This issue: Online news from Ken Sands

Spots blogs: Sports beat writers create hot new blogs at the Cincinnati Post and Tacoma News Tribune. Click here for details and links.

Citizens' pledge: The Bayosphere site asks citizen journalists to take a pledge of accuracy and integrity. It's a controversial topic. Click here for links to both sides.

Tough talk: There are rough times ahead for our industry and many experts offering advice in compelling reports available online. Click here for a collection of links.

Idea to steal: Here's a multimedia clickable map that lets readers join the community debate about tearing down historic buildings. Click here for the link.

Credibility: Here's a roundup of headlines from recent Credibility Round Tables. Click here for more.

Kudos: Members recognized for their cooperation efforts. Click here for more.

— July 8: Contest entries must be received
— Sept. 9: Nominations due for Robert G. McGruder Awards for Diversity Leadership
— Sept. 25: Cut-off for $150 conference room rate at The Fairmont, San Jose
— Oct. 26-29: APME Conference, The Fairmont, San Jose

GETTING THE HANG OF SPORTS BLOGGING
Cincinnati Post writer Marc Lancaster covers the Cincinnati Reds, and his new blog is nice "inside baseball" for fans. He recently chronicled a day in the life of a Reds beat writer. It was interesting and cool transparency:
http://frontier.cincinnati.com/blogs/spring/.

"Marc did this blog during spring training and it did very well for us," writes Dave Heller, Cincinnati.com online content manager. "In fact, it helped unearth the story of a minor league pitcher getting busted for DUI (it was posted in the comments and we did research to reveal it was factual) ... It's not easy for a beat writer to provide material for both the paper and a blog, but with a lot hovering around the Reds these days (negatively, that is ...), it was Marc's idea to relaunch this thing, and I am glad he did (and am thankful Post management approved)."

Heller thinks this might be the only MLB blog currently being done by a beat writer. Any others out there? Lancaster could make his blog more of a "one-stop information shop" for his Reds readers if he more consistently linked to stories of interest in other (even competing!) media. That may seem counterintuitive from a competitive standpoint, but newspapers need to position themselves online as THE source for all news on that particular beat, no matter the origin of that information.

Another good new sports blog is Seahawks Insider, by Tacoma (Wash.) News Tribune beat writer Mike Sando: http://blogs.thenewstribune.com/seahawks/.

Sando actually apologized to blog readers for computer problems causing him to be "late" with news of two free agents being signed that day. He posted the news and the apology at 6:03 p.m., still a full 12 hours before most print-only newspaper readers would see that story. Getting on top of such seemingly trivial sports news on a 24/7 basis is critical if we want to keep sports fans as readers. You might not realize it, but amateur, fan-based Web sites already have taken over breaking college sports news from local newspapers. And those fan sites get away with CHARGING $99 a year for membership, something we can't accomplish.

CITIZEN JOURNALISM PLEDGE
Online newspaper pioneer Dan Gillmor, recently of the San Jose Mercury News, has a new "citizen journalism" venture in the Bay Area called "Bayosphere." He recently launched an intriguing citizen journalism pledge for people who want to participate on the site:

It reads, in part: "By submitting this form, I agree to be accurate, complete, fair and transparent in my postings on Bayosphere. I will operate with integrity. I work in the community interest. I report and produce news explaining the facts as fairly, thoroughly, accurately and openly as I can."

Some notable journalism watchers have panned the pledge.

But I think it's a great idea. In fact, I came to the exact same conclusion last year when we halted the online forums at www.spokesmanreview.com. I'm glad to see someone has begun experimenting with the idea.

WORDS YOU NEED TO HEAR, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT
First, there's newspaper consultant Tim Porter on newsroom problems.

And media watcher Jeff Jarvis on the future of news.

And on a new newsroom.

Journalism educator Jay Rosen on his "Press Think" site about "Laying the Newspaper Gently Down to Die."

Journalism educator Leonard Witt guest-writing on Jay Rosen's "Press Think" site about the future.

Bottom line? You might want to consider getting on the bus before you get run over by the bus!

MORE GOOD MULTIMEDIA
Here's an interesting approach to mapping that might spark ideas for others. It's a clickable map of houses slated to be torn down in Westport, Conn. Roll over the green dots for details; click through to join the debate in forums.

http://www.westportnow.com/realestate/map.php

What good multimedia have you seen or done recently? Tell us with an e-mail here.

The online portion of today's edition was written by Ken Sands, online publisher, The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash., and a member of the APME Board of Directors.

CREDIBILITY EFFORTS STILL BRINGING RESULTS
As the APME National Credibility Roundtable Project winds down, we still are finding that newspapers are learning lessons and growing from the experience. Just a few examples:

     — The Press-Enterprise, Riverside, Calif., looked at a perception of bias in news coverage of one of its communities. It found that readers perceived opinions in headlines, particularly on stories about a police shooting, even when the stories were balanced. Readers also perceived bias when they felt there was too little coverage on a topic (a recall election and business news drew particular concern). The newspaper is taking steps to address the perceptions.

     — The Repository, Canton, Ohio, found many of its presumptions about young readers were wrong. The newspaper had students examine different page mock-ups and found they had a strong interest in news. The students also put a high priority on trust, reliability of information and solution-oriented reporting. These are not young people just interested in the entertainment pages!

     — The Wausau (Wis.) Daily Herald explored reactions to coverage of its Hmong population and learned that the newspaper must pay just as much attention to the "regular white guy reader," according to Executive Editor Mark Baldwin. "It's really our place to serve all readers and to extend the same care and nurturing and responsibility to everyone who spends time with our paper."

     — Anchorage (Alaska) Daily News found that readers are extremely interested in environmental coverage, but also in coverage of the entire community. The editor and staff are discussing how to changes and began a reader blog to improve communication.

Look for additional information in an upcoming issue of the APME News.

COOPERATION KUDOS: MEMBERS CITED FOR TIPS, INFORMATION, PHOTOS
Member newspapers, broadcast stations and online operations are AP's eyes and ears on the ground when local news breaks. Contributions of tips, stories, images and other information are vital to helping AP produce timely, informative news and photo reports. APME recognizes members for their outstanding cooperation. These members are being cited for their recent help:

     — The Williston (N.D.) Herald for help covering two stories in June: a fire in a motel room that appeared to have been used as a lab for production of methamphetamines; and the crowning of a new Miss North Dakota.

     — KCJB, Minot, and KBMW, Wahpeton, for help covering bad weather and the resulting flooding in North Dakota June 29-30.

     — KFGO, Fargo, N.D., where News Director Paul Jurgens gave AP first word June 23 that the director of the state Racing Commission had been fired. Jurgens also provided the name of the bar where the ousted director could be reached for comment.

     — The Sun, Yuma, Ariz., for giving AP first word that six people had been shot to death in a home. The shooting happened late on a Friday night, with very little information available until Saturday afternoon.