News & Tips
Training
Groups
Top Story
Deep Reporting, Engaging Stories on This American Life
Most Recent Articles
1.
Piggyback an Informational Interview?
12:05 AM Oct 7, 2008
2.
Dealing With the Brutal Stock Market
8:16 PM Oct 6, 2008
3.
Report: LAT to cut as many as 75 editorial positions
6:45 PM Oct 6, 2008
4.
Newspaper advertising: anything goes?
5:22 PM Oct 6, 2008
5.
Israel Doesn't Want to Hear Good News. Does Anyone?
1:14 PM Oct 6, 2008
More Recent Articles
6.
Presidential Debate History
12:00 AM Oct 6, 2008
7.
The Economy's Effect on Teens
11:29 AM Oct 5, 2008
8.
Deep Reporting, Engaging Stories on This American Life
7:12 PM Oct 3, 2008
9.
Diagramming Palin's Sentences
2:49 PM Oct 3, 2008
10.
The Case for Stepping Back From the Ledge
12:04 PM Oct 2, 2008
Fewer Recent Articles
Most E-mailed
1.
The Ethics of Civic Journalism: Independence as the Guide
11:20 AM Mar 19, 2007
2.
Web Design Tips
5:10 PM Jan 12, 2004
More E-mailed Articles
Recent Comments
1.
Newspapers are like home-cooking
Posted By:
Alex Dering
10:24 PM Oct 6, 2008
2.
Two things ...
Posted By:
Alex Dering
9:48 PM Oct 6, 2008
3.
pot meet kettle
Posted By:
Mark Jackson
8:30 PM Oct 6, 2008
4.
"Good Content?"
Posted By:
anthony ramirez
8:29 PM Oct 6, 2008
5.
Good Luck Mom
Posted By:
Kaitlin Foley
7:52 PM Oct 6, 2008
More Recent Comments
6.
Hope the prof will let her develop talent
Posted By:
t tt
6:11 PM Oct 6, 2008
7.
4,000+ journalists on Twitter
Posted By:
Robert French
4:27 PM Oct 6, 2008
8.
Jeff Prescott
Posted By:
Jeff Prescott
2:26 PM Oct 6, 2008
9.
Is the figure significant?
Posted By:
Jeffrey Knight
1:18 PM Oct 6, 2008
10.
Shine the light sista!
Posted By:
Becky Blanton
12:58 PM Oct 6, 2008
Fewer Recent Comments
Recent Tags
1.
Political and campaign reporting
2.
Media criticism
3.
Online/new media
4.
Financial markets reporting
5.
Awards and prizes
More Recent Tags
6.
Banking industry reporting
7.
Layoffs/buyouts/staff cuts
8.
Best Practices
9.
Business journalism
10.
Ethics
Fewer Recent Tags
Community Activity
Welcome
Julia Alder
to the
Journalism Conversations: Reporting, Writing & Editing
group.
Read
Ellyn Angelotti's
blog post
Looking for Best Practices
in the
Visual Journalism
blog.
Read
jan hennop's
comment to the blog post
Old journalism in a new way in South Africa
in the
Online & Multimedia
blog.
View a
photo
that
Steve Myers
has posted.
Poynter Seminars
Small, in-person training experiences.
1.
NewsU: Telling Untold Stories: Reporting Across Cultures
Apply by Oct. 6, 2008
2.
The Complete Assigning Editor (II)
Apply by Oct. 6, 2008
3.
From Column to Blog: Tuning Your Voice
Apply by Oct. 20, 2008
All Poynter Seminars
News University
Today's most popular courses on NewsU, Poynter's e-learning site for journalists.
All NewsU Courses
Webinars
Our online classroom is just a click away. Learn more.
All Webinars
Romenesko
Latest News
Reporting
& Writing
Ethics &
Diversity
Leadership &
Management
Visual
Journalism
Online &
Multimedia
TV &
Radio
Journalism
Education
Al's Morning Meeting
Home
>
Al's Morning Meeting
Tools:
Text Size
or
,
Print
,
RSS
,
Subscribe via e-mail
Al Tompkins
Story ideas that you can localize and enterprise. Posted by 7:30 a.m. Mon-Fri.
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.
You can lay subtitles or text bubbles on video
-- any video. I will be using this to teach about storytelling.
2. Canon responds to the Nikon D90
with its own SLR still camera that records HD video
.
3. Why do
97 percent of this railroad's workers get disability checks
?
4. I now use
Utterz
to file audio reports. You can use your computer's mic or any phone. It's simple and would be a great reporter's tool.
5. I used
Monitter
to monitor what people said on Twitter about Ike. Just change the subjects to whatever you want to look out for.
6.
I'm reading all about
the
Nikon D90
, which shoots photos and HD video with the same $1K body.
7.
Qik
streams live video straight from a cell phone.
8. This fall many PBS stations
will air this documentary
on whether there is a water crisis in the Southwest.
9.
This site watches
TV and Web mentions of candidates. It also monitors Tweets and more.
10. The first look
at the $179 Google phone
.
11. Instead of scheduling meetings by e-mail, everybody can
work out a time and date online
.
12. Here are tons of GREAT tools that will help you
find anything on flickr
.
Sites marked with a * have been added recently.
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 depends on the accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. We will correct errors and inaccuracies when we become aware of them.
Covering Obama's Race Speech
Senator Barack Obama's speech today
offers a glimpse inside black churches
and how they are different from primarily white congregations. Obama tried to explain how black churches represent more than the faith life of their members, serving as outreach centers for entire communities.
RELATED
Covering Race and Diversity
By Tom Brune,
Newsday
and Lynne K. Varner,
The Seattle Times
Think and think again.
Start with a broad focus and narrow it to a pinpoint. Don't stop at the obvious. Ask basic questions and challenge perceived notions.
Go deep.
Push yourself beyond preconceived notions. When the conversation with coworkers and the subjects of the story become uncomfortable, you're just getting started.
Embrace complexity.
Seemingly simple ideas or issues usually have deep, many-layered roots. Complex does not mean confusing.
Pierce the language.
Don't settle for spin, hints or symbols. Ask people what they mean and why they think what they are saying. Listen to their answers and keep pushing them.
Write thoughtfully.
Be explicit, clear, direct. Represent everyone mentioned in the story fairly and fully. Make sure you are saying only what you want to say and not something inadvertent. Think through how your headlines, approach and language will affect readers.
The speech
sought to explain Obama's relationship with his minister, who has been the focus of media coverage recently because of sermons he delivered years ago suggesting that blacks continue to be mistreated by whites and that the United States brought the 9/11 attacks on itself.
Salon points out why
Obama should not have been surprised by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's statements.
Obama noted in his speech that race has been an issue in a presidential campaign that has taken a "particularly divisive turn" recently as videos of his longtime pastor have spread. During his speech, he spoke about the importance of unity, saying, "I chose to run for president at this moment in history because I believe deeply we cannot solve the challenges we face unless we solve them together."
Story ideas
The black church experience.
How do different congregations interact with the community as a whole?
There are some who say
black churches are in some ways the embodiment of black communities. The Rev. Wright issue may have something to do with how seldom whites venture into black churches. In an opinion article,
The (Chicago) Sun-Times
said
:
Wright's words also reflect the disparity many blacks feel between the promise of America and their daily reality.
"This righteous anger is about making America accountable to its own creed," said Dwight Hopkins, a theology professor at the University of Chicago Divinity School and a Trinity member.
Parishioners in black churches across America hear similar language from the pulpit each week, typically delivered in a larger, positive context -- as it was at Trinity -- that no 30-second sound bite could catch. Wright's message is not about black superiority or separatism, but about self-determination, about blacks doing for themselves.
The "anger" issue.
Obama said there is a real anger issue among blacks and many whites. Explore the anger.
Obama sought
to put Rev. Wright's controversial comments into a deeper context as a way of explaining where Wright was coming from:
"Legalized discrimination -- where blacks were prevented, often through violence, from owning property, or loans were not granted to African-American business owners, or black homeowners could not access FHA mortgages, or blacks were excluded from unions, or the police force, or fire departments -- meant that black families could not amass any meaningful wealth to bequeath to future generations."
Posted by
Al Tompkins
2:23 PM Mar 18, 2008
Tools:
Comment
,
e-mail
,
Permalink
,
Share
Latest Poynter Blogs (
See All Blogs
)
Romenesko
Report: LAT to cut as many as 75 editorial positions
Al's Morning Meeting
Dealing With the Brutal Stock Market
E-Media Tidbits
Israel Doesn't Want to Hear Good News. Does Anyone?
Links to the News
Presidential Debate History
Writing Tools
About to Bail
The Biz Blog
The Case for Stepping Back From the Ledge
Diversity at Work
Disability-Related Questions for Politicians
SuperVision
How a Task Force Built a Breaking News Force
Visual Voice
Redesigned Newspapers Launch in Three Cities
Shop
About Poynter
Give to Poynter
Best Newspaper Writing
Edited by Steve Myers and Tom Huang
$32.95
Who We Are
& What We Do
History and mission
Where is Poynter?
The Institute's location
Faculty & Staff Listings
Contact information
Poynter on the Record
Faculty in the news
Resource Center
Tips & Bibliographies
Invest in Journalism
Your gifts support Poynter's teaching and provide scholarships.
Advertise
You aim, we deliver
Reach thousands of journalists with your message on Poynter Online.
Contact
|
FAQ
|
Guidelines
|
Corrections
|
Site Map
|
Press
|
Advertise
| © 1995-2008 The Poynter Institute
801 Third Street South | St. Petersburg, FL 33701 | Phone (888) 769-6837 | Fax (727) 896-6703
Username
Password
Remember Me
New User? Signup Now
See All Jobs
Add Your Resume
Post Your Job
Ask The Recruiter
Tuesday: Piggyback an Informational Interview?
Colleen on Careers
Show and Tell in Hiring