Tuesday, May 27, 2008

'Reznetters' Net National Award, Internships

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Eleven staff members of reznetnews.org have snagged summer internships this summer at eight organizations, including The Boston Globe, Denver Post and three bureaus of The Associated Press.

All are grads of the American Indian Journalism Institute, an intensive three-week program for college students sponsored by the Freedom Forum. AIJI is held each June at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion.

Reznet reporter Sunnie Redhouse was recently was named as one of the nation’s 100 best student journalists by UWire, a news and career service for college students. Redhouse, a Navajo who graduated this month from the University of New Mexico and is a 2005 AIJI grad, will report at The Salt Lake Tribune.

“It’s validation of what we’re trying to do, both in terms of reznet and AIJI,” said Denny McAuliffe, who teaches reporting at AIJI and is the project director and creator of Reznet. The six-year-old Web site, a grantee of the McCormick Foundation, is a project of the University of Montana School of Journalism in Missoula.

For more information, click here: www.reznetnews.org.

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Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Telling the Iraq Story

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Americans say they are well informed about the war in Iraq, yet many question the media's performance in covering the conflict.

A
new McCormick Foundation-funded online poll of nearly 9,000 respondents, conducted by The Poynter Institute and Zogby International said that while three-quarters of those surveyed thought they were well-informed about the war in Iraq through media coverage, only
18 percent rated the coverage as either good or excellent. (For more, visit: http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=101&aid=143774)
The stories respondents would most like to see covered include:
  • Information about the Iraqi government 68%
  • Pieces on the Iraqi people 68%
  • Coverage of returning soldiers 58%
The survey was commissioned as part for a McCormick Foundation Specialized Reporting Institute on Covering War at Home. The three-day training for 18 working reporters on how to cover the impact of the Iraq war in American communities is currently being held at Poynter's headquarters in St. Petersburg, Fla.

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Friday, May 16, 2008

We've Changed Our Name!

Friday, May 16, 2008

Dear Partners and Friends,

The McCormick Tribune Foundation's board of directors yesterday approved a name change. We now are the McCormick Foundation.

You can visit the link below that provides a press release with more information that clarifies the Foundation’s long-standing position as an independent organization committed to serve children, communities and country. The new name also aligns us more closely with the legacy of our founder, Robert R. McCormick.

We are confident that this change will better position the Foundation for long-term growth and flexibility. The Journalism Program -- and our partnerships with each of you -- will not be affected by this name change. We will continue to invest in organizations that encourage a free, vigorous and diverse news media though leadership development, journalism education and training, youth media and free speech initiatives.

We look forward to working with you.

Sincerely,

Clark Bell
Director, Journalism Program

http://www.mccormickfoundation.org/news/2008/pr051508.aspx

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Thursday, May 15, 2008

Don’t Worry, I’ll Save Democracy!

Thursday, May 15, 2008

(This item was originally posted on Tactical Philanthropy/www.tacticalphilanthropy.com)

USC Annenberg Dean Ernest James Wilson III drew chuckles last week with his take on the state of the media as part of the a Media and Philanthropy mini-summit held at the Newseum during the annual meeting of the Council on Foundations. The headline: Traditional media is dying/changing, and democracy is at great risk.

Nothing new there, but through the hundreds of cocktail receptions and dinners he’s obligated to attend, Wilson identified the common syllogisms of journalists pleading their importance to democracy.

According to Wilson,
If you’re a member of TRADITIONAL MEDIA you argue:
1. Newspapers are vital to democracy
2. Newspapers are dying, therefore:
3. Democracy in the U.S. is at great risk.

If you’re part of DIGITAL MEDIA:
1. New media is opening new channels of communication and networking for all
2. Democracy is all about the interchange of ideas, therefore:
3. Democracy is being enhanced by digital media.

If you work in PUBLIC BROADCASTING:
1. The non-commercial media space is essential for democracy
2. Public broadcasting is slow to adapt to digital media, which has resulted in a shrinking audience, therefore:
3. Democracy is at risk.

If you are with COMMERCIAL MEDIA:
1. Commercial media are desperately trying to leverage their assets and cut costs
2. Democracy is good in principal, but the government has moved away from regulation, therefore:
3. Commercial media pays little attention to democracy.

Levity aside, Wilson raises a good point that more cross-sector collaboration on the challenges facing media is vital. No one sector will "save media" - and self-importance won’t help their case either. I’ve seen the silo-ing firsthand through my work as a journalism program officer, meeting with a variety of organizations claiming to have "solutions" to the changing media landscape.
Wilson’s call for increased cross-media dialogue is useful for funders considering investing in media and groups working in the sector.

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Monday, May 5, 2008

Are Newspaper Ads Going, Going, Gone or Just Going?

Monday, May 05, 2008

Interesting discussion on Jeff Jarvis' blog at www.buzzmachine.com. Are newspaper ads vaporizing altogether or are just moving elsewhere to reach customers? According to Jarvis, "...Papers in top markets are down tens upon tens of millions of dollars each in classified revenue that has disappeared."

This conversation comes a week after the nation’s newspapers reported a collective 3.5% drop in daily circulation. Some of the more savvy newspapers have overhauled their sales strategies in hopes of finding profitable digital niche. However, Jarvis has doubts on how successful these efforts will turn out.

"If papers are smart, they can use online and its laser targeting to serve a new population of hyperlocal advertisers that never could afford high-priced papers before. But as I can tell you from first-hand experience, papers are not built for high-volume, low-cost advertising like this. So those advertisers will go to Google and local blogs."

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American University Joins J-Schools Exploring Ethnic Media

Monday, May 05, 2008


American University's School of Communications is beginning to develop a relationship with the growing DC-area ethnic media community. This project is an outgrowth of Angie Chuang's class "Race, Ethnic and Community Reporting," which partnered with New American Media to identify more than 70 area news outlets working in a dozen languages. The School is now helping to nurture a relationship between ethnic media and the area's public schools.

For more on this growing initiative - as well as Chuang's description of some of the advantages and disadvantages of reporting on your own ethnic community, click here: http://veracity.univpubs.american.edu/today/vol/11/29/042908_chuang.html

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