Farmers in the upper Midwest are in crisis and broadcast journalists have been bringing attention to the issue.
Most recently, KMSP in Minneapolis sired an hour-long special based on 10 months of reporting, a huge commitment to covering the topic.
You can read more and view the segments here.
Columnist Jim Brady is making the argument that social media is one of the leading reasons for a decline in trust in journalism. He cites the reduction and elimination of the editing process:
“By any measure, the public’s opinion of us has dimmed dramatically since we were able to slip the surly bonds of editing and fly our own flags.”
Brady argues that social media has caused journalist to fall victim to their worst instincts.
He also has a hopeful message. Read the column and see what you think.
RTDNA is making changes to its awards competition, the Murrow Awards, including the addition of a category for podcasts.
The Murrow Awards also also adding a Feature-Length Documentary category and updating the look of the awards.
The competition opens Thursday. Read more here.
And don’t forget that the WBA Awards competition is already underway! Read more here.
The Pulitzer’s are adding a new category for audio reporting, opening the journalism competition to radio reporters.
Jacobs Media is blogging today about the change.
The category is being described as “experimental” meaning it’s not clear if the new category will survive in the long term.
When’s the last time you reviewed your social media strategy?
Advancing the Story is bringing it back to basics with some advice on how to be successful on social media. Read more here.
The tips were shared at a Texas Association of Broadcasters newsroom workshop.
A TV newsroom in Wausau is one of ten newsrooms across the country to get free watchdog training from Investigative Reporters and Editor’s Total Newsroom Training program.
WSAW/WZAW-TV will get two days of intensive, in-house training on watchdog journalism. This is the seventh year IRE has offered the free program, which is supported through a grant. The training is customized and includes two days of sessions ranging from public records battles to hands-on data analysis.
“We’re excited to continue to grow our newsroom with the tools and training that Investigative Reporters & Editors can provide, said WSAW/WZAW-TV News Director, Sarah Gray.
The newsrooms were chosen from more than 35 applications this year.
Read more here.
News 3 Now (WISC-TV) Assistant News Director and political reporter Jessica Arp is leaving the Madison TV station at the end of the year.
Arp was with the station for 15 years and was a veteran reporter at the State Capitol.
“Thank you for welcoming me into your home so many times, for trusting me with your stories, for engaging with me in online spaces, for stopping me to share your thoughts in the grocery store,” she wrote. “I know it’s a privilege to do this job and I have never once taken that for granted.”
Arp is joining the University of Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association as its managing director of communications.
You can walk into City Hall asking to see records without ever having to give your name.
You can mail or email an open records request to any public entity without giving any indication of who you are.
You don’t even need to submit a written request. You can make the request orally and still remain anonymous.
That’s because, while there are a few exceptions, Wisconsin’s open records law states: “No request … may be refused because the person making the request is unwilling to be identified or to state the purpose of the request.”
The law’s chief author, Lynn Adelman, a former state legislator who’s now a federal judge, has said that provision was so important to him that he would have scrapped the legislation entirely if an amendment to remove it had passed.
Yet, in at least two recent cases, that right has been challenged.
An anonymous requester sued the Madison Metropolitan School District in November for refusing to release records unless the requester revealed his or her identity. The person, according to the suit, made 26 requests between July and October. The school district ignored some of them. It responded to others by saying it needed to know the requester’s name to ensure he or she posed no threat.
That’s one of the exceptions to the anonymity provision of the law — if there’s a safety concern that outweighs the presumption of disclosure. Another is that if student or health records are requested, the custodian should confirm the requester is authorized to receive them.
The requests in the Madison case are for routine documents, such as school board updates and a school improvement plan. As the requester’s attorney, Tom Kamenick, notes in the suit, the records are “not focused on any individual, and they contain no information that would put any person’s safety in danger if revealed.”
There are circumstances in which the exemption can be legitimately applied — for example, a request by a domestic abuser for records about the abuser’s victim. This isn’t one of them.
In a second case, the village of Ashwaubenon refused an anonymous request in March. The requester had asked for the billing records of an outside law firm the village had hired to conduct personnel investigations.
The requester used the pseudonyms Mr. M or Richard Marven, a Navy officer who was a whistleblower in the Revolutionary War.
The village’s attorney responded in April by asking the requester to make an appointment at city hall to access a copy of the records.
After several email exchanges didn’t lead to a resolution, the requester filed suit in June, contending the village and its attorney refused to provide copies of the records by mail or email and required the requester to appear in person to inspect them.
In October, the case was settled and the requester, who was not required to reveal his or her name, said the records were made available.
The presumption of openness in Wisconsin government means there should be as few obstacles to openness as possible. Requiring records requesters to identify themselves is an obstacle.
Citizens would be less likely to make requests without the right to anonymity. That’s why the law was clearly written to prevent governments from denying public information to people for whom this is important.
The anonymity provision is crucial to the state open records law. Our governments need to understand that — and obey the law.
Your Right to Know is a monthly column distributed by the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council (wisfoic.org), a group dedicated to open government. Council member Larry Gallup is the digital news director for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin.
Competition for the 2019 WBA Awards for Excellence begins today. Stations can now submit award entries through BetterBNC. All entries must be submitted by Jan. 8, 2020 at 11:59 p.m.
You can find more details on the WBA’s Awards for Excellence page and all the categories and submission instructions are available in this year’s awards brochure.
Most disqualifications happen when submissions are being made in the final hours of the competition! Improve your chance of avoiding disqualifications and get those submissions in sooner rather than later.
WBA Newsroom