Monthly Archives: April 2019

Nearly half of the TV stations in the U.S. now have drones and many are still learning lessons about how to use them.

TV Technology wrote this week about some of what newsrooms have learned about using these new tools.

One of the key takeaways is to work with emergency personnel before putting your drone in the air.

Can you trust what you see on Instagram?

Poynter is out with 10 tools and tricks to verify Instagram posts.

One tip explains a way to do a reverse image search that you might not already know about.

Looking to step up your station’s digital game?

As a FREE service from YOUR WBA, you can get a personalized assessment of your station’s digital strategy from Jacobs Media’s Digital Dot Connector, Seth Resler.

Seth will get some basic information from you and teleconference with you (and your team, if you like) on April 17. Then, plan to come to the WBA Summer Conference at the Osthoff Resort on June 12-13 where Seth will meet with you in person to follow up on the advice he provided and help you refine your path forward.

Seth will look at your whole station’s strategy, including everything from email marketing to social media to website analytics.

Here’s how you can participate:

To sign up for an appointment, contact kgeissler@wi-broadcasters.org with times that you could meet with Seth on April 17. We will send you a survey to fill out to update Seth on your current digital goals.

This is a FREE service made available to you by YOUR WBA.

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to take a deep dive look at your station’s digital strategy.

Today is National Hug a Newsperson Day. RTDNA has some suggestions for things you can do for newscasters today that might be better than a hug:

April 4 is #NationalHugANewspersonDay, but there are more (and better) ways to thank your local news people today and all year. Here are a few ways to be neighborly to your local new folks! https://t.co/mtFcRAzQEz pic.twitter.com/NKmwbhKRdH

— RTDNA 🎙🎥💻 (@RTDNA) April 4, 2019

Wisconsin legislators are looking to reform current law governing the expungement of criminal records.

Among other things, SB-39 would allow those convicted of crimes for which the maximum term of imprisonment is six years or less (including some felonies) to ask a judge to expunge their convictions even if they fail to do so at the time of sentencing, as is currently required.

It would also allow those older than age 25 at the time of an offense to request expungement, and expressly provide that an expunged record cannot be considered a conviction for purposes of employment. The standard under present law would be carried forward, which lets judges grant expungement if they determine “that the person will benefit and society will not be harmed.”

The rationale for the bill, which has broad bipartisan support, is to give those who have made minor mistakes a fresh start, including supposedly enhanced employment opportunities. It is one of several current proposals to expand the availability of expungement. Gov. Tony Evers has called for expunging convictions for individuals convicted of possessing small amounts of marijuana, and legislators are looking to allow expungement for first-offense drunken driving.

Currently, when a case is expunged, the court file is sealed and the record removed from the state’s online court records system, Wisconsin Circuit Court Access program. Supporters of these bills consider this removal of records an essential component of expungement. (Last year, in a similar vein, the director of state courts implemented a policy removing, after two years, dismissed criminal cases from WCCA.)

While the goal of assisting people in moving past their pasts is laudable, we would do well to remember the words of the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis, who wrote, “Experience teaches us to be most on our guard . . . when the government’s purposes are beneficent.”

Wisconsin’s open records law declares that denying access to information about the actions of government is generally contrary to the public interest. That may be especially true when the information being removed involves the actions of law enforcement agencies and courts, both of whom are entrusted with great powers that are subject to abuse.

The goal of erasing criminal convictions for those who are deserving can be accomplished without removing records from public view. Employers already may not legally discriminate in hiring unless the circumstances of the conviction “substantially relate to the circumstances” of the job, or in other similarly limited instances.

Proponents of removing information assert that people are frequently denied employment because of minor or long-ago criminal convictions. But in fact, the vast majority of people with criminal convictions do manage to find work. The state has 1.4 million people with criminal pasts, according to one group pushing for expungement reform; the state’s unemployment rate is 3 percent, or about 94,000 workers.

Ceding the right to know what our government is doing is a slippery slope that has no identifiable stopping point. The denial of access to information about government activity unquestionably undermines our ability to know what our government is doing and has done.

In this case, there is little empirical evidence supporting the reasons for limiting access, however honorable the government actors’ intentions may be.

Your Right to Know is a monthly column distributed by the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council (wisfoic.org), a group dedicated to open government. April Barker, the Council’s co-vice president, is an attorney with Schott, Bublitz & Engel of Brookfield.