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Al's Morning Meeting

Home > Reporting, Writing & Editing > 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.
When Photojournalists Get Stuck Between Police, Protesters
The first thing KARE 11 photojournalist Jonathan Malat wants the public to know about what happened Thursday night is, "I think the police department showed remarkable restraint." That despite the fact that he and a dozen or so other journalists, many of them credentialed to cover the Republic National Convention, were arrested while covering an anti-war protest. (See KARE 11 story here.)


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Posted at 6:17 PM September 5, 2008
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But I wasn't between the police and anything Your piece about photographers getting arrested brought back some memories... More.
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A dozen sites
I'm diggin'

1. "She's like a moose going after a cabbage." A fun piece watching the Palin speech with locals in Alaska.

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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.


Twin Cities Journalists Arrested Covering RNC Protests
Two nationally honored Minneapolis television photojournalists were among almost 400 people arrested last night by police during protests outside the Republican National Convention.


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Posted by Al Tompkins 5:11 PM September 5, 2008
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Gustav Leaves a Mess in Baton Rouge, Media Move On
Baton Rouge is a mess. Where are the journalists?

Hurricane Gustav brushed past New Orleans, but smacked Baton Rouge hard just 80 miles away.


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Posted by Al Tompkins 4:03 AM September 5, 2008
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Gustav uncovered Yes, Houma/Terrebonne were hammered. North Louisiana was deluged and hundreds... More.
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How Does Facebook Know Me So Well?
The Washington Post has produced what I believe will be a real "talker" story.

It explains how Web sites, including Facebook, figure out that you are too fat, about to get married or trying to get pregnant.


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Posted at 3:30 PM September 4, 2008
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You don't have to look at these... I went searching for a way to get rid of... More.
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Tag Clouding the RNC
Last week I built tag clouds for the major speeches from the Democratic convention and I promised to do the same this week for the RNC.

As you will see, the Palin speech was loaded with 28 mentions of "America" or "American" and even more "McCain" and "man" mentions.


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Posted at 12:05 PM September 4, 2008
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"maverick" While we're looking at the words of the GOP speeches,... More.
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What Does Race Have to do With Pothole Repair?
Here is an outstanding story idea that you could adapt.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel mapped the records of 11,000 pothole repairs done in the first half of this year.

The investigation found:

Potholes in mostly minority census tracts took an average of 11 days to repair, while potholes in mostly white census tracts took seven days.


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Posted at 12:05 AM September 4, 2008
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Palin's Choice: From Privacy to Photo Op
Levi Johnston, Bristol Palin's boyfriend, has joined the vice presidential nominee's family at the Republican National Convention, greeting Sen. John McCain at the airport in front of cameras and eliminating whatever compulsion I might have had to lay off the pregnancy story now that the campaign is trotting out the kids for a photo op.


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Posted at 4:00 PM September 3, 2008
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Grrr This continues to make me steam. "Trotting out the kids... More.
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Where Have College Hellraisers Gone?
Mother Jones polled college students about the state of college campus activism these days:

Among the respondents, the consensus was clear: 85 percent said students today are less politically active than they were in the '60s. So where have all the hellraisers gone? Many are online. Nearly half of current college students told us that the future of activism is digital. But nearly two-thirds also said the future is on campus. Flesh-and-blood action is far from an anachronism, but it's becoming unthinkable without social networking tools.


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Posted at 12:41 PM September 3, 2008
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Although While taking this as the truth may seem flawed, the... More.
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Another View on Naming Buildings in the News
Last week I lamented how I wish we didn't have to name the darn buildings where the political conventions were meeting. All week last week we heard and read about The Pepsi Center and Invesco Field.

Then I got the e-mail from Terry Cecil, President & CEO of the International Sponsor Council, a guy who sees things differently from me. I thought his arguments were strong enough that you should read them.


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Posted by Al Tompkins 5:22 AM September 3, 2008
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How far does it go? P.S. I assume those who feel it's appropriate to omit... More.
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Throat Cancer Rising
A new study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute shows a significant increase in throat cancer cases, especially among white men and women.


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Posted at 3:05 PM September 2, 2008
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Heteroflexible -- a New Word For a Trend/Fad
I guess they had to get this out of the way before the Republicans came to town. The (Minneapolis) Star Tribune ran a column last week on being "heteroflexible."


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Posted at 12:05 PM September 2, 2008
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There was a Friends episode "Girls making out with each other to turn on guys... More.
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NPR's Andy Carvin on the Role of Social Media in Gustav Coverage
Andy Carvin's job, as the senior strategist for social media at NPR, is to build bridges between NPR and its fans and social network users on places like Twitter and Facebook. Carvin once defined "a truly great blog" as a place where a community forms, and where members find themselves almost compelled to join the conversation. 

For Hurricane Gustav, he has led 500 volunteers putting together the Gustav Information Center, which includes a Wiki and a site called "Voices of Gustav."  The Voices site is set up to accept calls from people who have been displaced, with the idea that volunteers would transcribe the calls and post them online in a searchable format.  That effort tapped into the Utterz Web site.  The effort includes three Twitter feeds including GustavAlerts, which is a breaking weather feed. GustavNews follows news stories and GustavBlogs focuses on how blogs are reporting the storm.  Another another team of 50 or so volunteers is working on transcribing reports from ham radio operators and other radio scans.


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Posted by Al Tompkins 11:19 AM September 2, 2008
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How to be a Good Evacuee in Somebody Else's House
NOLA.com offers some advice for people who find themselves living in other people's homes during Gustav. It takes some work to be a good house guest in times of emergency. Here is some advice from those who lived through Katrina.


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Posted at 6:34 AM September 2, 2008
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Community Colleges Flourish in Soft Economy
USA Today reports:

Preliminary reports from community colleges across the nation, which had overall enrollment of 11.5 million last year, show summer enrollments increased, a trend predicted to extend into the fall, according to Norma Kent, a spokeswoman for the American Association of Community Colleges.

Kent said the trend is in line with other economic downturns.


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Posted at 12:05 AM September 2, 2008
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Monday, September 01, 2008 Headlines
– NOLA's Jane Boulen on Covering Gustav
Sunday, August 31, 2008 Headlines
– Bloggers and Social Networks Cover Gustav
– Hurricane Gustav Coverage Resources
Saturday, August 30, 2008 Headlines
– How to Help with Gustav Recovery Efforts
– Hurricane Deductibles Greater Since Katrina
– Gun and Ammo Sales Rise in Gustav's Path
– The Hurricane Archive
Friday, August 29, 2008 Headlines
– Video SLR Camera Coming From Nikon
– What Else There is to Know About Palin
– Who? Here's a Primer on GOP Veep Choice Sarah Palin
– In 2008 Politics, it's Hip to be Poor

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