From the national level – with President Obama’s budget release – to the state level, with precinct caucuses on Tuesday and the legislative session beginning on Thursday, this promises to be a big week for political news. It’s enough to make a groundhog scurry back inside and not come out again.This week, the TC Daily Planet will increase our coverage of the legislative session and Minnesota politics with a new column, starting on Thursday – watch for it! We also have significant legislative coverage from long-time media partner, Session Daily/Session Weekly, reporting directly from the Minnesota House of Representatives. The legislature has a stellar website, too, which makes tracking bills easy, and offers live television coverage of many sessions and hearings. Continue Reading
For everyone out there who, like me, wants to read the actual words of the State of the Union, not just the commentary and analyisis – here it is, straight from the White House website. (Also – full speech video from The Uptake.)THE PRESIDENT: Madam Speaker, Vice President Biden, members of Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow Americans:Our Constitution declares that from time to time, the President shall give to Congress information about the state of our union. For 220 years, our leaders have fulfilled this duty. They’ve done so during periods of prosperity and tranquility. And they’ve done so in the midst of war and depression; at moments of great strife and great struggle.It’s tempting to look back on these moments and assume that our progress was inevitable — that America was always destined to succeed. But when the Union was turned back at Bull Run, and the Allies first landed at Omaha Beach, victory was very much in doubt. When the market crashed on Black Tuesday, and civil rights marchers were beaten on Bloody Sunday, the future was anything but certain. These were the times that tested the courage of our convictions, and the strength of our union. And despite all our divisions and disagreements, our hesitations and our fears, America prevailed because we chose to move forward as one nation, as one people. Again, we are tested. And again, we must answer history’s call.One year ago, I took office amid two wars, an economy rocked by a severe recession, a financial system on the verge of collapse, and a government deeply in debt. Experts from across the political spectrum warned that if we did not act, we might face a second depression. So we acted — immediately and aggressively. And one year later, the worst of the storm has passed.But the devastation remains. One in 10 Americans still cannot find work. Many businesses have shuttered. Home values have declined. Small towns and rural communities have been hit especially hard. And for those who’d already known poverty, life has become that much harder.This recession has also compounded the burdens that America’s families have been dealing with for decades — the burden of working harder and longer for less; of being unable to save enough to retire or help kids with college. So I know the anxieties that are out there right now. They’re not new. These struggles are the reason I ran for President. These struggles are what I’ve witnessed for years in places like Elkhart, Indiana; Galesburg, Illinois. I hear about them in the letters that I read each night. The toughest to read are those written by children — asking why they have to move from their home, asking when their mom or dad will be able to go back to work.For these Americans and so many others, change has not come fast enough. Some are frustrated; some are angry. They don’t understand why it seems like bad behavior on Wall Street is rewarded, but hard work on Main Street isn’t; or why Washington has been unable or unwilling to solve any of our problems. They’re tired of the partisanship and the shouting and the pettiness. They know we can’t afford it. Not now. So we face big and difficult challenges. And what the American people hope — what they deserve — is for all of us, Democrats and Republicans, to work through our differences; to overcome the numbing weight of our politics. For while the people who sent us here have different backgrounds, different stories, different beliefs, the anxieties they face are the same. Continue Reading
Nick Coleman tweets: “Total $$$ pledged to Haiti — U.S. and ALL sources — equals 1.5 percent of Wall Street bonuses being paid. God Save America.” If you want to do your part to balance the score this weekend, you have a choice of lots of benefits in the Twin Cities, listed below, along with other ways to contribute directly to Haiti relief efforts. Benefits to help Haiti The Hip Hop benefit evening happened already – January 19 at the Nomad Pub. But wait – you can watch the video from St. Continue Reading
The New York Times ran a story this morning (January 4) about a feature that TC Daily Planet added last week – SeeClickFix.com. SeeClickFix is a national site that gives people a super-simple way to register their requests for action with government officials. It’s a national site, but organized by city and neighborhood.
The SeeClickFix widget in column 3 of the Daily Planet focuses on the metro area. All requests in St. Paul and Minneapolis are tracked there. Continue Reading
Which of these stories is more newsworthy -1. Tiger Woods had an extramarital affair? 2. Michele Bachmann warns that “We will be economic slaves to this federal government,” and urges people to fight health care reform by calling Congress “every day, when you wake up in the morning and comb your hair and take your vitamins”?3. A teacher in St. Continue Reading
Poynter Online challenged journalists (and others) to tweet “100 Things a Journalist Should Never Do” and “100 Things a Journalist Should Do.” You can find all of the tweets at #100things. Some of the most popular, according to Julie Moos on Poynter: Never say you’re unbiased. You are biased. The best journalists mitigate their biases, they don’t hide them.Actually follow rule of “If your mother says she loves you, get a second source.”A journalist should never do: Wonder how to rewrite a press release before wondering how to fact-check it. Continue Reading
In November, I spoke at a J-Lab forum in Washington, DC that included “new media” leaders from across the country. Coming soon after the demise of ChiTown Daily News, the J-Lab forum offered hope through the number and diversity of groups represented there. Here are a few of the ideas people shared, and links to the new media sites they represent. OaklandLocal.com just started up with a J-Lab New Voices grant. (TC Daily Planet is a past recipient of a J-Lab New Voices grant.) Last week I saw lots of Oakland Local reporting about the arrests and occupation of college buildings on University of California campuses, all in protest over the 32 percent tuition hike approved November 19. Continue Reading
Have you ever thought about blogging? If you want to get started, or to start over, now is the time and the TC Daily Planet is the place. We have some blog partners, who have agreed to allow us to republish some of their posts. We also have a structure that allows any registered user to maintain a blog. From all of the blog posts published every day, we select some to feature on the front page. Continue Reading
Is the Daily Planet part of the news media or part of the blogosphere? Where do our articles come from? Are they edited? What’s the difference between blog posts and articles? How do we distinguish between reporting and opinion? Continue Reading
From New Haven Independent on one coast to Local Oakland on the other, community journalism and new media are alive and well, and well-represented at the J-Lab conference in Washington. I’m scheduled to talk about training citizen journalists. (Feel free to jump in with your suggestions, as long as you do it before 10: 00 a.m.) Part of the news at the conference is a study with some pretty interesting conclusions about “the impact the changing media landscape is having on how journalism is being practiced and how it is being consumed.” The study finds that community journalism “is evolving as an exercise in participation, not merely as observation.” New media creators seek to report on their communities by being actively involved in them. They engage in newsgathering and reporting that is informed by their own knowledge and sense of place. They seek to entice members of their community in robust conversations. They pay close attention to their readers and communities to figure out what is of interest. At the TC Daily Planet, we try to “entice members of the community” into conversation and participation, and response and involvement are increasing. Continue Reading
