Budgets 101

Budget 101: Budget reporting training for journalistsJournalism Resources Institute
Journalism Resources Institute will hold its 16th annual budget reporting seminar, “Budget 101,” on Thursday, November 19 at the Busch Campus Center on the Rutgers University Piscataway campus. The session is co-sponsored by the New Jersey Press Association.
This popular one-day seminar trains reporters to do a better job of writing about local municipal and school budgets and property taxes. And it is timely — local governments are beginning their annual budget process.
Experts on state and local finance and experienced journalists give reporters a step-by-step explanations of how local budgets are developed and property tax rates calculated. Participants learn how to turn this raw data into accurate and compelling stories. They also get an expert overview of New Jersey tax system and its heavy reliance on property taxes from a Rutgers faculty member.
As part of the budget reporting seminar, the institute developed a “Journalist’s Guide to Covering Municipal and School Budgets in New Jersey” that is distributed to seminar participants.
Last year’s session was sold out, so don’t wait to sign up!
For more information, go to: http://comminfo.rutgers.edu/jri/profdev/profdevmain.html

What every journalism student should demand of their J school

Here's a passionate post about what students should demand (or at least strongly request) for the hard-earned dollars they pay.

Crowd sizes and controversy

Here are two links about the controversy over the size of the crowds that protested in DC in Sept. 12:
Columbia Journalism Review: http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/tea_for_twomillion.php
American Copy Editors Society: http://www.copydesk.org/board/?p=192

Media jobs long-term prognosis

I'll try to keep up with this and post the follow-ups. This is a report on jobs in the media, based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It appears that there is upward movement in some areas, which the author will follow up in the future.

Society for Neuroscience Science Journalism Student Award

Society for Neuroscience Science Journalism Student Award
The Society for Neuroscience wants to help two science journalismstudents attend the society's annual meeting in Chicago next month. Theevent is the largest scientific meeting for neuroscience in the world.The awards are open to an undergraduate student (or recent graduate) andto a graduate student (or recent grad school graduate). The awards willinclude complimentary meeting registration, four nights' lodging, and$750 to help defray the expenses of attending. Each winner will also bepaired with an experienced professional journalist covering the annual meeting.
Contact:Science Journalism Student Award
Department of Public Information
Society for Neuroscience
1121 14th Street., NW Suite 1010
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: (202) 962-4000 Fax: (202) 962-4941 E-mail: pidaward@sfn.org mailto:pidaward@sfn.org
Web:http://www.sfn.org/am2009/index.aspx?pagename=Science_Journalism_Student_Award
http://www.sfn.org/am2009/index.aspx?pagename=Science_Journalism_Student_Award
Deadline: September 18 ( may be extended)

The latest trend in science reporting

Don't let this happen to you.

A huge mistake in editing

Here's a summary of an egregious error on the part of some editor, inserting into the story the mention that an official pocketed a Communion wafer -- an assertion that apparently is without merit.

How to be a journalism student

Here's a clever post about how to study journalism.

How journalism profs - including yours truly - can teach about social media

Here's a piece from a Columbia U New Media student named Vadim Lavrusik. He is @lavrusik on Twitter and blogs at lavrusik.com.

Government data.

The federal government is offering loads of free data

Prof to the press: Cover the other 90 percent

In the wake of the Boston Globe's near-death experience, one journalism professor, Emerson College's Jerry Lanson, reminds the press that to succeed at what it does best, it must go beyond the elite power figures and cover the people -- the other 90 percent.

Missouri J school requires iDevices

To better capture the profs' lectures, incoming freshmen will be required to obtain iPhones or iPods to capture lectures.

Rowan journalism students create Webmag

Congrats to all of those who were part of the creation of NJ1134.org, the new online publication created by Rowan University journalism students.

From Regret the Error: A checklist for reporters

The great compiler of media errors has created a checklist to help reporters do a better job. The author of the site also has written a column about checklists at the Web site of the Columbia Journalism Review.

New study stresses importance of accuracy, other important skills

Penn State and the Associated Press Sports Editors have teamed to report on the skills editors find most essential for journalists.

10 questions for journalists in the era of overload

This is a blog entry from Mark Thompson, on how journalists can respond to the changing media environment.

Introducing The Printed Blog

One entrepreneur is bucking the downturn trend and starting up a printed version of the best blogs he can sign up. The Printed Blog will start up in San Francisco and Chicago, but he hopes eventually to have them spread across all the major cities, even tailored to neighborhoods.

Blog advice

Scott Joseph recently left the Orlando Sentinel in a recent round of buyouts, and decided to turn his restaurant reviews into a blog. Here's some advice from the blogging newbie, which bloggers of all stripes can use.

Journalism prof uses satellite image to estimate inauguration crowd

A professor from Arizona State used his own system to estimate the size of the crowd for Barack Obama's inauguration., basing his number of 800,000 on his interpretation of the GeoEye-1 military satellite images.

My favorite all-time correction

This comes from the Newark Star-Ledger, courtesy of Regret the Error, a famous news-correction site:

Star Trek fans: No more calls or e-mails, please! Captain Kirk did not
often "cloak" the Starship Enterprise to make it invisible, as was erroneously
reported in the "Biz Buzz" feature in yesterday’s Business section. In fact, the
first known use of cloaking technology was by the Romulans in 2266, according to
"The Star Trek Encyclopedia: A Reference Guide to the Future." Kirk and
Commander Spock were sent on a mission to steal a cloaking device from the
Romulans in 2268 during the first Star Trek series. And Klingons used cloaking
in the movie "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock." This prompted theories of a
Romulan-Klingon alliance, in which the Romulans may have traded their cloaking
secrets for warp drive, reports An-swers.com. The Star-Ledger really, really regrets the error.

Promises, promises

The Tampa Bay Tribune reports that the Poynter Institute's PolitiFact will keep track of the 510 campaign promises made by Barack Obama.

Encouraging words in discouraging times

San Francisco Weekly laments the layoff of a noted journalist from the area, David Weir, he is putting a positive spin to these turbulent times, both in his personal blog and in comments e-mailed to the SF Weekly:

To all young journalists trying to cope with these troubling times I say: Keep
on reporting, reporting, reporting, writing, writing, writing, and editing,
editing, editing. Start a blog, send me a link, and I'll try to promote your
work. Build your personal brand.

I like the advice. Whether you are just entering my class, or a "veteran" reader of a semester or two, I hope you take it seriously. The skills you will need remain the same; just the platform/forum might be different.
And don't think it's all bells and whistles. One of my earliest friends in the business recently got laid off from his job at the paper in Burlington Vt. What did he do, go all high-tech? Nope, he bought a weekly whose roots go back to 1878.