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Author Archives: Jennifer Follis
Google News to Chicago Tribune – Chicago Tribune
Google News to Chicago Tribune – Chicago Tribune.
Abe Epton writes about why “people interested in code and civic society should really think about joining a newspaper — yes, a newspaper (or any media outlet) — in 2013.” The energy, the immediacy, the noise. He’s helping design the news of the future.
Eugene C. Patterson, Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper editor, dies at 89 – The Washington Post
Eugene C. Patterson, Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper editor, dies at 89 – The Washington Post.
Thank you, Mr. Patterson, for leading in the search for truth. The link above is to Eugene Patterson’s obituary in The Washington Post.
In Lab Lit, Fiction Meets Science of the Real World – NYTimes.com
Duh, so that’s why I like Richard Powers’ books so much. The simple term is “Lab Lit.” It means works of fiction that get the science right *and* the story. I teach students that effective science writing often involves a main character. In journalism, that character is a real person. In Lab Lit, the authors get to make up the people.
In Lab Lit, Fiction Meets Science of the Real World – NYTimes.com.
Ruling means Illinoisans can record police in public
Dark-eyed junco brings bird relay to my yard
Creative Commons http://www.flickr.com/photos/91499534@N00/4258434540/sizes/m/in/photostream/
I saw my first dark-eyed junco of the season in my yard today, perched in my bare lilac bush. That means he’s here for the winter, from someplace cold enough to make Central Illinois feel like a haven. Then I noticed not one, but many, robins flying about. Right now, six are gathered in my yard. If this is a track meet, the lone junco is here to hand the baton of winter to the relay flock of robins. They’ll carry it somewhere south. The lovely junco reminds me that winter is a matter of perspective.
Verification needed in the storm
The story came from chat room to newsroom to correction. In Introduction to Journalism class at Illinois, students learn “The essence of journalism is a discipline of verification” (from “The Elements of Journalism” by Bill Kovach & Tom Rosenstiel).
The discipline includes the practice of doing one’s own, original reporting, and that would include tracking down the source of the information to judge the veracity of the report. The link above shows the Twitter route of the reports.
Current Openings at POLITICO – POLITICO.com
Current Openings at POLITICO – POLITICO.com.
Undergraduate students may apply as long as they are at least sophomores now.
Happier than a Slinky on an escalator
That’s how happy I’d like to be. Even in a commercial, the concept makes me smile.
New York Times runs two corrections on college-age drinking story
Verification was our topic in “Introduction to Journalism” this week at the University of Illinois. I told the students about a situation a former student had in which a person in line at a Campustown bar assumed another student’s name when he identified himself to her. After the story appeared on local television, the family of the “name” demanded an apology — and got one.
Most reporters don’t ask for a photo I.D. when interviewing people out in public. Maybe we should. The New York Times appears to have been badly stung — unverifiable names and a misspelling all in the same story. Here’s the link: For College Students, Social Media Tops the Bar Scene – NYTimes.com.
jennifer follis 