Al's Morning Meeting

Home > Reporting, Writing & Editing > Al's Morning Meeting

Tools: Text Size

, Print

, RSS

, Subscribe via e-mail

Al Tompkins

Story ideas that you can localize and enterprise. Posted by 7:30 a.m. Mon-Fri.

Recommendation for Fewer PAP Screens Sure to Set Off Controversy

Posted by Al Tompkins at 10:32 AM on Nov. 20, 2009

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says young women (under 21) who are not sexually active do not need to be screened for cervical cancer. The new recommendations say women under age 30 should get Pap smears every two years, rather than annually, and those over age 30 should get Pap smears every three years, rather than every two to three years.

The timing is curious given the firestorm that erupted over the recommendation that women should wait to get mammograms.

The Los Angeles Times reports that some will surely see all this as a sign of health care rationing...

Read the Entire Post

Tools:
Comment

, e-mail

, Permalink

, Share

POYNTER GROUPS
Find and join conversations about Reporting, Writing & Editing and Online & Multimedia.

CHECK AL's TWITTER FEED for nonstop story ideas throughout the day.

UPDATED: JOIN AL ON THE ROAD AND LIVE ONLINE

APPLY FOR BROADCAST AND ONLINE SEMINARS

SEND AL YOUR STORY IDEAS

A dozen sites
I'm diggin'

*1. "Wired" explains how to figure out who is behind a Twitter page.

2. Check out FarmVille, Facebook's fastest growing application.

3. Before any health care reform vote, watch Steve Kroft's "60 Minutes Story" on the $60 billion in Medicare fraud that poisons the system each year.

4. Slate reported that some companies under criminal investigation still received stimulus money.

*5. USA Today reporters Brad Heath and Blake Morrison, WNYC's Radio Rookies and others won Casey Medals for their coverage of children. Watch this video of Heath and Morrison talking about their 8-month investigation of toxic air outside America's schools.

6. The Washington Post reveals how Washington, D.C., which has the nation's highest rate of AIDS cases, wasted millions of dollars on AIDS care.

7. The Association of Independents in Radio has provided a one-stop shopping page for people trying to sell freelance radio stories.

8. Sidewalks are in such bad shape in some cash-strapped towns that people who use wheelchairs are having to ride along the street instead.

*9. There's a new wearable HD camera for sports and action video that costs less than $350. Watch this sample video.

*10. The Tennessean's "Life on Hold" project looks at the lives of 20-year-olds trying to "figure it all out." The project features some really nice multimedia.

11. What words do you use that your readers don't understand? The New York Times tracks the words that its readers look up.

12. Read Beth Macy's first-person account about her Roanoke Times' project, "Age of Uncertainty." The series is about her community's aging senior citizens and the people who care for them.

All of my Diggin' sites are saved on Poynter's del.icio.us page.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be provided whenever possible. The column is fact-checked, but relies on the accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. We will correct errors and inaccuracies when we become aware of them.

Nov. 20, 2009

"Authenticated Streaming" Could Change Broadcast TV
Posted by Al Tompkins at 12:00 AM on Nov. 20, 2009

Comcast, the nation's biggest cable provider, is about to usher in a sea change for television through technology called "authenticated streaming." It is expected to launch nationwide to 15 million customers before Dec. 11.

In short, this technology will allow you to watch television programs on your broadband-connected computer. Not every channel will be available, but lots of them will be, including CBS, HBO, TNT, TBS, Discovery and various Scripps networks. The service will be free to Comcast cable subscribers, which gives cable a big leg up on satellite delivery services.

Read on to find out why this could become a big issue for television stations.

Read the Entire Post

Tools:
Comment

, e-mail

, Permalink

, Share

Nov. 19, 2009

California Restricts TV Sales to Energy-Efficient Models
Posted by Al Tompkins at 3:02 PM on Nov. 19, 2009

On Wednesday, the California Energy Commission voted to increase the energy-efficiency requirements for televisions. In fact, the rules that begin in 2011 and take full effect in 2013 are so strict that only a fourth of the televisions currently on the market meet them. Trends like this often start in California, so stay tuned to this story.

Read on to find out why California believed it could have greater impact by acting now.

Read the Entire Post

Tools:
Comment

, e-mail

, Permalink

, Share

Nov. 18, 2009

Obama Administration Distances Itself From New Mammogram Recommendations
Posted by Al Tompkins at 6:02 PM on Nov. 18, 2009

The Obama Administration tried to distance itself from a panel's recommendations this week that women younger than 50 not get mammograms unless there is a family history of breast cancer.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said:

"There is no question that the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Recommendations have caused a great deal of confusion and worry among women and their families across this country. I want to address that confusion head on. The U.S. Preventive Task Force is an outside independent panel of doctors and scientists who make recommendations. They do not set federal policy and they don�t determine what services are covered by the federal government..."

Read the Entire Post

Tools:
Comment

, e-mail

, Permalink

, Share

26% of Teens Texted While Driving
Posted by Al Tompkins at 1:45 PM on Nov. 18, 2009

A fourth of the teens -- 26 percent -- questioned in a Pew study admitted they have texted while driving.

Boys and girls were equally likely to report texting behind the wheel.

CNet explained that despite increased publicity over the dangers of texting while driving, many teenagers (like many adults) have yet to get the message.

Read on to find out how dangerous this habit is.

Read the Entire Post

Tools:
Comment

, e-mail

, Permalink

, Share

Fast-Tracking Pope John Paul II's Sainthood
Posted by Al Tompkins at 12:05 AM on Nov. 18, 2009

ABC News reports that Pope John Paul II's beatification process, a precursor to sainthood, has jumped on the fast track:

"Vatican sources confirmed [Tuesday] that the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints, the office that handles and approves the process of sainthood in the Catholic Church, met in the Vatican yesterday to discuss Pope John Paul II's 'file' and 'heroic virtues.'

"The congregation's decisions are not normally announced publicly, but Vatican sources said that the congregation had given its approval for the beatification process to proceed after a day of discussion and a unanimous vote."

Read on to learn about the process of making John Paul a saint.

Read the Entire Post

Tools:
Comment

, e-mail

, Permalink

, Share

Nov. 17, 2009

Troubled Economy Leading to Increase in Hunger
Posted by Al Tompkins at 3:01 PM on Nov. 17, 2009

The USDA says 49 million Americans do not have enough food throughout the year. The percentage is the highest since its survey began in 1995. The report shows that flood pantries and government programs are not closing the gap.

Families with children are particularly vulnerable. One in three single mothers said their households needed food.

Read on for details from the report and to see what the government plans to do about it.

Read the Entire Post

Tools:
Comment

, e-mail

, Permalink

, Share

New Mammogram Recommendations Say Women Should Begin Regular Testing at 50, not 40
Posted by Al Tompkins at 5:43 AM on Nov. 17, 2009

New guidelines issued by a Dept. of Health and Human Services panel say women do not need to get annual mammograms until age 50. Until now, women have been told to get a mammogram every year beginning with their 40th birthday.

The new recommendations, based on commissioned studies, say mammograms are not terribly reliable for younger women unless they have a family history of breast cancer.

The recommendations made by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) were published Tuesday. (See an easy-to-use chart summarizing them.)

The experts say the radiation that young women are exposed to, along with the worry and testing following "false positive" reports, are not outweighed by the benefits. And they say women ages 50 to 74 only need a mammogram every two years, not annually as they have been told for years.

The panel's findings also cast major doubts on the effectiveness of breast self-exams, which may surprise many people, considering how much attention the exams are given as a prevention tool. They say teaching women to do breast self-exams does not reduce cancer deaths.

Here is the language the panel used...

Read the Entire Post

Tools:
Comment

, e-mail

, Permalink

, Share

Do Financial Crimes Rise in a Recession?
Posted by Al Tompkins at 12:05 AM on Nov. 17, 2009

Bernie Madoff did his dirty deals when the stock market was hot and people were prospering. But when cash is tight, when investors and the people who handle their money get desperate, do financial crimes rise?

National Public Radio took a look and found that as the effects of the recession wear on, experts say small-time financial crimes are thriving...

Read on to learn why mortgage fraud, identity theft and employee-related schemes deserve special attention.

Read the Entire Post

Tools:
Comment

, e-mail

, Permalink

, Share

Monday, November 16, 2009 Headlines

– Obama Takes a Bow in Japan

– Retailers See Comeback for Gift Cards, Layaway this Holiday Season

Friday, November 13, 2009 Headlines

– California, Oregon and Nevada Top List of States in Biggest Financial Trouble

– Universities Say Kindle Is Unfriendly to Blind Users