| APME Update • Celebrating Sunshine Week |
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APME UPDATE MARCH 16, 2017
SAVE THE DATE
March 20, 2017: Deadline to apply for National Press Foundation free, four-day farm-to-table training program April 15, 2017: Deadline to apply to host a NewsTrain workshop Oct. 21, 2017: NewsTrain workshop in Columbus, Ohio News Organizations Celebrate Sunshine WeekThe American Society of Newspaper Editors launched the first national Sunshine Week in 2005. The celebration of access to public information has been held every year since to coincide with the March 16 birthday of James Madison, father of the U.S. Constitution and a key advocate of the Bill of Rights. Journalism marks its annual Sunshine Week at an extraordinary moment in the relationship between the presidency and the press. First Amendment advocates call the Trump administration the most hostile to the press and free expression in memory. In words and actions, they say, Trump and his administration have threatened democraticprinciples and the general spirit of a free society. Yet free speech advocates say the press, at least on legal issues, is well positioned to withstand Trump. Wondering who is visiting the White House? The web-based search has gone dark. Curious about climate change? Some government sites have been softened or taken down. Worried about racial discrimination in housing? Laws have been introduced to bar federal mapping of such disparities. Federal rules protecting whistleblowers? At least one has been put on hold. Since taking office, the Trump administration has made a series of moves that have alarmed groups with a stake in public access to information. Some are so concerned they have thrown themselves into “data rescue” sessions nationwide, where they spend their weekends downloading and archiving federal databases they fear could soon be taken down or obscured. When Texans ask state and local officials for records detailing their operations, more and more the answer is no. The reason why is in dispute. A quirk of the Texas public records law, adopted almost 45 years ago, says that when officials deny the public the right to see something, they usually have to run that decision by the state attorney general’s office. The number of those denials has been soaring. In the fiscal year that ended in August 2001, governments forwarded about 5,000 denied record requests to the attorney general’s office for review. That number had jumped to more than 27,000 by 2016. As I've listened to President Donald Trump go on tirades against the "very dishonest" media, I've tried not to take his criticism personally. Lord knows, I've made my share of mistakes in my career. But they've never been on purpose, or out of malice. In fact, after more than 30 years, I can still remember the phone call from a grieving relative when I misspelled a name in an obituary (I wrote Ronald instead of Roland). This was before articles were published online, so print newspapers were the permanent record. The man's family had to live with my error. However Trump bashes journalists, he'll never make me feel as bad as I did back then. So here's the truth: The press is not the opposition party. The media is not the enemy of the American people. Negative stories are not fake news. And when Trump keeps making these claims, he isn't just attacking the press; he is chipping away at one of the pillars of our democracy. Rita Ward had a question: Why did a weekly listing of causes of death suddenly stop appearing in the local newspaper? It turned out the health department in Vanderburgh County, Indiana., halted its practice of providing causes of death to the Evansville Courier & Press. When Ward and a reporter for the newspaper asked why those records were no longer available, the department cited an Indiana law intended to protect citizens against identity theft. Ward and the newspaper sued for access to the information under Indiana’s Access to Public Records Act. They lost two lower court rulings before the Indiana Supreme Court ruled in 2014 that the records, focused on the decedent’s name, age and cause of death, should continue to be made available to the public. In their ruling, the judges underscored “the importance of open and transparent government to the health of our body politic” and held that “the public interest outweighs the private.” April 15 is the deadline to bring APME’s NewsTrain to your newsroom in 2018
To experience the learning, morale boost and fun of a NewsTrain workshop in your town, the first steps are to put together a tentative host committee of representatives from local journalism organizations, and apply by April 15 at bit.ly/HostNewsTrain. Successful host committees work hand-in-glove with the NewsTrain staff over six months to plan and promote the workshops. The skills taught are customized to the needs of journalists in your region and designed to be used immediately. The host committee’s financial obligation includes supplying food for either a one-day or two-day workshop attracting 100. It should seek local sponsors to cover that cost, which can run $1,500 to $3,000. The host committee also markets the workshop regionally, makes copies and secures a venue, usually a university site. The payback is smarter, more engaged and enthusiastic journalists, journalism students and journalism educators in your region. “Hosting a NewsTrain gives you the opportunity to tailor high-quality training that will be accessible and affordable for your staff,” said Angie Muhs, executive editor of The State Journal-Register, and chair of the host committee for NewsTrain in DeKalb, Illinois, in 2015. “It’s worth the investment of your time and effort.” Questions? Visit bit.ly/HostNewsTrain, or email NewsTrain Project Director Linda Austin at laustin.newstrain@gmail.com. GREAT IDEAS
A couple of years ago, the Observer committed to taking a meaningful look at crime in the community. We settled — through a lot of discussion — on an approach known as solutions journalism. Solutions journalism looks at issues from the perspective of what is working or has the promise to work in addressing a significant community issue. It is not necessary to do a major project to apply the principles. We’ve done one-shot stories using the principles of seeing what works and talking with officials about how and why — or why not — such answers could be applicable to problems in our community. — Michael Adams Link to the eBook and see all the 2016 Great ideas and Submit your own for inclusion in the 2017 edition!
WATCHDOG REPORTING
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If you’re looking to bring affordable, digital training to your newsroom in 2018, consider hosting one of APME’s NewsTrain workshops.
