blogMarch2006

Issues, trends, events, ideas and journalism from the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues

Friday, March 31, 2006

Today is earlybird deadline for economic-coverage seminar

Many local news outlets have played a role in bringing jobs to their communities, both with stories and editorials and with civic leadership. Today, they and their communities face new challenges. For example, globalization has made it more difficult for American communities to attract and retain jobs, and many rural communities face technological obstacles in keeping up with the rest of the country and the world.

To help rural journalists cover these issues and provide responsible civic leadership, the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues will present a workshop, “Covering and Guiding Rural Economic Development,” in Murray, Ky., on April 7. The conference at Murray State University will be held in conjunction with the spring meeting of the West Kentucky Press Association; the fee, which includes lunch, will be $25 for WKPA members and $50 for non-members who sign up by today. Next week, the cost for non-members will be $60. To sign up, send an e-mail to al.cross@uky.edu and put your check in the mail to the address at the bottom of this file. Make it out to the University of Kentucky for the Murray conference.

Speakers include Henry Torres of Rural Sourcing of Jonesboro, Ark., which sells rural America as an alternative to overseas outsourcing; Michael Ramage of ConnectKentucky, a business-government alliance that promotes technology development; Mickey Johnson, district director of Murray State's Small Business Development Center, which encourages entrepreneurship; Paul Monsour, former Union County Advocate editor, who now heads the county economic development foundation; Justin Maxson of the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development, which encourages local entrepreneurship and questions the effectiveness of state economic-development incentives; J. R. Wilhite of the Kentucky Economic Development Cabinet; state Sen. Dorsey Ridley, a Henderson, Ky., banker; Keith Rogers, executive director of the Governor's Office of Agricultural Policy, which oversees Kentucky's spending of tobacco-settlement money for agriculture; and Laura Skillman, an award-winning journalist who heads news services for the agricultural unit at the University of Kentucky; and Ron Hustedde of the UK Cooperative Extension Service, who runs an Entrepreneurial Coaches Institute to develop and encourage entrepreneurs to create jobs in rural areas.

To download a PDF of the conference brochure and registration form, click here.

Bad news for papers doesn't apply to community papers, experts say

Unlike some media analysts, Jock Lauterer does not see the McClatchy Co.'s purchase of Knight Ridder at a fire-sale price as a sign of the inevitable end of newspapers. Lauterer, director of the Carolina Community Media Project at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, says it points up the differences in business trends among daily, metropolitan papers and community newspapers.

In a column titled "Hold that Obituary!," Lauterer writes: "In addition to their 32 dailies, Knight Ridder includes 24 community newspapers (defined as weeklies, twice- and tri-weeklies). And McClatchy owns 17 community newspapers. Why is this important? Because, as you may have read, the newer, bigger McClatchy plans to shed 12 of its newly acquired papers. But here’s the news that doesn’t surprise me: The dozen papers on the block are all big dailies, while McClatchy plans to keep all of their so-called 'little' papers. And why is that? In the words of UNC-CH journalism associate professor Frank Fee, 'because they’re the ones making money.'"

Several elements of community journalism make the smaller newspapers a valuable asset, opines Lauterer. "Consider the comments of cowboy poet and columnist Baxter Black, who wrote the following in a column titled, 'Why I Love My Hometown Paper,' (a weekly in San Pedro, Ariz.): 'Small-town papers often thrive because CNN or The New York Times are not going to scoop them for coverage of the VFW Fish Fry or Bridge Construction Delay or boys and girls playing basketball, receiving scholarships, graduating, getting married or going off to war… I think of local papers as the last refuge of unfiltered America – a running documentary of the warts and triumphs of Real People – unfettered by the Spin and Bias and the Opaque Polish of today’s Homogenized Journalism. It is the difference between Homemade Bread and Pop-Tarts.'"

Lauterer's column appeared this week in the print edition of the Chapel Hill Herald. It is not available on the newspaper's site, but it is posted on the Reports section of this site. To read it, click here.

Carsey Institute: Rural Northeast has highest level of job displacement

The rural Northeast posted the nation's highest rate of job displacement from 1997 to 2003, with low-skill workers at the highest risk of losing jobs for good, according to a report released Thursday by the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire.

"Increases in productivity and international competition are changing the nature of work in rural America. Job losses are mounting in communities where low-skill employment has dominated the economy. From 1997 through 2003, over 1.5 million rural workers lost their jobs due to fundamental changes in industries that have historically been the mainstay of the rural economy," Amy Glasmeier and Priscilla Salant write in the report. "In rural America, workers in manufacturing were hardest hit — from 2001 to 2003, one in ten displaced workers were employed in manufacturing," .

The loss of rural jobs was particularly high in the manufacturing sector, and the rate of loss was higher in the rural Northeast than in the rest of rural America, according to the report, titled "Low-Skill Workers in Rural America Face Permanent Job Loss." The report, which analyzed job-displacement data from 1997 to 2003, found that rural job loss have been fueled by automation and cheaper labor overseas.

Two closed paper mills, one in Old Town, Me., and the other in Berlin, N.H., are examples of the situation in the Northeast, the institute said. The report relies on data collected in the Displaced Workers Survey, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau every other year, and it reviews how job loss affects families. "Job loss has devastating impacts on families and children. The lack of security that accompanies displacement creates severe stress on the previously employed individual," write Glasmeier and Salant. Click here for the full report.

Montana close to building nation's first methamphetamine-only prisons

Prisons designed solely for methamphetamine treatment are on the way for the Montana cities of Boulder and Lewistown, and they would save the state thousands of dollars.

A Montana Department of Corrections selection committee finished reviewing proposals Thursday, and gave highest scores to a 40-bed women's prison in Boulder and an 80-bed men's facility in Lewistown, reports Sarah Cooke of The Associated Press. Corrections Director Bill Slaughter is expected to sign off on the prisons next Tuesday, which have been called for to help Montana's growing meth problem.

The 2005 Legislature approved a bill to allow corrections officials to contract for some kind of meth-treatment prison. "The Boulder prison, if approved, would cost about $1.8 million a year to operate at $125 per inmate, while the Lewistown men's facility would cost about $3.4 million annually, or $118 an inmate, department figures show," writes Cooke.

The lockdown prisons are designed for repeat offenders, who would spend nine months in treatment followed by six months in a prerelease center with counseling continuing afterward. The state will save $22,831 to house male offenders and about $20,000 going the treatment route for women offenders, reports Cooke. (Read more)

Farmers invest $34.2 million to build biodiesel plant in southwest Mo.

A biodiesel plant in southwest Missouri is closer to construction, with $34.2 million in pledged support from more than 1,000 area farmers.

Nevada, Mo.-based Prairie Pride Inc. plans to start building the plant later this year in Vernon County, and the company hopes to turn about 21 million bushels of soybeans into 30 million gallons of biodiesel per year beginning in the fall of 2007, reports Chadwick Watters of The Joplin Globe. Biodiesel can be used as a 20 percent blend in any diesel engine, and engines used in mining and shipping can use it straight.

The plant will house a soybean processing plant and a biodiesel refinery to convert soybean oil to the petroleum alternative. Prairie Pride officials hope to generate 467,000 tons of soybean meal each year at the plant, which is a high-protein animal feed currently worth more than biodiesel, notes Watters.

The project will cost at least $85.5 million. Prairie Pride still must approve a lending institution as a senior lender to help provide much of the capital for the project. In addition to farmers' pledges, the company has funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and it is applying for federal and state grants, writes Watters. (Read more)

Missouri county looks at ethanol plant; would bring state total to six

Franklin County, Missouri, is eyeing an ethanol plant to create jobs, help the economy and lower the nation's dependence on foreign oil, reports Sarah Wienke of the weekly Missourian in Washington.

Missouri already houses three farmer-owned ethanol plants in the northern cities of Macon, Craig and Malta Bend, with plants being built nearby in Laddonia and St. Joseph. A bill in the state legislature would require that nearly all gasoline sold in the state contain 10 percent ethanol, writes Wienke.

A recent University of Missouri study reports that the state's ethanol production should reach 350 million gallons annually by the end of 2008. That would create 5,613 jobs, bring in $63 million in tax revenue and pump $726 million into the state's economy, according to the study. (Click here for the study)

An $80 million ethanol plant in Franklin County would employ 40 to 50 people, Jamey Cline, director of value enhancement for the Missouri Corn Growers Association, said a recent public forum. The plant's presence would raise the demand for restaurants, convenience stores and hotels, he said. (Read more)

School district uses signing bonuses to lure teachers to rural S.C.

A school district in rural Lancaster County, South Carolina, is going to start giving a $1,500 signing bonus for all newly hired English, math, science and special education teachers, and an additional $500 signing bonus for first-year teachers to buy supplies and materials, reports the weekly Fort Mill Times.

The district's decision comes when their a national teacher shortage, which has been shown to be even greater in rural areas where teacher salaries are sometimes lower than in urban areas. School board Chairwoman Lisa Bridges saw the bonuses as a way to help rural districts compete with their urban counterparts, writes reporter Jenny Overman.

In the nearby Fort Mill School District, Assistant Superintendent Chuck Epps said he expects as the teacher shortage grows across the nation, many districts will opt for signing bonuses. "School districts are going to have to look at their incentive packages," Epps told Overman. (Read more)

Kentucky weekly looks outside region to opine on state government

We believe that non-daily newspapers and local broadcast stations should pay attention to state issues, and write about them from time to time. After all, local residents vote for state officials, and are affected by state policy decisions. And circulation statistics suggest that most Americans do not read any of the metropolitan papers that have reporters in state capitals.

The twice-weekly Big Sandy News, which in based in Louisa, Ky., and has reporters in four Eastern Kentucky counties, recently editorialized on closed meeting of legislators working out the state budget in the faraway state capital of Frankfort.

"We don't like the idea of government entities going behind closed doors to discuss the public's business," Tony Fyffe opined. "While the result of their negotiations will eventually be known publicly, what price did citizens pay to get the compromise budget?"

Unfortunately, Fyffe adds, constituents will not get an answer. He tells his readers that open meetings are important because their "government representatives should not be allowed to compromise (your) money in exchange for political favors, and who's to say that's not what happens during these private meetings?"

Rural Calendar

Today: Registration deadline for Illinois investigative reporting event

The application deadline for the second Illinois-Knight Investigative Reporting Fellowships for Community
Journalists, a workshop sponsored by the Department of Journalism at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to be held on June 5-7, has been extended to March 31.

This workshop is open to a dozen reporters, editors or publishers from Illinois newspapers with circulation of approximately 75,000 or below. Workshop participants will get tips on computer-assisted reporting and other investigative techniques to find and develop stories. The workshop will focus on how to use local, state and federal public records and other sources for stories. Leading the workshop will be William Gaines, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner for The Chicago Tribune and now the Knight Professor for investigative/enterprise journalism at Illinois.

Interested candidates should send a letter outlining their interest and professional background with a letter of nomination from a supervising editor or publisher. The workshop will cover room and food expenses for all participants. Letters should be sent to: Rich Martin, Associate Professor, Illinois-Knight Fellowship, Department of Journalism, Gregory Hall, MC-462, 810 S. Wright Street, Urbana, IL 61801.

Today: Deadline to enter National Newspaper Association contest

The deadline for mailing entries to the National Newspaper Association’s Better Newspaper Contest is Friday, March 31. Rules and entry forms can be found at www.nna.org.

"This is the only national contest for community newspapers," said NNA President Jerry Reppert, publisher of The Gazette-Democrat in Anna, Ill. "It is the best way for publishers and managers to show their appreciation for the hard work of their staffs. Give them the recognition they deserve, and show other newspapers just how good your publication can be."

For more information on the contest, contact Sara Dickson at (573) 882-5800 or saradickson@nna.org.

Tomorrow: Professional Communicators seminar in Bowling Green, Ky.

Sessions on photojournalism, investigative reporting and the First Amendment make up a one-day workshop at Western Kentucky University, sponsored by Kentucky Professional Communicators.

Speakers will be Jeanie Adams-Smith, an assistant professor of photojournalism at WKU and award-winning photographer, on "The Future of Storytelling for Photojournalists;" Gordon “Mac” McKerral, associate professor and news-editorial sequence coordinator in the School of Journalism and Broadcasting and former national president of the Society of Professional Journalists, on "Analyzing an Investigative Project;" and Gene Policinski, executive director of The First Amendment Center, on "The First Amendment: Who Needs It?"

The program begins at 9 a.m. with registration, includes lunch, and will end in mid-afternoon. The cost is $25 per person in advance, and $30 if paid at the door. Pre-registration is required by e-mailing Cathie Shaffer of KPC at mizcathie@yahoo.com or calling (606) 473-9851 weekdays.

April 4-6: Fabrication, plagiarism and sources on Middle Tenn. agenda

The John Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies at Middle Tennessee State University will celebrate its 20th anniversary April 4-6 with “Self-Inflicted Wounds—Fact and Fiction in Journalism: Fabrication, Plagiarism and Confidential Sources,” all free and open to the public.

The conference, hosted by the College of Mass Communication, “is dedicated to the study of the problem of credibility that can be raised by three different sources,” said Dr. Edward Kimbrell, journalism professor, media critic and interim director of the Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence.

Former Vice President Al Gore is set to kick off the conference at 12:30 p.m. April 4 in the Tennessee Room of MTSU’s James Union Building with the opening address, “Media and Democracy.” Seigenthaler, chairman emeritus of The Tennessean and a nationally respected advocate for First Amendment rights, will follow at 2:40 p.m. with the keynote address, “The Self-Inflicted Wounds,” in the State Farm Lecture Hall of MTSU’s Business and Aerospace Building.

A panel discussion, “Fabrication and Plagiarism,” follows at 3:20 p.m. Dr. Jane Kirtley, director of The Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and Law at the University of Minnesota, will moderate and be joined by Jonathan Landman of The New York Times; Bill Hilliard, former editor of The Oregonian; USA Today Executive Editor John Hillkirk; and Joann Byrd, retired editorial page editor for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Beginning at 5:30 p.m., attorney Michael Missal of the Washington, D.C., firm Missal, Kirkpatrick and Lockhart will discuss the independent review report of a “60 Minutes” 2004 story on President Bush’s Texas Air National Guard service. The report will be followed by a 6:30 p.m. reception and a 7:30 p.m. showing of the Oscar-nominated film “Good Night, and Good Luck” in the State Farm Lecture Hall.

Wednesday, April 5, begins with an 11 a.m. showing of “Absence of Malice” in the Keathley University Center Theater, followed at 2:40 p.m. by “Rush to Judgment? The CBS Crisis,” a conversation with former CBS producer Mary Mapes and Wallace Westfeldt, who was executive producer of “NBC Nightly News with John Chancellor,” in the State Farm Lecture Hall. At 3:30 p.m. in the same hall, Dr. Carol Pardun, director of MTSU’s School of Journalism, will moderate a panel discussion, “The Ethical Issues,” featuring journalism educators Dr. Tom Cooper of Emerson University, Dr. Renita Coleman of the University of Texas at Austin and Dr. Lee Wilkins of the University of Missouri. The movie “All the President’s Men” will be shown at 7 p.m.

The conference’s final day begins with an 11 a.m. showing of “Capote” in the KUC Theater, followed at 2:40 p.m. by “Confidential Sources,” a panel discussion in the BAS State Farm Lecture Hall moderated by John Mashek, retired national political correspondent for The Boston Globe and a visiting professor at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Panelists include Earl Caldwell, writer-in-residence at the Scripps-Howard School of Journalism and Communications; Barbara Cochran, president of the Radio-Television News Directors Association and Foundation; Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters’ Committee for Freedom of the Press; and Lee Levine, attorney for Wen Ho Lee, the ex-NASA scientist accused of passing weapons secrets to China.

At 4:30 p.m. on April 6, Kimbrell will moderate the conference’s final discussion, “In Cold Blood Revisited.” University of Nebraska at Lincoln journalism professor Susan Gage and three former students, Melissa Lee, Patrick Smith and Crystal Wiebe, will talk about their Pulitzer-nominated eight-part series on In Cold Blood that was published in the Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World.

April 7-8: Kentucky Watershed Watch conference for Big Sandy River

Details of this conference are forthcoming. For more information, and to register on-line, go to
http://kywater.org/watch/ and click on your watershed of choice on the map.

Kentucky Watershed Watch has more than 3,000 members who give their time in an effort to improve waterways through a coordinated campaign of water quality monitoring, skills development and advocacy. More than 300 organizations are contributing to the effort by providing volunteers, staff, technical assistance, instruction and financial resources, and more than 100 leaders organized in eight local Watershed steering committees carry out the work of the project.

April 7-8: Conference to debate ethics of blogs and online journalism

A conference focused on the ethics of blogging and online journalism will be held April 7 – 8 at Ohio University in Athens to start a dialog among professional reporters, students and academics who analyze professional trends.

Keynote speakers will be Dan Gillmor, a reporter with the Financial Times who encourages blogs as "citizen's media," and Clifford Christians, a professor of journalism at the University of Illinois-Urbana who advocates a need for truthfulness in online journalism. The conference will only consider political blogs, although the issues discussed can be applied to all kinds.

The conference is sponsored by Ohio University's Institute for Applied and Professional Ethics and the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism. It includes speakers and panel discussions that are open to the public. For more information, go to http://news.research.ohiou.edu/news/index.php?item=271.

Thursday, March 30, 2006

27 percent of public schools get failing grade in No Child Left Behind

More than a quarter of public schools in the U.S. are failing the No Child Left Behind law's requirement for "adequate yearly progress," according to preliminary state-by-state statistics reported to the Department of Education and obtained by several news organizations.

At least 24,470 schools, 27 percent of the national total, did not meet the requirement in 2004-2005. Such schools face penalties, including the eventual replacement of staff. "States are required to show improvement in student test scores in reading and math. If they do not do so for two consecutive years, individual schools must let students transfer to another school. After a third year, schools must pay for tutoring for students from low-income families," writes Paul Basken of Bloomberg News.

Florida ranked last with 72 percent of its schools not showing adequate improvement, while Oklahoma led, according to the data provided to Bloomberg. States just below Oklahoma included Rhode Island (5 percent), Iowa (6 percent), Montana (7 percent) and New Hampshire, Tennessee and Wisconsin (each at 8 percent). Just above Florida with the most failing schools was Hawaii (66 percent), Washington, D.C., (60 percent), Nevada (56 percent) and New Mexico (53 percent).

One criticisms levied at No Child Left Behind is that federal funding is inadequate for tutoring. Evidence also exists that states might manipulate their reports, said Michael Petrilli, vice president for policy at the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, a Washington-based research group. "He cited Oklahoma, where the percentage of failing schools dropped to 3 percent from 25 percent a year earlier," reports Basken. (Read more) To see how No Child Left Behind is faring in your state, click here.

Tomorrow is earlybird deadline for economic-development seminar

To help rural journalists cover these issues and provide responsible civic leadership, the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues will present a workshop, “Covering and Guiding Rural Economic Development,” in Murray, Ky., on April 7. The conference at Murray State University will be held in conjunction with the spring meeting of the West Kentucky Press Association; the fee, which includes lunch, will be $25 for WKPA members and $50 for non-members who sign up by tomorrow. Next week, the cost for non-members will be $60.

Speakers include Henry Torres of Rural Sourcing of Jonesboro, Ark., which sells rural America as an alternative to overseas outsourcing; Brian Mefford of ConnectKentucky, a business-government alliance that promotes technology development; Mickey Johnson, district director of Murray State's Small Business Development Center, which encourages entrepreneurship; Paul Monsour, former Union County Advocate editor, who now heads the county economic development foundation; Justin Maxson of the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development, which encourages local entrepreneurship and questions the effectiveness of state economic-development incentives; J. R. Wilhite of the Kentucky Economic Development Cabinet; state Sen. Dorsey Ridley, a Henderson, Ky., banker; Keith Rogers, executive director of the Governor's Office of Agricultural Policy, which oversees Kentucky's spending of tobacco-settlement money for agriculture; and Laura Skillman, an award-winning journalist who heads news services for the agricultural unit at the University of Kentucky; and Ron Hustedde of the UK Cooperative Extension Service, who runs an Entrepreneurial Coaches Institute to develop and encourage entrepreneurs to create jobs in rural areas.

To download a PDF of the conference brochure and registration form, click here.

Weekly editor offers useful perspective in a county where zoning is new

We've seen no statistics from the American Planning Association on this, but our guess is that most rural counties the United States do not have zoning regulations. Land-use planning is one of the more controversial topics a community and its journalists can tackle, because feelings against government regulation of private property run deep and strong in rural areas, where many folks go to be left alone.

The subject is so controversial that many local news outlets shy away from it. Not the Hickman County Times in Centerville, Tenn., and its editor, Brad Martin. The paper supports the county zoning ordinance that went into effect Jan. 15, and it took the opportunity in its March 20 edition to show "Here's how zoning works," as its editorial headline put it. (It could have said "Zoning works, and here's how," but that might have turned off folks who are still trying to make up their minds about the subject.)

The news peg for the editorial was a developer's dropping of plans to expand a mobile-home park after a hearing-room full of "neighbors voiced extreme displeasure with what had gone on before he became involved," as the Times' front-page story reported. The story also noted, usefully, that the park had been established "without government involvement or public comment" because it preceded zoning.

But with zoning, expansion of the park required an exception, which required public notice and a hearing, the editorial explained. "I think it's called participatory democracy," Martin opined. "In the United States, it's how we're supposed to do things. That's not to say that everyone will be happy with the outcome of every zoning hearing. It is to say that zoning in Hickman County is giving neighbors . . . a reasonable way to have a say in what goes on in their communities."

Martin called zoning foes the "deadwood element in our county," which has a population of 22,295. The foes were represented on the editorial page by a letter from an anti-zoning county commissioner who wrote, "Zoning is just another way that government controls the people . . . our poorest people." Sounds to us like Hickman County, Tenn., is a place where the paper knows how to report the news, offer useful perspective and keep open a forum for those with other views. (We just wish the paper was online.)

USDA invests $5.7 million in rural development to save, create 1,600 jobs

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is making economic-development investments of $5.7 million that it says will save or create 1,600 rural jobs in eight states.

Secretary Mike Johanns made the announcement yesterday, adding to the $63 billion USDA says it has already invested in creating or saving 1.1 million jobs. "The loans are designed to finance business facilities and community development projects in rural areas by granting loans to intermediaries who re-lend the funds locally to support businesses or community development. Loan recipients must use the funds to establish new businesses, expand existing businesses, create employment opportunities, save jobs or complete community development projects," writes Lane McConnell of Brownfield Network, an agriculture news service. (Read more)

States with groups receiving money include Arkansas ($750,000), Iowa ($600,000), Idaho ($330,000), Kentucky ($750,000), Missouri ($500,000), North Carolina ($750,000), New Hampshire ($750,000) and Oregon ($500,000). The Pacific Islands Development Bank in the Western Pacific will also receive $750,000, according to a USDA press release. Click here to read the press release.

One Vermont newspaper tries to break AP ties over bureau chief's firing

At least one Vermont newspaper is asking The Associated Press how to drop out of the news cooperative, in protest of the firing of the state's veteran statehouse bureau chief Christopher Graff.

In a letter to AP President and CEO Tom Curley, Emerson Lynn, editor and publisher of the St. Albans Messenger, wrote, "Mr. Graff is an institution in Vermont. For almost 30 years he has been one of the guiding forces of high-quality journalism in our state. His integrity is above reproach. His knowledge of Vermont is legendary. His daily contributions and his management of the Associated Press in Vermont have been your agency's mainstay here. He is the primary reason you have a business in Vermont -- a business we pay for as a cooperative. Without him, Vermont journalism has a weaker report, something to which I strenuously object."

The letter asked about ways to end the newspaper's membership with AP. Another Vermont daily, The Brattleboro Reformer, published an editorial saying, "The AP should be embarrassed by their decision." (Note the veddy British plural pronoun for an organization.)

As for Graff's dismissal, Editor & Publisher's Joe Strupp writes, "Speculation has arisen that his dismissal had something to do with a column written by Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy earlier this year that supported the newspaper industry's 'Sunshine Week.' AP reportedly withdrew the column from circulation after Graff had distributed it among Vermont AP members." (Read more)

Oklahoma bill would increase rural fire funds; House to vote next week

Oklahoma senators have already passed a bill to increase funds for rural firefighters and the state House is expected to vote on the matter next week, as the firefighters are still trying to contain wildfires.

The measure would end months of wrangling and increase operational grant funds by 45 percent ($2,220) for local fire departments, bringing the total grant for each department to $5,000.

"Our firefighters are true Oklahoma heroes and deserve to have the equipment to protect them when saving precious lives and valuable property. The past four months have shown how important our rural fire departments are and we as legislators must make a solid commitment to tell these volunteers that we stand behind them and appreciate their service," writes state Rep. Ben Sherrer in a column for the Pryor Daily Times. (Read more)

Bids made on 12 Knight Ridder newspapers; speculation abounds

The McClatchy Company is now reviewing bids for the 12 Knight Ridder papers it plans to sell on the same day it buys the 32-paper chain.

"During the last decade or so, newspapers have been 'clustering,' that is, buying papers near one another, allowing them to save money by combining their advertising sales and printing operations and, in some cases, their news divisions. Analysts said that clustering was a major motivation for many of the newspaper companies that are now interested in pieces of Knight Ridder," writes Katharine Q. Seelye of The New York Times.

Speculation includes MediaNews Group going after the The San Jose Mercury News (circulation 263,067), The Contra Costa Times (182,647) and The Herald (33,766) of Monterey County, all in California; Gannett Co., the nation's biggest newspaper publisher, seeking The News-Sentinel (36,183) in Fort Wayne, Ind., and The Akron Beacon Journal (135,002); Lee Enterprises gunning for The Pioneer Press (191,264) in St. Paul, Minn., and the neighboring Duluth News Tribune (46,460), the Aberdeen American News (16,506) in South Dakota and the Grand Forks Herald (31,524) in North Dakota; and Forum Communications looking at Aberdeen, Fort Wayne and Duluth.

Other papers up for sale are The Philadelphia Inquirer (circ. 368,883) and its afternoon tabloid sister, The Daily News (135,956) and The Times Leader (42,585) in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. McClatchy agreed to buy Knight Ridder on March 13 for about $4.5 billion, and the estimated total value of the 12 papers is more than $1.4 billion, reports Seelye. (Read more) To read more from E&P, click here.

Rural Calendar

Tomorrow: Registration deadline for Illinois investigative reporting event

Tomorrow: Deadline to enter National Newspaper Association contest

The deadline for mailing entries to the National Newspaper Association’s Better Newspaper Contest is Friday, March 31. Rules and entry forms can be found at www.nna.org.

For more information on the contest, contact Sara Dickson at (573) 882-5800 or saradickson@nna.org.

Saturday: Ky. Professional Communicators seminar in Bowling Green, Ky.

Sessions on photojournalism, investigative reporting and the First Amendment make up a one-day workshop at Western Kentucky University, sponsored by Kentucky Professional Communicators.

April 4-6: Fabrication, plagiarism and sources on Middle Tenn. agenda

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Closer coverage of immigration can raise ethical issues for journalists

Illegal immigration is becoming newsworthy in more rural areas, especially with the discussion in Congress about changing immigration laws and mass protests in response. Journalists who cover the issue need to interview undocumented immigrants and think about the ethical issues involved.

Take the case of Ginnie Graham, a reporter for the Tulsa World. Graham wrote a story in March 2005 about a tax service that caters to both legal and illegal immigrants, hoping to shed light on their contributions to state and national tax rolls, writes Lucy Hood for American Journalism Review. Graham's main source was Gloria Rubio, who was active in the community, an avid taxpayer and an undocumented immigrant born in Mexico. Rubio had no problem with her name or picture appearing in the newspaper, and about a month after publication, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested her and began deportation proceedings.

"I still have a hard time with that case," Graham says. "It obviously didn't turn out the way I wanted." Her story illustrates a dilemma faced by more and more rural newsrooms. According to 2004 Census Bureau estimates, the U.S. has 34.3 million immigrants, and they are causing change throughout American society, "everything from the way teachers teach to the way preachers preach," Hood writes. And, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, about 30 percent are here illegally, and many are moving into rural areas.

"Antiterrorism legislation has brought immigrants under greater scrutiny, and anti-terrorism sentiment has spilled over into anti-immigrant sentiment, making immigrant sources – especially the undocumented – more leery about appearing in the press," Hood writes. In summary, the issues surrounding immigration are becoming more important and more newsworthy, but immigrants are less willing to talk to the press. That leaves journalists having to decide if they will conceal immigrants' identities, and if so, to what extent?

Rafael Olmeda, assistant city editor of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, told Hood, "I don't advocate running out there, getting names, addresses and a picture, along with a map about how to get there for the ICE, all of which would be truth but not journalistically necessary." But, he added, "It's not our job to protect the world. . . . If you're here illegally, you're running the risk. As a journalist, I am not your risk. Your risk is what you've done." (Read more)

Two bilingual newspapers reach out to Minnesota's Hispanic population

Rural Minnesota has a growing Hispanic population, and two bilingual newspapers -- El Vecino and La Prensa -- have cropped up to serve it since December.

"In El Vecino's first two issues, the national debate over immigration has gotten a lot of attention. But so has local news from Long Prairie, Worthington and St. James, smaller Minnesota cities with significant Hispanic populations," reports Tim Post of Minnesota Public Radio, adding that El Vecino is a monthly publication based in St. Cloud.

Marjorie Fish, a professor of mass communications at St. Cloud State University, said more bilingual publications would benefit the state, especially those residents who wants to stay informed about the world "Being able to get news and information in your own language is particularly important for people who may not yet be fluent in English or who may not wish to be fluent in English who may want to as much as possible retain their own language and culture," Fish told Post.

Fish thinks bilingual newspapers are a good tool for teaching the state's growing Hispanic population, which a a Census Bureau estimate puts at nearly 200,000 people. El Vecino's lone competitor in the state's bilingual newspaper market is the Minneapolis-based weekly La Prensa, which includes English summaries of every story it prints in Spanish, reports Post. (Read more)

International Paper to sell 218,000 acres in South, save sensitive areas

International Paper Co. will sell 218,000 acres of forest in 10 Southern states, but continue to harvest timber from much of the land, in what The Nature Conservancy calls "the single largest private land conservation sale in the history of the South, and one of the largest in the nation," and "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to protect ecologically important forests, rivers and streams in 10 Southern states."

The buyers are the Nature Conservancy and The Conservation Fund, purchaser of about 23,000 acres in Florida and 77,000 in North Carolina. The two groups will jointly buy about 39,000 acres in South Carolina. Other states involved are Alabama (14,119 acres), Arkansas (8,123), Georgia (24,120), Louisiana (440), Mississippi (110), Tennessee (2,569) and Virginia (20,830).

International Paper will get about $300 million "at closing, which is expected to occur in the next several months," The Nature Conservancy said in a press release. "The tracts included in the sale are some of International Paper’s most ecologically important lands. The majority of the land will remain working forests. Under the terms of the agreement, timber will be sustainably harvested from some tracts and a set amount of timber volume will be supplied to International Paper for local production. Sensitive areas will continue to be set aside from harvesting activities."

Most of the tracts are on rivers and estuaries. The largest concentration is in the watersheds of the Roanoke, Chowan and Upper Tar rivers in northeastern North Carolina, and nearby areas of the Blackwater, Meherrin and Nottoway River watershed in southeastern Virginia. The most inland tract is on Dry Branch near Hohenwald, Tenn. The Nature Conservancy has state-by-state press releases with maps of the tracts. For a regional map of all tracts, click here.

Big cig firms want to cut payments to states; could hurt farm programs

Leading cigarette manufacturers want to reduce their payments to states under the 1998 tobacco settlement. The companies cite an independent consultant's report, released yesterday, that they have lost market share since the deal, and they argue that states have failed to make smaller, non-participating cigarette makers pay into a fund that would cover losses in future litigation.

Under the settlement, which resolved states' lawsuits to recover their cost of treating smoking-related illnesses, if those conditions are met, the companies get to reduce their payments. In the top three tobacco-producing states -- North Carolina, Kentucky and Virginia -- that would reduce money that the states have set aside for development of their agricultural economies.

"The big companies say they are entitled to a reduction of $1.2 billion of the $6.5 billion they are scheduled to pay as the next installment . . . on April 17," notes Michael Janofsky in The New York Times. Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, co-chairman of the National Association of Attorneys General tobacco committee, told the Times, "We believe the states have diligently enforced their statutes. . . . We are negotiating with the companies to make sure they pay the full amount." (Read more)

Kentucky "received $112.2 million in the last fiscal year. That is expected to drop to $91.3 million this fiscal year and $88 million for 2006-07, according to budget projections. The 2007-08 payment is projected to increase to $94 million," reports The Courier-Journal's Greg Hall. (Read more) The reductions are based on the participating companies' declining share of the cigarette market.

N.C.'s tobacco-settlement investment in biotechnology yet to pay off

Kentucky and North Carolina each dedicated half their tobacco-settlement money to agriculture. North Carolina, which is investing the money and spending only the earnings, has put much of them in biotechnology. But after putting $14 million of a planned $30 million investment into a Swiss firm, HBM BioCapital, "the box score reads goose eggs: zero investments in North Carolina companies, zero jobs created in the state," reports Lee Weisbecker of the Triangle Business Journal.

"What's more, the venture group's holding company, ... HBM BioVentures, recently announced it was tapped out, essentially 'fully invested,' with only enough cash on hand to meet existing funding commitments through June," Weisbecker reported. Officials of the companies and the Golden Leaf Foundation, which manages the settlement money, said the remaining $16 million could be invested in North Carolina.

The foundation's strategy for the investment was "that the firm's global expertise and international cash-leveraging savvy would pump dollars into later-stage North Carolina biosciences companies," Weisbecker wrote. But none of the "later-stage biosciences companies in the state . . . has passed the muster of either HBM or Durham-based Hatteras BioCapital, the four-person investment advisory group created at the time of the Golden Leaf/HBM deal to scout out North Carolina deals."

HBM CEO Andreas Wicki told the Triangle Business Journal, which is based in Raleigh, that local investment will eventually occur. The company has invested about a third of its $140 million capital in six companies. Three are in the U.S. and all are based in California. (Read more)

California's national parks being threatened by highways, other projects

"As the state's growing population continues to devour open space, the California state park system increasingly is fighting efforts to build railways, roads, utility lines and commercial ventures that threaten its scenic preserves and historical sites," reports Dan Weikel of The Los Angeles Times.

Land set aside for the "health, inspiration and education" of California's residents is being sought after by transportation agencies, local governments, utilities and other interests that parks as easy targets for development, writes Weikel. Recently, development proposals in such areas have multiplied, and environmentalists have expressed concerns about parkland soon housing noise, dust, erosion and water pollution, among other threats.

A huge battle between preservation and development is occurring at San Onofre State Beach, a popular 2,100-acre park in north San Diego County that is home to endangered species and Native American archeological sites. The state attorney general and environmentalists have filed a lawsuit to halt the proposed $915-million Foothill South tollway from cutting through the northern section of the park. The six-lane highway project has eyed parkland because that would not require the condemnation of several hundred homes and businesses, reports Weikel. (Read more)

Innovative community news projects draw citizens toward newspapers

“Citizens who want more news are going out and making some of their own,” with grants from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, writes foundation Program Officer Denise Tom.

One example is the twice-weekly Hartsville (S.C.) Messenger, which created hartsvilletoday.com, a Web site where readers can share their own stories and discuss issues. “The folks who write the stories call themselves 'contributors' but not 'citizen journalists',” Tom writes.

“Many people in our communities want a say in how we serve them as journalists, but do not necessarily want to be journalists themselves, though they may have stories to tell or informed opinions to express,” said Doug Fisher, a former news editor for The Associated Press who works with the Messenger in his role as a professor at the University of South Carolina.

The Forum, in Deerfield, N.H., “had to overcome the bias that this was just a little newspaper put out by a bunch of liberal cranks,” said Maureen Mann, a retired teacher who runs it. “But now we’re being seen as a neutral voice, a real newspaper that presents all points of view.”

Knight grantees and others can get tips for building Web sites, features and traffic at www.j-learining.org. Tom's story about the New Voices program is on the cover of News@Knight, the foundation's quarterly journalism newsletter. To download a PDF version, click here.

Grant to subsidize two-day API ethics seminars for newspaper staffs

The Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation of Oklahoma City has awarded the American Press Institute $75,000 grant from to provide a two-day ethics seminar, "Our Readers Are Watching," to newsrooms across the country at a reduced cost.

API says in a release that the seminars "will include sessions on whether, when and how newsroom staffs should use confidential sources, and what editors can do to protect a newspaper's integrity from dishonest sources and dishonest or careless reporters." The content can be customized, and "additional topics include, but are not limited to, accuracy, attribution, cheating, datelines, diversity, fabrication, ideology, online edition standards, plagiarism, tape recording, undercover reporting, verification and victims."

The seminars will be led by Steve Buttry, API’s director of tailored programs. “We’ve seen too many instances in recent years where the actions of fraudulent or careless journalists have harmed the reputations of distinguished newspapers and the many honest journalists who work there,” he said. “Our Readers Are Watching will help clarify and teach a newsroom’s ethical standards to the staff. We will help honest journalists consider difficult situations and improve their ethical decision-making skills. And we will help raise the level of vigilance to protect against any fraudulent journalists still working in newsrooms.”

The grant will pay most of the cost. Newspapers will pay for the lodging and meals of discussion leaders, for photocopies of handouts for the seminars, and a sliding fee based on circulation: $1,000 for newspapers smaller than 50,000 daily circulation, $1,500 for papers from 50,001 to 100,000 and $2,000 for those over 100,000. The grant will cover airfare and ground transportation. For more information contact Steve Buttry at sbuttry@americanpressinstitute.org or 703-715-3300.

Rural Calendar

March 31: Registration deadline for Illinois investigative reporting event

March 31: Deadline to enter National Newspaper Association contest

The deadline for mailing entries to the National Newspaper Association’s Better Newspaper Contest is Friday, March 31. Rules and entry forms can be found at www.nna.org.

For more information on the contest, contact Sara Dickson at (573) 882-5800 or saradickson@nna.org.

April 1: Ky. Professional Communicators seminar in Bowling Green, Ky.

Sessions on photojournalism, investigative reporting and the First Amendment make up a one-day workshop at Western Kentucky University, sponsored by Kentucky Professional Communicators.

April 4-6: Fabrication, plagiarism and sources on Middle Tenn. agenda

April 7: ‘Covering & Guiding Rural Economic Development’ in Murray, Ky.

To download a PDF of the conference brochure and registration form, click here.

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Baby boomers’ retirements to worsen teacher shortage in rural states

Classroom enrollment is up, the number of teachers is down, and baby boomers -- who comprise the largest age group in the teaching profession -- are hitting retirement age. Rural areas already struggle with teachers moving to big cities, and baby-boomer retirements certainly will not help.

"Increases in college tuition and new pressures to up student test scores have made low-paying teaching jobs less appealing, education advocates say. And because today's college graduates and new teachers typically change careers every five to seven years, turnover for teachers is at a record high. An estimated half of all teachers leave the field within five years," reports Stateline.org.

States feeling the teacher shortage are California, Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina and Texas, Kavan Peterson writes. Iowa and West Virginia also suffer, perhaps because their teacher salaries lagging behind neighboring states. Teachers make about $12,000 more in Maryland and $6,000 more in Virginia than in West Virginia, where teachers averaged $38,496 in 2005, according to the American Federation of Teachers. Click here to see the state-by-state survey.

West Virginia state Sen. John Unger (D) wants to create a Teacher Critical Shortage Area Fund for hard-to-fill positions. Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack is considering a $30 million-a-year plan to raise teacher salaries above the national average of $46,000. (Read more)

'Rururbias?' Former urbanites flock to high-tech rural communities

Several states are seeing a rise in the popularity of communities that offer big-city amenities but also provide rural surroundings.

Some residents in these areas are defining their living situations with a newfound freedom that is not bound by the words "rural" and "urban." "It is a question that might apply to any number of similar areas across the country, places far down the highway and then a couple of exits more, fast-changing places that demographers have struggled to describe," writes Stephanie McCrummen of The Washington Post.

"Over the years, such areas have been called exurbs and disurbs, edge counties and edgeless cities, exopoli, outtowns, penturbias, rururbias, slurbs and, curiously, net of mixed beads. Still other terms grasp at their relation to neighboring areas: archipelago economy, global network of nodes and hubs, planetary urban networks," reports McCrummen.

No matter how you define these new communities, most residents share a common view: Instead of escaping from one world, they are creating their own version, writes McCrummen. "I never considered moving here as trying to retreat," said Gail Heppner, who relocated to King George County on the Potomoc River estuary in Virginia. "But I do try to look at it as I'm going somewhere where I'll find people with the values that are important to me: consideration, friendliness, safety." (Read more)

Demand for serenity in Va. boosts property values, even in Appalachia

"Mirroring a trend in the urban areas of Richmond, Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, rural areas from the Appalachian uplands to Tidewater's farming communities have been swept up in a national real estate market that has led assessors to put premium values on even the most out-of-the-way pieces of land," writes Rex Bowman of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Rural landowners in Grayson County, on southwest Virginia's North Carolina border, recently saw assessed values jump 95 percent. Other rural Virginia areas posted similar jumps, with values in nearby Tazewell County rising by 45 percent. Such increases are coming as shocks to those communities, who often assess property only once every four to six years, reports Bowman.

Rural folks attribute the increases to low interest rates and demand for serene settings. "We've got all four seasons here, good water, clean air and high altitude -- a lot of what people want," real-estate agent Tommy Morton of the Independence in Grayson County told Bowman. (Read more)

Yahoo, Microsoft hope to build amidst farmland in rural Washington

"In the heart of potato country, a high-tech boom is taking place. Technology giants Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. are planning to build massive data storage centers amid the sagebrush and farm fields of rural central Washington," reports Shannon Dininny of The Associated Press.

Possible sources of attraction for the com