40 for Forty Poster Show ///////////////

Hey class! This event is going to be great. You should all try to make it out.

Description:

Art Directors Club of Tulsa is one of America’s oldest independent art directors clubs, founded in 1969. During that time, we have had some of the world’s premier artists here to speak. That means we have 40 years of posters from those very same artists.Now you can see a collection of those posters on display at Tulsa’s PAC Gallery in April. Don’t miss our opening reception this Thursday night, April 2, 6-9p. Graphex judges will be there. So should you.

Host: Art Directors Club of Tulsa
Type: Music/Arts - Exhibit

Date: Thursday, April 2, 2009
Time: 6:00pm - 9:00pm
Location: PAC Gallery
Street: 3rd and Cincinnati
City/Town: Tulsa, OK

Phone: 9185967122
Email: info@artdirectorsoftulsa.org

Open Records

I will be retrieving any permits that are connected to 203 W 2nd St. S (BOK Center).

The media and twitter

A broadcast affair: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/22/AR2009022201921.html?sub=AR

Social Media Thought Experiment

In lieu of one of those nasty news quizzes be ready to participate in a thought exercise with me Tuesday night.

Be prepared to answer the questions:

1) What is social media? (in relation to journalism, communications, public relations)

2) What does social media mean to you?

3) How do you social media (twitter, facebook, myspace, flickr, youtube)?

4) How can you be innovative with social media? Be ready to share an innovative way a school, company, media org or person is using social media to build their brand or share information.

With your permission I am going to videotape some of your answers.

TMAPC meeting minutes

I'm getting the minutes from a recent Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission meeting in which a zoning ordinance for community gardens was proposed. :)

Open Records

I will be getting the minutes from the Tulsa County Commission. Hopefully the minutes from the meeting concerning the ONEOK Field for the Tulsa Drillers.

Story memo feedback

Gardens

Looks good. I would suggest in addition to using the Kerr Center report interviewing someone for the Kerr Center also add a parent to your list of interview subjects.

The Frisco 4500

I think there are some good possibilities here for video too – do you have access to a camera?

Add in that you will have a side bar giving a brief overview of the history of trains in SW Tulsa and a bit about the rail yard as it is today.

River Spirit

What do you suggest for images to go with the story?

One style point “Over 1,000 new jobs” should be “More than 1,000.” You go over and under things like tables but with numbers it is more or less.

Nix the part of the second story where you look at how it impacts the BOK Center.

I would not make the story about specific age groups too high on your priority list if you find you are bogged down with the others.

Tulsa Hills Apartments

Get me a few more hard facts – like the name of the developer and project details and I will be a happy camper.

Updated info - READ THIS

1. Your memos looked good overall - I will post general comments on the web site - please make those suggested changes and bring electronic copies of your story memo to the next class. So, there will not be anything to pick up on Friday.

2. Your speaker Tuesday is JUSTIN JUOZAPAVICIUS from the Associated Press please come prepared with good questions for him.

3. Don't forget about your open records request home work.

Open Records Assignment

I will be obtaining a jail booking log from the David L. Moss Correctional Facility!

2/24 homework assignment

Agenda for the Jenks Public School Board, minutes from the last meeting or the budget for the current fiscal year. 

Sample request letter

http://journalism.okstate.edu/faculty/jsenat/requestletter.htm

Open Records - Homework for 2/24

Homework assignment
2/17/09
Open Records
Due: 2/24/09


Your assignment is to obtain a copy of an open record from a public body. You must request this in person and either obtain the document or write a report if it is denied stating who denied it and what they said. (You may not obtain the public record from the Internet.)

The point of this assignment is to give you an idea what kinds of reactions you get when you request public documents. If you’re an editor and you’ve actually done something yourself, it’s much easier to know what you are asking when you assign a reporter to do it.

Here are some ideas, but extra points will be awarded for those who obtain particularly difficult or newsworthy documents. Please do not spend a lot of money on copying fees. If a document contains hundreds of pages, just copy the first page and any other pages with newsworthy information. Remember you are asking to REVIEW the document, not for a copy of the whole thing. You decide what you want to copy. In the case of agendas though, the whole thing is usually one or two pages.

Important: everyone in class must have a different document to ensure that you are all getting the “open records experience”. Post the title of the document you are seeking on the class blog so there are not any duplications – the first person to post the document title is the person who will receive credit.

1. Agenda for the next Tulsa City Council meeting, available at City Hall downtown.

2. There are many other public bodies that operate under the City of Tulsa. Pick one that interests you and get the latest agenda or minutes from the last meeting.

3. Agenda for the next Tulsa County Commission meeting, available at the County offices in the courthouse downtown.

4. The petition filed by the district attorney charging someone with a crime. Look in the paper for stories about people who have been charged or are on trial. Available on the second floor, criminal division, Tulsa County District Court.

5. The jail booking log for a particular day (you choose). Available at the David L. Moss Correctional Center downtown.

6. The agenda for the Tulsa Public School Board, minutes of the last meeting or the budget for the current fiscal year. Available at the Education Service Center, 3027 S. Newhaven.

Due Tuesday 2/18

Each team should produce a 1-2 page story memo that answers the following questions:
• What's the news?
• What's the story?

•What's the image?

• How can I tell it in six words?

• So what?

List at least 6 potential sources 4 primary and 2 secondary with contact or resource information.
Include three ideas for graphics/photos.

Use 12 point font, double spaced and please refer to your AP style guide.

Include the names of all members of your team on your memo.

Stupid question maybe

Are we supposed to be working in groups to write the story memos or will we be doing them individually? Did I miss this?

West Tulsa Recreation

The idea is to highlight all the public activities offered to West Tulsans. We feature all the noteworthy activities that Riverparks West Bank has to offer; such as the Tulsa Wave Park Kayaking, dirt trail hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, The Water Works Art Center, and the Bark (dog) Park.

I would go to each of these locations to get the scoop on what is offered. This would appeal to families with active kids, especially during March and April when Spring is beginning to take over.

SW Chamber of Commerce

I was able to find a plethra of intriguing information about SW Tulsa when I contacted the SW chamber of commerce. All in all, everything seems to be of historic value and has been a part of SW tulsa for some time now. Everything from Sunoco lubricating oil refinery's, who's oil is also used for the base of chocolate to metal recycling company's that recycle the metal in order to make zippers for jackets. This has proved to be a really interesting topic to write about according to the information that was gathered.

Hi all.

So as you may have seen, Gary says that the garden idea does have ties to SW Tulsa because of Eugene Field Elementary, which started the Global Gardens program. (http://www.global-gardens.org/). 

So going along with that idea...in my mind, the article would mainly focus on what good community gardens can do at schools, especially schools in lower-income areas. Proponents of community gardens offer up many benefits: in terms of education, gardens at school are a form of student-centered learning that gives kids a hands-on science experience. 

Gardening programs also give kids a better understanding of nutrition and where food comes from. This is important in "food-poor" areas especially, where low-income families tend to eat very unhealthy food because it's the least expensive. The skill of growing one's own food is indispensable in this case, because homegrown produce is even cheaper than McDonald's but it's many times more nutritious. What we eat goes a long way in preventing widespread health problems in Oklahoma, like diabetes and heart disease. (If you hang out around Kendall-Whittier park, which is in a notoriously poor area, and see the proportion of overweight and obese kids in the grade school classes, this will really hit home.)

Gardens are also community centers where people must work together cooperatively. Supporters argue that gardens do foster a sense of community and investment in the local area, motivating students (or any gardeners) to change their community for the better.

I think it would be a good idea to basically profile the Global Gardens program because of it's great success, and I think that I could get in contact with Heather Oakley (the director and a Eugene Fields teacher) about this fairly easily. 

It would also be good to include information about the Brady Heights Community Garden (though it's not associated with a school) because it is in North Tulsa. I think that'd be good because of all the (often true) stereotypes about N. Tulsa. Yes, it is poor, and that's why they need the garden there. Yes, it is a rough area, but they are positively impacting the community by planting and growing food together in the middle of the neighborhood. Leah and Justin Picard started that garden and I think they'd be happy to be interviewed.

Another source I would suggest is a report made by the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture published in 2006. It's called Closer to Home: Healthier Food, Farms and Family in Oklahoma, A Centennial Report. I have a copy of this, for the record.

Finally I'd probably interview some people from the Tulsa Community Garden Association for their take on the benefits of gardening.

I'd also like to find out more about what Russell Burkhart is doing with Indian Health Care Resource Center to start more gardens around the city. And I think it would be cool to have a breakout box with tips and resources for starting a garden.

-Danielle

Journalism Competition

http://www.greatplainsawards.org/

Deadline has been extended until Monday, Feb. 16. (took me a few days to get an answer from the Press Club)

Homework from 2/3

1. If you haven't already send me the email you use for your blogger account so I can make you an author
2. Post a paragraph or so about your story idea.
3. Read chapters 2 and 3 of your Art of Editing book

See you Tuesday!

River Spirit Casino--The new Creek project.**UPDATE**

As you all know, after incessantly calling several offices, I managed to contact Pat Schnake, PR Manager for Creek Nation Casino and the new project on the river. This week I've called him several times in order to finalize the arrangements for an interview (and possibly a tour), but have been quite unsuccessful in reaching him. The purpose of the investigation, however, is to examine business opportunities that have risen from the construction of the new casino as well as evaluating the overall economic impact (in terms of employment and residential growth) on the area. As of now I have only found a couple of articles, such as this one published at the end of last year on the Tulsa World website. For the article and more information about the Casino project, which is to open March 31st, 2009, click here.

02/10/09--Mr. Schnake contacted me earlier today. He has been recently dealing with some family business which has consequently made it more difficult for me to reach him. I really appreciate him calling. In terms of the project, I will be sending Mr. Schnake an e-mail with all the questions and a description of the project sometime this week.

Apartment complex near the Tulsa Hills shopping center

Because the Tulsa Hills shopping center has been covered an inordinate amount of time within the city limits, we have chosen to focus more on the controversial apartment complex being constructed just west of the center.
We know that there is currently a petition with about 100 people who want to prevent the construction of this complex.
We plan to first contact Rick Westcott, a city councilman involved with this development. We are hoping that he can give us unbiased information from both sides of the dispute. However, if he backs one particular side, we want to get his opinion on the apartment complex and then get contact information from him for other council members or community members who may have differing opinions.
We would also like to talk to the developer or contractor for the complex and get their reactions to the petition. We want to find out why they think the complex is a necessary addition to West Tulsa and how they think it will benefit the area.We want to write a piece that explores both sides of the issue and contains reliable information and interesting quotations from several community members and officials.

- Stephanie, Ryan, and Kate

West Tulsa Railyard

Alright, here is a little bit of information I found about the railyard.
It is currently owned by BNSF which is Burlington Northern Sante Fe. It is more commonly known as the Cherokee Yard.
The railroad was brought first to Red Fork in 1884-1885 by the Atlantic and Pacific railroad company which was later purchased by the St. Louis and San Fransico railroad company in 1897.
There is a good article from the magazine Trains that has more information about how many trains run through Cherokee a day, what type of goods they traffic, size etc. Click here for the link. The Tulsa Sapulpa Union railroad runs through there. They traffic goods and materials for the glass plant and sinclair refinery to name a few. Mainly traffic for business between Tulsa and Sapulpa.
There really isn't much information about the history or what it was used for that I could find. I did read that the rail system in Red Fork was used as a staging ground for cattle in the late 1800's. You can get some more information at the tulsa preservation commission website. Their phone number is 918-576-5687. They might have more information.
I think this story would work if you took it as more of the history of the rail system in Tulsa with a little spotlight on the Cherokee yard. I don't know if you could dig up enough info for just the west tulsa railyard and its history.
We might also consider a story about oil. Oil was first found in Tulsa County in Red Fork. It spurned Tulsa to become the oil capital of the world. It might be a good story to look into that.

Gary on the Community Gardening idea

Danielle - Eugene Field does have the Global Garden program; and it is considered a SW Tulsa school. Haven't heard anything about Allen Bowden. Last year, Russell Burkhart at Indian Health Care Resource Center was working on a "Food Security Grant" that would launch several community gardens around Tulsa. I'm not sure where this effort stands, at present. Back to Eugene Field and Global Garden ... this program is flourising and helped stimulate another development at Eugene Field - a neighborhood grocery called The Harvest at which produce from Global Gardens will be sold. The story also will have cooking demonstration classes. Anyway, I like your idea and it definitely has a tie to Southwest Tulsa. GP

The man behind the "Hotel Rwanda" story speaks at TU

Paul Rusesabagina, real-life protagonist of the story behind the movie "Hotel Rwanda," will be at TU Monday, February 16, at 7pm in the Great Hall in ACAC.

Here's a link to the facebook event sponsored by Student Association.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=44760599426&ref=nf


Write a news story and get extra credit!

Facebook Privacy How-to

http://www.allfacebook.com/2009/02/facebook-privacy/

Inauguration Cartoons

http://cagle.com/news/ObamaInauguration/main.asp

Assignment for 1/26

1. Research Tulsa World City editor Ziva Branstetter and develop 4 questions to ask her during our next class. (Know what kind of work she did as a reporter, learn about city editors and what they do etc.)

2. Research your story topic with your partner (except for Ryan that is working solo) and be ready to present your research to the class - is this a good story topic? Why/why not? Be ready to give a a 5 minute presentation to the class about this.

3. Read your syllabus (and the news) there will be a quiz at at start of class on 1/26 - don't be late.



Thanks for a good class discussion about story topics - great ideas folks!

Journalist Virtual Toolbox

http://www.journaliststoolbox.org/

Worth a look!

Assignment Week 1

This assignment is due at the start of class on 1/20

Read:
Chapter One in The Art of Editing
Chapter One in Working With Words
All entries under letters A and B in the Associate Press Style Book



Complete:
Exercises on pages 7-17 in the Working with Words exercise book

Prepare 3 ideas for stories/projects you could research and write for Tulsa County News.

Welcome 2009 Editing Students

Tonight is the first night for my TU journalism class this semester. I will be teaching Editing for Print Media and use this blog space for the class. In reality the course is going to me more of an editing for many types of media -especially the web. I am really looking forward to this class.

Students you are tasked with getting a blogger account (that also ids you with your real name) and post a quick comment here so I know you know how to follow directions. :)