Commie J-School

Journalism training without the debt.

Washington Post investigative editor Jeff Leen suggested that there were 200 investigative reporters paid by news media in the U.S., which I calculate as one for every 1.5 million Americans. That’s not a ratio that’s going to hold many big institutions — government, business, labor — to account. Maybe that’s why as Logan participant and new-media vet Neil Budde tweeted, “How many times will ‘existential’ be used this weekend? I think count is six so far.

—The newsonomics of risking it all, Nieman Labs report on the Logan Symposium on investigative journalism.

What is CJS?

A lot of the conversation about citizen journalism revolves around self-promotion on social media, WePay crowdfunding, and how to learn HTML to spiff up your personal website.

That’s not what CJS is — we want to rigorously explore the act of reporting and analyzing news. We are both graduates of traditional journalism schools, and we don’t think they should hold that education hostage, nor do we think it should come only with unpaid internships. Many worthy reporters can’t afford the time or debt for either of those options. We think they still deserve to know the best ways to file public records requests and make subjects comfortable in front of a camera.

CJS will host, for example, links to relevant stories of the day, tips and tricks for interviewing subjects, highlights on new tools, and much more.

We believe the current media is undergoing a kind of revolution. We are unabashedly arming the proletariat for that revolution. Welcome. 

-Susie (@susie_c) and Justin (@pixplz)

Donna Eyestone’s video of the CJS Project’s first public session, Sunday April 15 at Mosswood Park in Oakland, California.

My own sense is that the loss in confidence in the press has to do with professionalization itself. There was something missing or out of alignment in the ideas and ideals that mainstream journalism adopted when it began to think of itself as a profession starting in the 1920s. Whether it was newsroom objectivity, or the View from Nowhere, the production of innocence, the era of omniscience, the Voice of God, or the claim to provide “all the news,” whether it was the news tribe understood as a priesthood, monopoly status for metropolitan journalism, the identification with insiders, or an underlying media system that ran one way, in a one-to-many or broadcasting pattern… I don’t know. Maybe all those things.

There’s a lot on the Internet that you can’t trust. But frankly, there’s a lot on your bookshelf and the library shelves that you can’t trust either. There are books on UFOs and alien encounters that require some examination. There’s never been a medium that you could inherently trust. You still have to look at who’s telling you this and why are they telling you this. Is there anything else they should be telling you? That concept hasn’t changed. The Internet has made it easier to debunk hoaxes while at the same time making it easier to perpetrate them. Nothing’s really changed but the technology.

Reporter safety in civil unrest

Mikal Jakubal is a volunteer EMT and firefighter in Northern California, and a veteran street medic. These are his reporting tips for citizen journalists covering civil unrest situations.

Basic street tactics and chemical weapons awareness for citizen journalists 

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Digging deeper

We tend to think of investigative journalism as the territory of paid professionals, but that’s absurd — citizens are empowered to muckrake just as well as staff writers at newspapers. Here are some resources to help get you started.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has a great Freedom of Information Act letter generator to expedite the process for filing information requests of federal agencies. There’s also information on that page about filing Public Records Act requests in California — more on that at Citizen’s Media Law page on PRA. Court records can also be fruitful, but they tend to come at a higher per-page price. 

You can request documents as PDF files sent to you digitally, but some agencies might still want to charge you a per-page fee; in Alameda County that’s 10 cents, which can add up. Ask for a fee reduction. They don’t have to give it to you, but they might, and it would help. Splitting requests among a group of citizen reporters can help. Then we recommend paying it forward: put your spoils online and crowdsource your raking. 

Some standards

SPJ sez: Recognize that gathering and reporting information may cause harm or discomfort. Pursuit of the news is not a license for arrogance. Recognize that private people have a greater right to control information about themselves than do public officials and others who seek power, influence or attention. Only an overriding public need can justify intrusion into anyone’s privacy.

Show compassion for those who may be affected adversely by news coverage. Use special sensitivity when dealing with children and inexperienced sources or subjects. Be sensitive when seeking or using interviews or photographs of those affected by tragedy or grief.

Be judicious about naming criminal suspects before the formal filing of charges. Balance a criminal suspect’s fair trial rights with the public’s right to be informed.

Talk to people with whom you do not agree — people you may find personally or professionally repugnant quite often have very interesting things to say. If you are writing a flattering story about someone, you should not speak only to that person; if you are writing an unflattering story about someone, you should make sure to speak to that person.

SPJ sez: Diligently seek out subjects of news stories to give them the opportunity to respond to allegations of wrongdoing.

Fail gracefully: take criticism and corrections as opportunities. 

SPJ sez:Admit mistakes and correct them promptly.

Where are you coming from?

Are you a citizen journalist, an advocate, an activist? What is the purpose of your coverage? Who are you working for or on behalf of? Be aware of your personal biases and opinions, and be transparent about them. Embrace them if you want, but at the least acknowledge their existence.

Society of Professional Journalists sez: Distinguish between advocacy and news reporting. Analysis and commentary should be labeled and not misrepresent fact or context. Examine your own cultural values and avoid imposing those values on others. Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived. Disclose unavoidable conflicts. Remain free of associations and activities that may compromise integrity or damage credibility.

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