Tulsa Trends: writing, journalism, teaching & life

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

2009-04-01T21:45:00.000-07:00

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

2009-02-24T14:15:00.000-08:00

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

The media and twitter

2009-02-24T09:23:00.001-08:00

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

Social Media Thought Experiment

2009-02-23T14:24:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-23T13:34:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-21T09:47:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-19T19:34:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-19T18:53:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-17T17:58:00.001-08:00

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

2/24 homework assignment

2009-02-17T17:58:00.000-08:00

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

Sample request letter

2009-02-17T13:03:00.000-08:00

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

Open Records - Homework for 2/24

2009-02-17T10:14:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-16T09:23:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-15T07:49:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-10T17:20:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-10T14:58:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-02-10T07:51:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-08T16:54:00.001-08:00

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

2009-02-07T15:52:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-06T12:53:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-05T21:44:00.001-08:00

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

2009-02-05T15:14:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-05T12:53:00.001-08:00

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

2009-02-02T12:39:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-02T12:37:00.001-08:00

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

Inauguration Cartoons

2009-01-20T11:41:00.000-08:00

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

Assignment for 1/26

2009-01-20T11:38:00.001-08:00

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

2009-01-19T10:03:00.000-08:00

http://www.journaliststoolbox.org/

Worth a look!

Assignment Week 1

2009-01-13T12:48:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-13T10:05:00.000-08:00

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. :)

Editing Class - new media ideas?

2008-09-23T10:42:00.000-07:00

I will be teaching an editing course at TU in the Spring. I am always looking for ways to "freshen" the course material. Of course students have to learn to edit documents, but we are no longer talking about just printed newspaper columns - there is so much more out there today.It is a journalism class but many of the students will be marketing/pr majors or general liberal arts students...I teach the class in a computer lab so everyone will have access to the Internet etc.So, I am looking for suggestions on topics, textbooks, guest speakers etc....Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

Social Media Tool

2008-09-23T10:34:00.001-07:00

View my page on Oklahoma Social Media Club

query letters

2008-04-23T06:49:00.000-07:00

here are some sites to visit for more info and examples:

http://www.poewar.com/how-to-write-a-query-letter/

http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/844651

http://ezinearticles.com/?10-Steps-to-a-Magazine-Query&id=34491

Bill Moyers delivered these remarks in Washington

2008-04-16T16:14:00.000-07:00

Monday 07 April 2008
Note: Bill Moyers delivered these remarks in Washington, DC, April 3 at the fifth annual Ridenhour Prize awards ceremony, sponsored by The Nation Institute and the Fertel Foundation. Moyers received the Courage Prize; author James D. Scurlock, received the Book Prize, and former Navy JAG officer Matthew Diaz received the Prize for Truth-Telling. The text of his speech appears here as part of the ongoing Moral Compass series, highlighting the spoken word.

Thank you very much, Sissy Farenthold, for those very generous words, spoken like one Texan to another - extravagantly. Thank you for the spirit of kinship. I could swear that I sensed our good Molly Ivins standing there beside you.
I am as surprised to be here as I am grateful. I never thought of myself as courageous, and still don't. Ron Ridenhour was courageous. To get the story out, he had to defy the whole might and power of the United States government, including its war machine. I was then publisher of Newsday, having left the White House some two years earlier. Our editor Bill McIlwain played the My Lai story big, as he should, much to the chagrin of the owner who couldn't believe Americans were capable of such atrocities. Our readers couldn't believe it either. Some of them picketed outside my office for days, their signs accusing the paper of being anti-American for publishing repugnant news about our troops. Some things never change.
A few years later, I gave the commencement at a nearby university, and when I finished the speech, a woman who had just been graduated came up to me and said, "Mr. Moyers, you've been in both government and journalism; that makes everything you say twice as hard to believe." She was on to something.
After my government experience, it took me a while to get my footing back in journalism. I had to learn all over again that what is important for the journalist is not how close you are to power, but how close you are to reality. Over the last forty years, I would find that reality in assignment after assignment, from covering famine in Africa and war in Central America to inner-city families trapped in urban ghettos and middle-class families struggling to survive in an era of downsizing across the heartland. I also had to learn one of journalism's basic lessons. The job of trying to tell the truth about people whose job it is to hide the truth is almost as complicated and difficult as trying to hide it in the first place. We journalists are of course obliged to cover the news, but our deeper mission is to uncover the news that powerful people would prefer to keep hidden.
Unless you are willing to fight and re-fight the same battles until you go blue in the face, drive the people you work with nuts going over every last detail to make certain you've got it right, and then take all of the slings and arrows directed at you by the powers that be - corporate and political and sometimes journalistic - there is no use even trying. You have to love it and I do. I.F. Stone once said, after years of catching the government's lies and contradictions, "I have so much fun, I ought to be arrested." Journalism 101.
So it wasn't courage I counted on; it was exhilaration and good luck. When the road forked, I somehow stumbled into the right path, thanks to mentors like Eric Sevareid, Fred Friendly, Walter Cronkite and scores of producers, researchers and editors who lifted me to see further than one can see unless one is standing on the shoulders of others.
The quintessential lesson of my life came from another Texan named John Henry Faulk. He was a graduate, as am I, of the University of Texas. He served in the Merchant Marines, the American Red Cross and the U.S. Army during World War II, and came home to become a celebrated raconteur and popular national radio host whose career was shattered when right-wingers inspired by Joseph McCarthy smeared him as a communist. He lost his sponsors and was fired. But he fought back with a lawsuit that lasted five years and cost him every penny he owned. Financial help from Edward R. Murrow and a few others helped him to hang on. In the end, John Henry Faulk won, and his courage helped to end the Hollywood era of blacklisting. You should read his book, Fear on Trial, and see the movie starring George C. Scott. John Henry's courage was contagious.
Before his death I produced a documentary about him, and during our interview he told me the story of how he and his friend, Boots Cooper, were playing in the chicken house there in central Texas when they were about twelve years old. They spotted a chicken snake in the top tier of the nest, so close it looked like a boa constrictor. As John Henry told it, "All of our frontier courage drained out of our heels. Actually, it trickled down our overall legs. And Boots and I made a new door through the hen house." His momma came out to see what all of the fuss was about, and she said to Boots and John Henry, "Don't you know chicken snakes are harmless? They can't hurt you." Rubbing his forehead and his behind at the same time, Boots said, "Yes, Mrs. Faulk, I know, but they can scare you so bad you'll hurt yourself."
John Henry Faulk never forgot that lesson. I'm always ashamed when I do. Temptation to co-option is the original sin of journalism, and we're always finding fig leaves to cover it: economics, ideology, awe of authority, secrecy, the claims of empire. In the buildup to the invasion of Iraq we were reminded of what the late great reporter A.J. Liebling meant when he said the press is "the weak slat under the bed of democracy." The slat broke after the invasion and some strange bedfellows fell to the floor: establishment journalists, neo-con polemicists, beltway pundits, right-wing warmongers flying the skull and bones of the "balanced and fair brigade," administration flacks whose classified leaks were manufactured lies - all romping on the same mattress in the foreplay to disaster.
Five years, thousands of casualties, and hundreds of billion dollars later, most of the media co-conspirators caught in flagrante delicto are still prominent, still celebrated, and still holding forth with no more contrition than a weathercaster who made a wrong prediction as to the next day's temperature. The biblical injunction, "Go and sin no more," is the one we most frequently forget in the press. Collectively, we don't seem to learn that all it takes to transform an ordinary politician and a braying ass into the modern incarnation of Zeus and the oracle of Delphi is an oath on the Bible, a flag in the lapel, and the invocation of national security.
There are, fortunately, always exceptions to whatever our latest dismal collective performance yields. America produces some world-class journalism, including coverage of the Iraq War by men and women as brave as Ernie Pyle. But I still wish we had a professional Hippocratic Oath of our own that might stir us in the night when we stray from our mission. And yes, I believe journalism has a mission.
Walter Lippman was prescient on this long before most of you were born. Lippman, who became the ultimate Washington insider - someone to whom I regularly leaked - acknowledged that while the press may be a weak reed to lean on, it is the indispensable support for freedom. He wrote, "The present crisis of Western democracy is a crisis of journalism. Everywhere men and women are conscious that somehow they must deal with questions more intricate than any that church or school had prepared them to understand. Increasingly, they know that they cannot understand them if the facts are not quickly and steadily available. All the sharpest critics of democracy have alleged is true if there is no steady supply of trustworthy and relevant news. Incompetence and aimlessness, corruption and disloyalty, panic and ultimate disaster must come to any people denied an assured access to the facts."
So for all the blunders for which we are culpable; for all the disillusionment that has set in among journalists with every fresh report of job cuts and disappearing news space; for all the barons and buccaneers turning the press into a karaoke of power; for all the desecration visited on broadcast journalism by the corporate networks; for all the nonsense to which so many aspiring young journalists are consigned; and for all the fears about the eroding quality of the craft, I still answer emphatically when young people ask me, "Should I go into journalism today?" Sometimes it is difficult to urge them on, especially when serious questions are being asked about how loyal our society is to the reality as well as to the idea of an independent and free press. But I almost always answer, "Yes, if you have a fire in your belly, you can still make a difference." I remind them of how often investigative reporting has played a crucial role in making the crooked straight. I remind them how news bureaus abroad are a form of national security that can tell us what our government won't. I remind them that as America grows more diverse, it's essential to have reporters, editors, producers and writers who reflect these new rising voices and concerns. And I remind them that facts can still drive the argument and tug us in the direction of greater equality and a more democratic society. Journalism still matters.
But I also tell them there is something more important than journalism, and that is the truth. They aren't necessarily one and the same because the truth is often obscured in the news. In his new novel, The Appeal, John Grisham tells us more about corporate, political and legal jihads than most newspapers or network news ever will; more about Wall Street shenanigans than all the cable business channels combined; more about Manchurian candidates than you will ever hear on the Sunday morning talk shows.
For that matter, you will learn more about who wins and who loses in the real business of politics, which is governance, from the public interest truth-tellers of Washington than you will from an established press tethered to official sources. The Government Accountability Project, POGO, the Sunlight Foundation, Citizens Against Government Waste, Taxpayers for Common Sense, the Center for Responsible Politics, the National Security Archive, CREW, the Center for Public Integrity, just to name a few - and from whistleblowers of all sorts who never went to journalism school, never flashed a press pass, and never attended a gridiron dinner.
Ron Ridenhour was not a journalist when he came upon the truth of My Lai. He was in the Army. He later became a pioneering investigative reporter and - this is the irony - had trouble making a living in a calling where truth-telling can be a liability to the bottom line. Matthew Diaz and James Scurlock, whom you honored today, are truth-tellers without a license, reminding us that the most important credential of all is a conscience that cannot be purchased or silenced. So I tell inquisitive and inquiring young people: "Journalism still makes a difference, but the truth matters more. And if you can't get to the truth through journalism, there are other ways to go."
To The Nation Institute and the Fertel Foundation, to the Ridenhour judges and to all of you, thank you again for this moment and, above all, for the courage of your own convictions.

Places for students to look for jobs

2008-04-12T22:45:00.000-07:00

Try these site for journalism jobs and internships:
http://www.okpress.com/classifieds/ShowJobPostings.aspx
for OPA start the bottom of the list - where postings are more current

http://www.journalismjobs.com/

Internships: http://www.journalismjobs.com/Search_Results_internship.cfm

Editor and Publisher : http://www.mediajobmarket.com/jobs/index.jsp

Turn social networking into career networking: http://www.mediajobmarket.com/jobs/content_display/career-resource/interviewing/e3ie0a3689a2b356c4ab6021f99f41b0c3b

Take these photos and write...

2008-04-09T12:19:00.000-07:00

Tie these four photos together in a 500 word story using web-based research. This needs to be in Thursday's newspaper and it is the art we have....thank the NYT for the pics

Required reading

2008-03-29T20:56:00.000-07:00

http://www.collegemediainnovation.org/blog/2008/03/27/journalism-school-graduates-how-to-increase-your-chance-of-finding-a-job-and-decrease-your-chance-of-having-to-vent-on-angryjournalistcom/#comment-220435

Please visit this site, read it and tell me what you think with a post below...

Travel Writing with Flair

2008-02-27T10:22:00.000-08:00

Just because you are going somewhere for Spring Break doesn't mean you will have a great story to tell - on the other hand - just because you are not going anyhwere doesn't prevent you from telling a good story.

Read these to get some ideas:
http://www.worldhum.com/dispatches/item/the_art_of_writing_a_story_about_walking_across_andorra_20051228/

Travel and Travel writing tips:
http://www.lauriegough.com/passions.html

Read these tips for setting up interviews in different cities (hint do it before you leave):
http://www.rolfpotts.com/writers/fullwood.html

Arts Criticism

2008-02-13T15:27:00.001-08:00

Read this: http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-op-schickel20may20,1,7842832.story?coll=la-news-comment

Then post an example of what you think is a well-written review and read and comment on another class member's post.

Blog guidelines

2008-01-22T11:34:00.000-08:00

You are encouraged to comment on posts, but keep in mind that the same guidelines that apply to classtime behavior obviously apply here as well.

This is a test

2008-01-21T14:19:00.000-08:00

This is a test assignment for my University of Tulsa Feature Writing Class...students please respond to this post so I know you have access to this.

Please post one interesting article you read this week in your response. Also read this Columbia Journalism Review article about science reporting and blogs.

Tulsa Trends: writing, journalism, teaching & life

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

Open Records

The media and twitter

Social Media Thought Experiment

TMAPC meeting minutes

Open Records

Story memo feedback

Updated info - READ THIS

Open Records Assignment

2/24 homework assignment

Sample request letter

Open Records - Homework for 2/24

Due Tuesday 2/18

Stupid question maybe

West Tulsa Recreation

SW Chamber of Commerce

Journalism Competition

Homework from 2/3

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

Apartment complex near the Tulsa Hills shopping center

West Tulsa Railyard

Gary on the Community Gardening idea

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

Facebook Privacy How-to

Inauguration Cartoons

Assignment for 1/26

Journalist Virtual Toolbox

Assignment Week 1

Welcome 2009 Editing Students

Editing Class - new media ideas?

Social Media Tool

query letters

Bill Moyers delivered these remarks in Washington

Places for students to look for jobs

Take these photos and write...

Required reading

Travel Writing with Flair

Arts Criticism

Blog guidelines

This is a test

River Spirit Casino--The new Creek project.UPDATE