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Al's Morning Meeting

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Al Tompkins
Story ideas that you can localize and enterprise. Posted by 7:30 a.m. Mon-Fri.
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A dozen sites
I'm diggin'


*1. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has outlined how the IRS uses social media in investigations.

2. What's with all the Google anti-trust lawsuits?

*3. The Washington Post reports on why TV reporters have to be  Jacks of All Trades now.

*4. Look at this list of expenses that you might think are tax deductible, but aren't.

5. The number of U.S. millionaires rose 16 percent last year.

6. Find out why there will be a national Eggo waffle shortage until summer.

7. The New York Times explains how women in the work force helped save Social Security.

8. Here are some great databases that newsrooms have created to help connect people with their community.

*9. Watch this online interactive story of the death of journalist Arthur Kasherman.

10. CBS Radio News' Peter King explains how he broadcast from Haiti in the early days after the quake.

11. Find out how healthy your county is.

12. Levelcam lets you stabilize your handheld video.

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.


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 at 2:23 PM on Mar. 18, 2008
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