary to look at where the news business is going and what news consumers should be demanding.

Questions: Call Clem Work at 243-2160 or email clem.work@umontana.edu

Help finding each other on Twitter

Justin Woodburn says it'll be easier to find me on Twitter if you A) use an address other than your umontana address as your own, and B) put my non-umontana address in your address book. Once you're all following me, you can look at my profile and choose to follow each other from there.

I sent you my non-UM email in an email to your UM email.

Jaffee's weekly committee roundup

The big news in this week's committee round up comes at the end of the report, next year's budget (2010) has stalled and 3 percent across the board cuts are being sought. If you want to know how mad this makes some people, talk to my cousin who is on the cemetery board. She's spitting mad because the cemetery has worked hard to squirrel away money for a new back end loader or some such piece of equipment and the city, she says, wants to take that money bucket away. So, there's news a-brewin' when $$$s at stake. Be sure to read Keila's story in today's paper, she covered it, disproving the popular myth that the Missoulian doesn't cover committee meetings.

Let Amy G. help you with Twitter

Amy Gahran is a remarkably energetic journalist and Twitter enthusiast. Let her introduce you to Twitter, its strengths, weaknesses and how best to use it for good, not evil. This post discusses how to grow a useful -- not annoying -- Twitter posse. If you like what you read, she's got a tremendous amount of helpful information on her blog.

Twitter tips links

Here are some links to stories about Twitter that may help you control and safely and wisely use this new newsgathering tool.

The first is a hilarious cautionary tale about why it has proven a bad idea to Twitter the funeral of a three-year-old as a news story (and other pitfalls the Rocky Mountain News has encountered using the tool.)

This describes Amy's philosophy on growing a high quality Twitter posse.

The next two are mostly aimed at those of you who think you might like a long term relationship with Twitter, if only you learn to control it before it controls you. Naturally, there has evolved a practice of Twitter spam. This is how to control the spam should it stalk you.

And this one is for those of you who really get into it and want to separate tweets from your Tweeps from tweets from news organizations.

Now, honestly, I have other work to do (Good luck, Tweeps.)

A chance to practice on Twitter and meet a fantastic journalist

Environmental journalist extraordinaire Mark Dowie is going to speak tonight at 7 pm in DAH316. He's going to talk about the toll conservation efforts sometimes take on indigenous communities internationally. I am going to try and cover his talk via Twitter, so get yourselves set up by tonight and you can watch me stumble through the very thing I will be asking you to do next Monday.

I highly recommend coming to see Dowie yourself (and join me in Twittering if you dare.) He is a renowned investigative journalist whose books include, Losing Ground: American Environmentalism at the Close of the 20th Century, and Conservation Refugess: The 100-year Conflict between Global Conservation and Native Peoples. (This photo is one of his and illustrates in part tonight's subject.)

Getting started with Twitter

Ready for this grand Twitter experiment?

• Go to Twitter.com and get yourself an account. Let your screen name be something we will recognize (you can change it later if you want to be mysterious, but for our purposes, let's accept a journalistic standard of transparency.)
• While you're there, go to Settings, then Devices, and set up your phone so you can send and receive Tweets on your mobile device aka phone. Don't forget to verify your phone. Twitter's phone number is a shortcut: 40404.
• While you're at it, you might as well set your phone up to access mobile Twitter. Only do this if a) your phone has a mobile web browser, and b) you have a ton (or unlimited) amount of minutes. The biggest downside to using the mobile Twitter site is it could easily eat a lot of minutes. Twittering itself doesn't take up minutes, it counts against your txt message limit. This might be a time to boost that txt limit to infinite.
• Take some time to browse the FAQ and quick commands pages. Sure, this all seems like it could be incredibly annoying. But don't worry, you can turn Twitter on and off with a text message command, plus you can shut out particularly annoying people individually if it comes to that. For now, let's try to stick this out and create a Public Affairs Reporting community and and see what this trend is all about.
  

Jaffee's weekly committee roundup

Councilman Bob Jaffee has posted his weekly roundup of city council committee happenings. Read it for an inkling of the issues likely to shape upcoming council meetings. (No, no one talked about sewer rate hikes.)

Read Ray Ring and marvel

Ray Ring is an extraordinary reporter. He works for High Country News and has a knack for getting to the heart of complex issues in compelling ways. Here is a story he wrote a few years ago, I was reading it to prepare for the panel discussion this weekend because both Ray and Gayla Benefield will be on the panel.

Whether or not you attend Saturday's talks or not, read this story that asks why Montana's environmental community was not more involved in exposing asbestos poisoning in Libby. This is not breaking news, yet it reads with a sense of urgency and timeliness.

Look at how it is constructed and think about how many people he talked to -- those who appear in the story and those who merely informed it. What makes it so readable? What words and anecdotes does he use to create an image of this community? What makes this a news story rather than an academic consideration of the question of the effectiveness of environmentalists? Enjoy.

What do people need to know and how do they know it?

What does it take to keep the wheels of democracy turning? The experiment rests on the back of an informed populace. So what happens if people stop being informed? Why might that happen? Whose job is it to care and what happens if nobody listens to those who do?

Come be part of the conversation about information and a democracy in the age of old media compression and new media expansion. The Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy is holding one of three community meetings here on Saturday. I'd love you all to attend. I think it will be a good look at some issues facing the media today -- and tomorrow, when it belongs to you.

You may cover one or more of these sessions as a beat story, either for this week or next. Write on the top of your story which you want to apply it toward. Next week your trend stories are due so you only need to do one beat story and this could be it.

The agenda includes:
9-10:30 -- Ag and small communities (Gallagher Business School Room 104)
10-12:30 -- Environment and Natural Resources (UC Theater, 3rd Floor)
1:30-3 -- Underserved Communities (UC Theater, 3rd Floor)
3:15-4:45 Political information (UC Theater, 3rd Floor)

What's going on? Committee roundup and police log are here

Here, to satisfy your new, insatiable curiosity about what is going on in Missoula, are the police log for Wednesday and Bob Jaffee's weekly committee roundup.

Police log for Friday, Sunday and Monday

Here are the daily police activity logs for Oct. 3, 5 and 6. If I find the fourth, I'll post it later.

Facebook beats porn, analyst finds

The final paper for this class will be one that reports news that is strongly supported by basic data analysis. We'll talk more about those stories, and their less structured counterpart, the bare-bone trend story soon. For now, listen to this story from About the Media, which discusses how one researcher has shown that social networking web sites are more popular than pornography sites, and why.

Finish your beat reports and think about city council

On Monday, we'll start covering the city council in earnest. That means you should:

• Know where city council meets.
  
• Be ready to attend the meeting Monday night in order to file a news story by midnight.
• Familiarize yourself with the agenda before class meets so we can talk about what might be newsworthy.

Also on Monday, your second beat report is due. Please print it out and staple the pages together. This beat report should be far richer than your first. It should show that you are thinking about your beat in interesting ways, anticipating what news will come up in the next couple of months, what trends are going on on your beat, what data is kept on your beat that might come in handy when deciding what your number story will be.

Format changes

Here is the correct format to use when filing your candidate information boxes. Follow this example in terms of what is all caps and bold, too, please. And remember to get a photo! Thanks.

House District ##: First Last Name

REPUBLICAN
AGE: 71
OCCUPATION:
HOMETOWN:
FAMILY:
EDUCATION:
POLITICAL OR PUBLIC SERVICE:

Take my money, please. Preparing for budget and tax stories

On Wednesday we're going to consider the way local budgets and taxes are covered. There are a variety of approaches to this topic, some more full of piss and vinegar than others. Some that make more sense than others, too.

Examples of the former often show up on local blogs, like this missive from EcoRoving Blackbirds, which is actually an exclamation point response to Pete Talbot's less explosive thoughts at 4&20 Blackbirds.

Now that you see how much fun covering a local budget debate can be, here's the more pedestrian approach the Missoulian took, covering the city budget one step at a time:

• Aug. 6: A $250,000 budget deficit is revealed.
  
• Aug. 14: That gap widens to $367,000.
• Aug. 21: Debate about what to do gets heated, and cut short.
• Sept. 9: City Council passes the budget.

Cities, of course, aren't the only entities that struggle with budgets. Counties, federal agencies and national parks all struggle to balance needs and wants with money coming in.

Read these to get a sense of how a budget story might unravel. Read the agenda for next Monday's city council meeting so you can know before you go. Monday, Oct. 6, you'll be covering the meeting with a midnight deadline.

Police activity log for the weekend of Sept. 26-29

Police activity logs for Friday, Saturday and Sunday are posted.

Get your voters' guide here

The official voters' guide to the 2008 November elections has been released by the Secretary of State's office. It is especially useful for those interested in initiatives.

The low down on committee activities

City Council member Bob Jaffee takes it upon himself each week to write up his impressions of what's gone on in committee meetings. He posts it to a list serve and lively give and take ensues. It's a nice way to check in on the basics of meetings you have missed. I'll try to post Bob's thoughts here for the rest of the semester. That's him over to the right. He's the one in glasses.

Profiling your candidate: The details

Here is how I'd like you to profile your candidate. Copy and paste this list at the top of your story, and fill in the blanks with your answers:

House District ##: FirstName Last Name
PARTY
AGE:(Confirm birth date with candidate and put age as of Election Day. If there age changes between now and election day, mention that here.)
OCCUPATION:
HOMETOWN:
FAMILY:
EDUCATION:
POLITICAL OR PUBLIC SERVICE: (Past experience.)
CAMPAIGN WEB SITE:

After that, you are writing a basic candidate profile. Who are they, what issues most interest them, what makes them qualified for and interested in this job they are seeking; what do others who know them have to say about them.

Aim for 750 - 1,000 words. Make it complete, fair and balanced. Make it interesting. Check your facts.

Everyone has two stories related to this, due Oct. 3. For most people, those stories are a candidate profile and a race story that you'll write with the reporter who profiles your candidate's opponent. Others will write a short (150 word) summary of a ballot initiative and a longer story profiling the issue. See my previous post if these assignments are not clear to you.

Think about the big picture

Remember to consider the bigger picture when thinking about the House candidate you are profiling. What does it matter if this person wins? What does it matter to the people he or she will represent, and what does it matter to the make up of the Legislature? Chelsi Moy wrote an overview of the legislative situation. Think about where your candidate falls in that scheme.

Police activity for Monday

Here is the daily public media log of calls responded to Monday by the Missoula Police Department.

Police reports for Homecoming weekend

Here are the daily police logs for Friday, Saturday and Sunday of Homecoming. Some light reading for you on your sickbed, Cameron.

Get your door codes this week

Beginning Friday, doors to computer labs will be locked after 5 p.m. The rooms are available to reporting students 24-7, so be sure your GrizCard works in the card swipe to get into the building and get your door keypad combo from Judy in DAH 412. She works 8-noon, Monday through Thursday.

Campaign coverage: And we're off!

Everyone should now have a local candidate or ballot issue to cover as we dive headlong into local government and election reporting.

The goal is to have a comprehensive J-school election guide up in time to be a useful resource to voters in Missoula, and with Prof. Swibold's Rural News Network, the state.

Take a look at the sample ballot from the Missoula County courthouse to get you started.


Here's a rundown of the assignments and deadlines we went over in class today:

Week of Sept. 22: Your beat story this week should be news on your beat that is related to an election -- any election -- this November. File by noon Friday or midnight as the story breaks.

Wednesday, Sept. 24: Come to class with a basic understanding of your candidate or issue, the people who may vote on them, and key issues of concern in the race.

Week of Sept. 30: No beat stories due. Work on election stories and Beat Report #2.

Friday, Oct. 3: Deadline for candidate profiles, race overviews, issue stories and issue briefs.

Monday, Oct. 6: Beat Report #2 due. We will all attend the City Council meeting this evening at 7 and write stories from that meeting for a midnight deadline. Each of you will have a story from your beat due this week, as well.

Click here to see who is assigned to cover which races.

Police, commmittee and environmental news, all in one

For your inspiration, here is the Missoula daily police activity log, along with a short run down of activity in some city council subcommittees and a link to a typical daily update on environmental stories being noticed across the country.

Police activity log for Monday Sept. 15

Here is the daily police activity log for Sept. 15, posted Sept. 16.

Assignments for Week of Sept. 15

Due this week:

1) A justice beat story that you come up with on your own. Could come from court or court documents; could come from the arrest log; could be a trend or a story you trip across and recognize as news. Same rules as usual: Due at midnight the day it breaks or by noon Friday.

2) Your second beat story. I hope you are becoming familiar with your beat, meeting people and noticing news. Pick a story idea that has a good chance of panning out. Come away with a story for this week as well as some new story ideas and a couple of new sources. Build your beat.

X) You do not need to file a story from Maurice's talk.

Class Monday: Maurice Possley at 2:30 in Rm 316

Class meets today at 2:30 in Room 316. We'll be hearing from Pulitzer Prize-winner Maurice Possley, whose work on the justice beat has often focused on instances where an innocent man has been sentenced to die. He is in Missoula to help start a Montana branch of the national Innocence Project.

You should be prepared to write a 300-500 word story about Possley and his work. Check out some of his work and come ready to ask questions and hear where the story takes you.

Police log for Sunday, Sept. 14

Here is the police log for Sunday, Sept. 14.

Police log for Saturday, Sept. 13

Here is the police log for Saturday, Sept. 13, 2008.

Police activity log for Friday Sept. 12

I've posted the police log for Friday Sept. 12.

Friends list

I've appreciated the brain storming that's been going on among you all as you share ideas. To help that continue, here is a list of who has what beats, along with last names so you can email each other. Use your grizmail accounts, please

Public health
Abbott, Alaina M.
Rott, Nathaniel D

Local government
Behan, Collin P.
Benham, Joshua R.

Agriculture
Bennion, Kimball L.
Woodburn, Justin L.

K-12 Education
Bradshaw, Shanda D.
Warzocha, Troy J.

Environment
Diehl, Elizabeth A.
George, Carmen L.
Lehman, Kyle D.

U of M
Flandro, Carly
Steve Miller

Growth
Gyermek, Megan E.
Norskog, Victoria D.

Justice
Rasmusson, Cameron J.

Police activity log for Thursday

Here is the daily report for Missoula police and sheriff's activity on Thursday Sept. 11, 2008, posted Friday, Sept. 12.

Covering Maurice

Class will meet at 2:30 in DAH 316 on Monday. We'll be meeting with Maurice Possely regarding his work exonerating people on Death Row. I'll ask you each to write a 500- word piece about Possely and what he has to say. Take some time before then to look on the Web and learn what you can about Maurice -- who he is and what kind of work he's done.

Your short stories on Possely will be due Monday at midnight. If you cannot make that changed class time, you may attend the meeting on Saturday, Sept. 13, of the Montana Independence Project and report on what Possely has to say there. For more information about the Saturday meeting, see my Sept. 5 post.

Wednesday class & assignments

We're going to do it all today: Class and courthouse.

I'll keep class to one hour, but want to talk specifically about news writing and pitfalls. That should help you with the assignments most of you will be writing: Beat reports (file by email, properly formatted, by deadline,) and Court briefs. I will collect documents on two prelims each group hears today. I'll copy them after we get back to campus. You should be able to pick up court documents by 4:00 Wednesday at my office. Four paragraph briefs are due tonight by midnight.

Public Media Report posted

Here is the Public Media Report for events of Monday, Sept. 8, posted Tuesday, Sept. 9.

United Bankruptcy: If your mother loves you, Part 2

Holy cow. Well, since class met three hours ago, a false news report that made it onto a newspaper's website caused United Airlines stock to decline by 99.92 percent. The airline is frantically trying to set the record straight -- and the newspaper is denying that it ever posted anything? How did this happen? Malicious hacker or sloppy net editor? It'll be an inside media story to watch as it gets sorted out.

Local interest Web sites

You're not the only ones keeping a close eye on what's going on in Missoula. Local bloggers of all stripes are a busy bunch. Missoulapolis and 4&20 Blackbirds are two blogs with different perspectives on what's news in this place (and look at all those useful links they point you too as well!)

J-tech, the printers and help

If you have tried to print from one of the classrooms and been unable to, please take the time to go to Jtech and let Peet and the tech support guys for the building know about it. Filing a ticket is the only way they can get to the bottom of your problems. Even if it seems that everyone else is having the same problems, file a ticket.

The same is true for any other tech-related problems in Don Anderson Hall. File a ticket.

I put Jtech under favorite links on this page.

If your mother says she loves you, check it out.

People can say pretty much anything they want to: it was suicide; Miley Cyrus is dead; Sarah Palin fought federal earmark spending. It is a reporter's job to be sure the information that makes it into the news is sound information. (It's not clear; she's not dead; not very hard, she didn't)

Be exacting about the information you use. It should be accurate. It should be attributed to a named source. It should be true to the context in which you are using it.

Public Media Report posted

Here is the Public Media Report for today, Monday Sept. 8. I'll try to post the report every morning at least for the duration of our focus on the Justice beat.

Learn about the Montana Innocence Project

The Montana Innocence Project is a nonprofit organization with a mission to identify and exonerate innocent Montana inmates who've been wrongly convicted.

As a class, we're going to meet with Maurice Possley (that's his photo up there,) about this on Sept. 15 from 2-3:30 probably in DAH316. I'd encourage anyone who is interested to also attend the Saturday workshop described below. If you miss Maurice on Monday, please make an extra effort to attend on Saturday.

UM Journalism Profs. Dennis Swibold and Clem Work are on the board of directors for the Montana Innocence Project, as is Jeff Renz at the UM law school and others. Jessie McQuillan has been hired to direct the project.

The Project is sponsoring a day-long seminar/training on "Wrongful Convictions & Freeing the Innocent" led by investigative reporter and former Pollner professor Maurice Possley, who recently left the Chicago Tribune. This will be an excellent learning opportunity and a condensed introduction to the issue of investigating wrongful convictions.

Here are the details:
What: Wrongful Convictions Seminar
When: Saturday, Sept. 13, 2008; Welcome at 9:30 and sessions from 10-3 with lunch break
Where: Don Anderson Hall Room 316
Anyone with interest or questions can contact Jessie McQuillan, executive director of the Montana Innocence Project, at 544-6698, or mtinnocenceproject@gmail.com.

Nationwide, DNA evidence has helped exonerate 220 innocent Americans, and another 200 or so wrongly convicted people have been freed thanks to other forms of evidence. Montana is one of the last states to launch an innocence project, and to date, three Montana men have been cleared by DNA evidence.

Guidance for those struggling with beat reports

Never mind the hippies, how are you doing on your beat reports due Monday?

I've talked to a couple of people who have been struggling with format. I've left it up to you how you format your report. Still, if you'd like a little structure, I'd expect every beat report to have sections such as:

• This is my beat -- A broad overview. Spend some time thinking about what your beat encompasses.
• Recent news on my beat -- Spend some time reading both local news about your beat (Missoulian, Indy, New West, Kaimin) and national news. Remember that specialty publications may help you understand your beat, eg. The Chronicle of Higher Education is something higher ed reporters should look at; K-12 reporters should see Ed Week.
• Key sources on my beat -- People, publications etc. that you anticipate using as sources on your beat for the rest of the semester. This part should be for you, not me. If you know how to get a hold of people now, if you've already introduced yourself to them and asked for their help, it'll be easier to get ahold of them when your big story breaks.
• The schedule on my beat -- Are there regular meetings or annual events that are going to happen on your beat this semester? Figure that out and put it in your report.
• Story ideas -- Every step of the way you should have felt the wheels turning. The more you learn about your beat, the more story ideas should tumble into your mind. Write them down. Get your notebooks going. You don't have to pursue every story, but keeping track of your story ideas will give you a well to get to when you thirst for your next story idea.

I hope that helps. See you on Monday when we'll talk about beat stories for the week ahead, review writing you submitted earlier and talk about the Internet and the scavenger hunt.

Have a great weekend.

Assignment overview

Here's what we'll be working on next week:

On Monday your first beat reports are due. We'll talk about the Internet as source; and about writing. I'll give back your speech coverage.

In class on Wednesday, we'll talk about your beat reports and about the stories people are working on for their first beat stories. Some of you may have filed them already by then. That's fine. Come ready to talk about story ideas and how to make them work.

Then, Wednesday at 1:20 p.m. we will meet outside the Missoula County Courthouse annex. Half the class will spend 30 minutes in Judge Karen Orzech's courtroom at Justice Court, the other half will meet with Shirley Faust to learn about record keeping in District Court. If you are late, find the District Court office and join that group. At 2 p.m., the two groups will trade places. I'll stay with the courtroom group.

At 2:30, I will pick up documents from a couple of the first appearances each group watched. I'll make copies of these for you and have them available back at my office by 4. I'll leave them there; pick them up when you can. Your assignment: Write two four paragraph long briefs using the documents I provide and any notes you take in court. These are due at midnight on Wednesday, via my umontana.edu email.

If you don't have someplace pressing to be at 2:30, I'd encourage you to wander around the courthouse and make your way across the street to city hall. Learn the lay of the land. We will all be working the Justice beat for a few weeks.

The first stories from your beat are due no later than Friday at noon. Breaking news stories should be filed by midnight the day they happen. These stories should be as long as they need to be, not longer, not shorter. If you need a limit, don't go over 750 words.

Your beat, your new flame

In the event that you want to review my New Beat Love speech for inspiration, here it is. Were the direct quotes you used in your story accurate? Did you figure out that Gay Talese is the most famous master of the art of hanging out (but that he did not write or ever give this speech?) Go here for a list of who is covering what beat.


Love Your New Beat

There is an art to hanging out. In this age of multi-tasking and over- full schedules it sometimes feels like there’s not a moment to spare. But it’s different for a reporter new to a beat – you can’t afford not to spend time with your new infatuation

And it should be an infatuation, this new beat of yours. The more intimately you know it, the more it will reward you. The reporter who knows their beat completely and compassionately will find stories others would miss; will meet sources others would overlook; will have a cell number when others only know the office number.

Treat your new beat as you would a major crush or a new flame: spend time with it; learn about its nightmares and its dreams. History and budgets are the scars and aspirations of a beat.

Find its pulse. Know what it sounds like when its excited, when its sleepy. Know who wields power on your beat – and who feels afflicted by it. Know the rules of your beat. You have to know the usual routine in order to report when the unusual happens.

Anticipate changes in your new beat’s moods. Know the laws and the calendar that governs the rhythms of its life. Know its news. Read coverage from long ago, and from yesterday and today – it’s like thumbing through high school yearbooks together, a window into a time before you.

This new flame isn’t perfect. Flaws and criticism are part of its complexion. Know its wrinkles and listen to its critics. They complain because the beat is a part of their lives, because it affects them or afflicts them.

The powerful, the powerless, the engaged and the merely interested – these people on your beat, they are your own heart, they are your readers. When you neglect your beat, when your attention wanders, when you miss the story or drop the ball – that’s heartbreak.

A beat reporter becomes the never-sleeping eyes and ears for a community with countless distractions. Regardless of what your beat is, the basic expectations are the same: You need to be ready, curious, questioning and, above all, you must be there.

This semester, remember how important it is to just hang out together. With your beat.

Links for covering the Justice beat

Navigating the Justice beat means knowing your way around the courts and understanding the normal process for handling different levels of crime. We covered a lot of ground with that in mind today. Feel free to check my notes if you need a refresher.

A lot of basic information about daily events on the Justice beat are now online. These include:

* The Missoula County jail roster, which tells you who is in jail and gives you an idea who was arrested last night.

* The U.S. District Court docket, which tells you which cases are scheduled for what and when in that court.

* The city's daily activity report is not online, but gets emailed to a broad list of subscribers. This report is available to the public at the front desk at the Police Department. Peruse the 26-page report I received this morning to see how much goes on in Missoula, and how little is written in this report.

None of this information will do you much good as a reporter unless you know the people and issues that are important to your community. For that, you need to hang out -- but with a real sense of purpose.

Beat reports due next Monday, not Wednesday

Your first beat reports will be due Monday Sept. 8, not the 3rd as I incorrectly posted early (I changed it. Thanks Tori.) They'll be due the first Monday we have class of each month.

The point of this first beat report is to encourage you to get the lay of the land of your new beat. Probably the most important questions you'll need to answer are: What's the type of news that emerges on my beat and what news stories can I anticipate happening this semester? To figure that out, you should read a lot of news from the recent past about your beat, learn where news tends to happen on your beat and who cares about it. Talk to lots of people about it.

Scavenger links are fixed

The Hint and Answer links in the scavenger hunt should all work now. If they seem very slow, they're working. If they're not going to work you'll get an error message right away. Enjoy the hunt. Have a great Labor Day weekend.

Scavanger's broken!

Yep, those hint and answer links on the scavenger hunt aren't working -- not that you all need hints. I'll work on fixing them tomorrow. Meanwhile, feel free to dive right into finding the answers.

Online scavenger hunt

Most everyone knows how to use a search engine to find information on the Internet, but it takes a thoughtful, discriminating user to find trustworthy information that best answers a specific question. There is a tremendous amount of untrustworthy, or even malevolent, junk on the Internet. It's up to you to separate trash from treasure.

With that in mind, here is a five-question online scavenger hunt. Each question is accompanied by links to a hint and an answer, as well as a brief discussion of the quality of the source and how it might be attributed in a news story. Spend 10 minutes trying to answer the question before you hit the hint key. Work your way through the questions. Keep track of your approach, wrong turns and right ones. We'll talk about the answers, and the process of finding them, in class on Sept. 3.

Here are a couple of things to keep in mind on that treasure hunt:

Evaluate the source: Information is only as good as its source. If you don't know who is making a claim or presenting a fact on the Internet, consider that information false until you are satisfied that its origin is reputable. Sources with authority might include non-partisan government (.gov) sources, educational sources that strive to present objective information (.edu) and non-profit groups with a clear analytical mission (.org). Of course, there is plenty of partisan, misleading or just wrong information at .gov, .edu and .org sites, so think critically and evaluate the information you are finding.

Search strategically: Bill Dedman at Power Reporting.com has a helpful tutorial on how to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of your Web search. Bill is also the inspiration for this localized scavenger hunt.

And now, your mission:

Scavenger Hunt

Q1. Match a name to a phone number. A tipster has passed on a terrific lead about a federal investigation of the president of the University of Montana. Caller ID tells you the tipster called from 406-721-0532. Without calling the number, find out: Whose phone number is that? Who are they and why might their identity matter? Hint. Answer.

Q2. Adjust for inflation. You have written a story reporting that construction of the dam at Milltown in 1907-08 cost about $400,000. Your editor wants to know how much that would be in today’s dollars. What’s your answer? Hint. Answer.

Q3. Check the law. A 15-year-old boy was hit and killed by a car in Missoula. He was struck while riding his bicycle on the sidewalk in a residential area. Was it legal for him to be riding on the sidewalk? Hint. Answer.

Q4. Background a business executive. Dennis R. Washington is a familiar name in Missoula but all you really know about him is that he has a football stadium named after him. Who is he? How old is he? What company or companies is he affiliated with? Make a family tree to help understand his companies. In what industry did he get his start? What types of work is he known for now? What is the profit trend for his company? Can you find information on Dennis Washington’s annual compensation? How much does he make? What basic bio information do you have on him? Hint. Answer.

Q5. Background an organization. Some groups have names that make them sound sympathetic to an issue they actually oppose. Others aren’t really groups at all. What and who does the group Americans for American Energy represent? Can you find another group whose name obscures their mission or who they represent? Hint. Answer.

Monday assignments recapped

We covered a lot in class today, so here's a recap of your assignments:

• Speech story. File a 150-word story on the speech I gave in class. Include a reference to, or quote from, a non-fiction artist famous for perfecting the art of hanging out. Be sure you format the story as outlined in an earlier post (and in class). Email it to me at nadia.white@umontana.edu. This is due by midnight tonight.

• Tackle the online scavenger hunt I'm about to post. It's only got five questions. It should take less than 10 minutes per question. Write up your answers and bring them to class Wednesday. We're going to talk about how good reporters separate trash from treasure on the Internet. This is due Wed. Sept. 3, in class, for discussion. I'll post the Scavenger Hunt as a separate post after this.

• Start working on Beat Report #1. This is due, printed out, in class, on Sept. 8. It should be excruciatingly complete. The format is of your choosing. Make these Beat Reporting useful to you.

Pictured above is the writer who perfected the art of hanging out. Thanks to NY Magazine for the photo.

Filing stories for Public Affairs Reporting

It's important to me that stories you submit have a consistent format. It can help you, too. If staring at a blank screen gives you writer's block, start every story by typing in your slugline, headline and byline. It gets the ball rolling.

Here's a run-through of the format I'd like you to use. I'll go over this in class Wednesday.

All stories should contain:
* A slugline (flush right) – LastName.StoryWord.DateCode (Eg.White/Format/82708)
* A headline (flush left)
* Your byline (flush left)

The datecode is just the month, date and year all run together: 82708. Aug. 27, 2008.

Spacing and margins
All stories should be double spaced with one-inch margins. That gives me room to write comments if I’m handling the print version.

Email or web posting stories
All stories that are submitted as email should use the slug in the subject line, eg. White/Format/82708. That tells me who is submitting the story and what the story is.

Posting a story, or the top of a story, as a comment on MizzooNews should look the same as a printed version.

Font and type size
Find a happy place between saving paper and taxing my eyes. Times New Roman, 10- or 11-point works.

Putting it all together
So the top of every story you file for this class should look like this:

White/Format/82708

Prof requires consistent formatting
By NADIA WHITE

Consistent story formatting helps keep stories straight. Prof. Nadia White told her Public Affairs Reporting class on Wednesday adherence to formatting guidelines would be taken into account when she is grading stories this semester.

Emails and stories that carry the correct formatting are easier to sort. “It prevents me from getting 16 stories all slugged ‘CopBrief,’” she said. This format identifies the reporter, subject and submission date. All this makes it less likely the story will get lost and more likely it will be accurately recorded in the grade book. (Except these lines would be double spaced.)

Thanks to Doug Savage for the chickens.

Welcome. Post your bio paragraphs here.

Welcome to MizzooNews, a blog for students of Nadia White's Public Affairs Reporting class at the University of Montana. This site is intended to facilitate discussion related to public interest news coverage in Missoula and the world .

We've kicked off the semester by getting to know a little bit about each other in class. (That's Jim interviewing Troy in the photo.) Following the example of Julie Sullivan's very short profile on the toothless Joe Peak, I've asked each of you to get to know one classmate a little bit better by writing a 350-word biography.

Take to heart William Strunk's tight-fisted approach to writing as relayed in Strunk and White's Elements of Style:

"Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer tmake all his centences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell."

For your first assignment, please submit the first two paragraphs of your student biography as a comment to this post. You do that by clicking on the word comment at the bottom of this post. Submit the complete 350-word biography to me at inbox.nwhite@gmail.com. Be sure you put a byline and submission date on the full bio you send to me. Your gmail post name can be whatever you'd like.

After you've posted your bio-graphs, please read through other posts. Is there a lead or a style of lead that grabs you? Is there information you find that as a reader you really expect to get in the first couple of paragraphs? Check back closer to class time and read as many leads as you can. Come to class ready to talk about how you feel about these leads.

See you Wednesday.

-- Nadia