Monday is deadline for nominations for major journalism ethics award; nominate a community journalist!

By Al Cross

Director, Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues

Monday is the deadline to nominate journalists for the Anthony Shadid Award for Journalism Ethics, presented by The Center for Journalism Ethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In the six years the award has been presented, none of the winners have been rural journalists. None may have been nominated, but I think there should be no shortage of qualified candidates because rural journalists frequently deal with ethical challenges. I teach my community journalism students that it is more difficult do do good journalism in rural areas, partly because of the constant conflict that rural journalists must deal with, between their professional responsibilities and their personal desires.

The Anthony Shadid Award recognizes ethical decisions in reporting stories in any journalistic medium, including print, broadcast and digital, by those working for established news organizations or publishing individually. It focuses on current journalism and does not include books, documentaries and other long-term projects. Entries must involve reporting for stories published or broadcast in 2017. Individuals or news organizations may nominate themselves or others.

Letters of nomination must include: Name and contact information of the nominators and their relationship to the story; names of the reporter or reporting team that produced the report; brief description of the story and a link to it online; description of conflicting values encountered in reporting the story; options considered to resolve the conflicts; and final decisions and rationales behind them. Nomination letters of three pages or less should be saved in pdf format and attached to an email sent to ethicsaward@journalism.wisc.edu. For more information, visit the website.

The award includes a $1,000 prize and travel expenses to accept the award and discuss the reporting at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., on April 5. It differs from most other journalism awards because it honors difficult decisions journalists make in pursuing high-impact stories while fulfilling their ethical obligations to their audience, their sources, and people caught up in news events. “The stories nominated are always phenomenal, but the committee makes the decision on the finalists and winners by considering how reporters and editors negotiated ethical dilemmas while reporting,” said Lucas Graves, chair of the judging committee.

The award is named for Anthony Shadid, a UW-Madison graduate who died in 2012 on a reporting assignment in Syria for The New York Times after winning two Pulitzer Prizes for foreign correspondence. He was a member of the ethics center’s advisory board and strongly supported its efforts to promote public interest journalism and to stimulate discussion about journalism ethics.

Trapp family of the Rio Grande Sun in Española, N.M. wins Tom and Pat Gish Award for courage, tenacity and integrity in rural journalism

By Casey Parker-Bell

University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications

Two community journalism giants received awards for their service Thursday night and showed their gratitude while focusing on how journalists can improve their craft.

Robert Trapp Jr., publisher of the Rio Grande Sun in Española, N.M., accepted the Tom and Pat Gish Award for courage, integrity and tenacity in rural journalism from the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, publisher of The Rural Blog.

The award was given to the Trapp family, recognizing the work of his parents, Robert and Ruth Trapp, who started the Sun in 1956 with a partner they later bought out. The weekly paper and the elder Trapp have received many awards, and Institute Director Al Cross said the Gish Award for them was overdue.

The award is named for the couple who published The Mountain Eagle in Whitesburg, Ky., for more than 50 years and won national recognition for their courage, integrity and tenacity as they practiced a straightforward style of journalism in the face of opposition from powerful interests.

The Eagle and the Sun have exchanged papers for many years, and members of the Gish family joined Trapp at his table at the Marriott Griffin Gate Resort in Lexington, Ky.

An emotional Trapp was clearly thankful for the award. He explained that his parents had put reporting the truth over advertising dollars, and he pointedly described what he believes will improve journalism at all levels: quality reporting on issues that are important to the community. “That’s what we should be doing,” he said. “Following the stories that affect our communities and trying to improve our communities by doing that.”

In his speech, Trapp called community newspapers “the last bastion of truth in reporting.” Here's a video of the award presentation and his acceptance speech:

Carl West accepts the Al Smith Award

Carl West, former editor of The State Journal in Frankfort, Ky., and founder of the Kentucky Book Fair Committee, accepted the Al Smith Award for public service through community journalism by a Kentuckian. The Institute and the Bluegrass Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists co-sponsor the award.

West also emphasized the importance of newspapers in his speech. “Newspapers, journalism, it’s a community trust. A public trust,” he said. He highlighted how important accuracy and fairness are to journalists, how downsizing is changing newsrooms (including the one where he remains editor emeritus) and how the people running newspapers should view their service to the public.

“Newspapers aren’t a bank. You have to make money to own one and run it. Sure, but you’re not going to get rich,” he said. “If you are going at it that way, you’re in the wrong business.”

West also spoke about the Kentucky Book Fair and how it has helped fund public libraries in small communities with limited financial resources and has touched thousands of book lovers.

The Al Smith Award is named for the co-founder of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, who owned weekly newspapers in Kentucky and Tennessee and was the founding host of KET’s “Comment on Kentucky.” He also spoke at the dinner.

Nominations for next year's awards will be accepted until April 1, 2016.

Eric Newhouse provides some great insight into community journalism

Recently, current and former AP staffers were asked to weigh in on Connecting, the internal newsletter published by retiree Paul Stevens, on all the various issues surrounding the Charlie Hebdo story, issues of publishing material that might offend someone or a group, etc.

Eric Newhouse, a former AP bureau chief, provided these thoughts that turn out not so much to be about Charlie Hebdo as about community journalism and the reality of being a community journalist.

With Eric's and Paul's permission, I am sharing them here:

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Eric Newhouse (Email) - Re Charlie H., just because you have a right doesn't mean you have to exercise it all the time, particularly if you know it will offend or hurt others.

I learned that lesson in my post-AP life as projects editor of the Great Falls (Mont.) Tribune. We had committed ourselves to do a 12-part series of stories exploring alcohol abuse in Montana, at least one major package of stories each month for the calendar year 1999. By late February or early March, I was working on a package about how one alcoholic makes the whole family sick, which was to run in April, and the group leader of a local Al-Anon group invited me to sit in on a session.

So I showed up, notebook in hand, and was introduced by name. To make the point clearer, I added that I was a reporter working on a series of stories about alcoholism. No one voiced an objection, so I openly took notes as the meeting progressed.

But after the meeting, a group of women approached to tell me that an Al-Anon tradition requires that what is said in the room stays in the room. They asked me to leave my notebook on the table.

Knowing that by identifying myself as a working reporter without protest, I had a perfect right to report what was said in an open meeting. So I challenged them, asking why and asking how they intended to compensate me for the time that would have been wasted if I left the notebook behind. 

"Give us a moment to talk," their ringleader said.

When they returned, they explained that the tradition was designed to let group members talk honestly without repercussions, and they said they'd be willing to sit around a picnic table with me and tell their stories again in a way that would be more politically correct. "We've all been the victims of alcohol, and we don't want to victimize others," one of the women told me.

That did it for me. I left the notebook on the table, joined them on a park bench outside, and found the new stories were just as compelling as the previous one, although they omitted certain names and details.

The stories ran without incident, but when I began working on the June package, which was how alcohol fuels domestic violence, the wife brought up the Al-Anon encounter and asked how I had resolved it. I told her that I'd left the notebook on the table and that I'd interviewed the women outside the Al-Anon meeting room.

"Just checking," she told me. "Because if you'd screwed our friends over, no one in the alcohol community here would have been willing to speak with you."

My skin crawled when I heard that because I knew that would have been the kiss of death for our 12-part series. Instead the alcohol community supported me, offered tremendous help and encouragement, and celebrated with us when the series won the Pulitzer Prize in 2000 for explanatory reporting.

Incidentally, if anyone is interested in reading that series, I expanded it into a book, Alcohol: Cradle to Grave." Drop a check for $18 into an envelope, send it to me at 141 Rosetta Lane, Charleston WV 25311, and I'll ship you a copy of the book.

Newtown Bee: Comforting community at time of tragedy

I recommend this Poynter article on how the Newtown Bee is covering the school shooting tragedy there.

This says a ton about community journalism and its relationship to its community:

“We operate a little differently because our job is to take care of the community, so we were inside helping to comfort victims and trying to provide human support without necessarily making reporting the number one priority. The publisher came down to comfort some of the families a little later in the day.” - John Voket, associate editor.

Coping with many hats, one head

(This column originally appeared on Riverhead LOCAL, an independent local news site in Riverhead, N.Y., on Oct. 5, 2012)

Since I started working full-time for our family-owned and operated community news website, I've taken care not to editorialize on local issues — the stuff I report on.

I hate being in the position of reporting on a subject and then editorializing on it. I believe it detracts from the public's perception of a reporter's neutrality.

If I tell you my point of view on a particular subject, will you trust me to report on it fairly and fully thereafter?

Of course, you know I have an opinion, whether I write editorials expressing it or not. Right? I'd like to think my opinion doesn't come through in my news-reporting. That's what I try for, and I try my best.

When I was editor at the News-Review, I was often in the position of reporting on something and editorializing about it. Our editorials carried no byline, though, and no matter who wrote them, we always said they were the product of our "editorial board." That was sort of duplicitous. They were usually penned by one person, edited by another, and the voice of the editorials at the time was usually mine.

Then, of course, there were my weekly columns. And on page nine, well, I usually let it all hang out.

A lot of the time, though, there were other reporters churning out the stories I was editorializing about. And that's a much more comfortable place to be. But unlike big newspaper companies, we didn't have the staff to have people strictly devoted to the editorial pages. We couldn't maintain a separation of editorial page staff and newsroom staff like they do at, say, The New York Times.

I don't think our credibility as a community newspaper suffered much. I was told many, many times by lots of different folks that they didn't always agree with my editorials but always found my news reporting "straight down the middle." I'd say it was "fair and balanced," but that phrase has been polluted in an Orwellian sort of way by Faux News, and as a result, I just can't get myself to utter it to describe how I report.

I wish I could hire two really good full-time reporters, or maybe even one. He or she would carry much of the reporting duties, and I would function as an editor — and start regularly writing columns again. I don't have the time to do it now, and I also feel the tug of the above-described dilemma. People are always telling me how much they miss my columns. And I do believe it would be mostly beneficial for RiverheadLOCAL to have a "voice."

Do you think I'm being old-fashioned worrying about these "separation" issues?

Another thing: It's hard enough reporting on things that the advertisers who support you don't want to have reported. What happens when you editorialize in a way they don't like? I'm familiar with that scenario from my years at the paper. You get yelled at. They threaten to pull their advertising. They do pull their advertising. Eventually it all worked out. But at the paper, which, though a family-owned small business, was a much larger company than RiverheadLOCAL, we did have a separation of news/editorial and advertising. At RiverheadLOCAL, we do as well. But the guy selling the ads is the co-owner of the company — and my husband.

These are some of the perils of what the industry wonks refer to as "entrepreneurial journalism."  They think it's the future of the news. In fact, in the past year, I was part of a 12-person study of independent "hyperlocal" news sites, funded by journalism foundations. They picked 12 successful websites to see if they could figure out what made our sites work. And they offered us business coaching and assistance throughout the year. I hope to write a paper about what I learned. Maybe I'll even write a book. In my spare time.

Anyway, I started out to write a column about what has happened to the neighborhood where Peter and I have lived for the past 17 years, where we raised our family and planned to spend the rest of our lives. The column I have in my head was inspired by last night's planning board meeting.

Then I started thinking about all this other stuff and wrote this column instead. I guess that was my purpose in starting up this "javascripts" column: it's supposed to be about what we do and how we do it, not the subject matter of the stories we cover.

I've been a failure (as I predicted) at writing this column on a regular basis. There's just not enough time in the day (and night).

My coach this past year kept urging me to not go so deep on stories, write shorter, more superficial. It's good enough, he would say. And it will take less time.

But it's just not in my constitution to report that way. I've got to do it right or not at all. I believe with all my heart, that when it comes to community journalism, when it's a subject people care about, something right in their backyards, something that will directly affect their pocketbooks and their daily lives, they are engaged and want to know the whole story. Not half-baked tidbits about it. ("The five things you need to know about development on Rt. 58...")

I believe this because I've witnessed it. And it's something that journalists from big dailies don't seem to get.

Oh, well. What do you think? Should I write editorial columns expressing opinions about things I report on? Would you trust my reporting on something if you knew what my opinion on it was? Let me know.


Denise Civiletti, reporter, editor, digital maven and former newspaper editor and publisher, lives and works in Riverhead, N.Y. She vaguely remembers having a life away from electronic gadgets before being consumed by her role as a digital-hyperlocal-news-entrepreneur-pioneer — lol— publishing RiverheadLocal.com with her husband, Peter Blasl.

International weekly editors' group offers COMJIG members access to its Hotline, hoping to start a working relationship

Beginning a cooperative relationship that could pay substantial dividends, the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors has agreed to give COMJIG members access to the ISWNE Hotline, where some of the more thoughtful and dedicated weekly editors in the English-speaking world discuss editorial policies, ethical issues, management questions and just about anything that means something to editors of weekly papers.

The ISWNE Board of Directors voted at the group’s annual conference last week to give Hotline access to COMJIG members who request it, on a trial basis, with a review in January. The idea was proposed by David Gordon of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, who is an ISWNE director and COMJIG member; and the undersigned, secretary of COMJIG and director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, based at the University of Kentucky. COMJIG members who want Hotline access should email me at Al.Cross@uky.edu. I manage the list-serve with COMJIG member Chad Stebbins of Missouri Southern State University, who is director of its Institute of International Studies and executive director of ISWNE.

We think the Hotline can be a good source of research ideas and class discussion topics, and give academics interested in community journalism regular glimpses into the life of weekly newspapers, most of which are independently owned. Examples of recent Hotline topics include coverage of elections, suicides and vandalism; political endorsements, use of accident photos, policies on letters and obituaries, valuations of weeklies, competing with other papers, starting a paper from scratch, relationships with broadcast and cable operations, staffing questions, employer-employee relationships, Postal Service problems and adapting to the digital age, which as you might guess covers a wide range of questions. The ethical questions have also included a discussion of the circumstances in which an editor or reporter should speak up at a public meeting. This is a rich trove of information and insights that COMJIG members should find useful in teaching, research and service.

We hope this will be the first step in a mutually beneficial relationship. COMJIG members could be invited presenters at ISWNE conferences, and ISWNE members could be panelists at COMJIG programs, possibly with travel support from AEJMC. Some or all COMJIG officers might receive ex-officio memberships in ISWNE. The ISWNE quarterly, Grassroots Editor, could become a refereed publication, or at least have one issue per year that is refereed mainly by COMJIG members. The weekly editors could get ahead of the curve through COMJIG research on digital media, and suggest topics for research. ISWNE members could review and contribute to syllabi of journalism classes, especially on weekly newspaper management, instruction in which may be spotty but could be more important at a time of creative destruction and a plethora of community journalism start-ups. We could have a continuing dialogue toward a theory of community journalism. These are just ideas right now, but illustrate the potential of the relationship. The ISWNE board agreed that representatives of the two groups should discuss these and other ideas.

A productive relationship should boost the membership of both groups, which are relatively small. ISWNE has about 250 members, COMJIG about 100. ISWNE doesn’t just want to increase its membership, but to increase awareness of the organization among journalism students (for whom a discounted membership fee might be arranged) and faculty. Likewise, COMJIG could be a source of useful research for weekly editors, who operate in a segment of the industry that is little researched. Those of us who are service-oriented would gain connections within the industry. ISWNE showed its interest and good faith by giving me travel support to attend its board meeting.

Journalism academics increasingly realize that community journalism is the most vibrant and diverse segment of journalism, and it deserves more attention. As Humphrey Bogart told Claude Rains, “This could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship.”

Nominations sought for Gish Award for courage, integrity and tenacity in rural journalism

The Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues seeks nominations by Sept. 1 for the annual Tom and Pat Gish Award that recognizes courage, tenacity and integrity in rural journalism. The award is named for the couple, right, who published The Mountain Eagle in Whitesburg, Ky., for almost 52 years. Last year’s winner was Samantha Swindler of the Tillamook Headlight-Herald in Oregon for her investigative reporting at The Times-Tribune in Corbin, Ky., and the Jacksonville Daily Progress in Texas. Earlier winners have been the Gishes; the Ezzell family, publishers of The Canadian Record in texas; and former publisher Stanley Dearman and Publisher Jim Prince of The Neshoba Democrat of Philadelphia, Miss. For more details see http://www.ruraljournalism.org/.

The Institute seeks nominations that measure up, at least in major respects, to the records of previous winners. Nominators should send detailed letters explaining how their nominees show the kind of exemplary courage, tenacity and integrity that the Gishes and other winners demonstrated in their rigorous pursuit of rural journalism. Documentation does not have to accompany the nomination, but will be needed in choosing finalists, and additional documentation may be requested or required. Letters should be postmarked or emailed by Sept. 1 and mailed to: Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, 122 Grehan Journalism Building, University of Kentucky, Lexington KY 40506-0042. For more information, contact Al Cross at 859-257-3744 or Al.Cross@uky.edu.

ETHICS: Quandary in a small town sports department

I received this from a former student now working at a smaller newspaper in a large Southwestern state and thought it might make both for a good discussion here and as an ethics case study/discussion in classes.

I think it is emblematic of some of the things that community journalists face that their larger-publication brethren don't.

So let's have at it in the comments. What would you have told the student? My thoughts follow the note (all of this is used with the person's permission):

Since football season wrapped up, I've been "honored" a lot. I guess my first-year here everyone was just feeling me out but a year later they've gotten use to me and my coverage. …

At the football banquet, they gave me a plaque thanking me. At the tennis banquet, same thing. Those I appreciated, and know there's nothing you can do about someone calling you up on stage and handing you a personalized something. Then came the hockey banquet where I got a $50 Outback gift card. And then on Friday, the family of a girl who plays basketball and softball gave me a card thanking me for all my work but that I didn't know had a $50 Chili's gift card in it.

I've gotten a few leftover T-shirts that the coaches had lying around in my closet. I never wear any apparel from either of my teams to any game. I might wear a T-shirt when I got to Walmart, but I usually wear the other stuff when I'm back in Carolina or if I'm just staying in for the day. Keep in mind none of this stuff I solicited. …

Is there a moral dilemma in accepting any of this stuff? I know people are just trying to express their appreciation for the job I'm doing and I really am thankful to have a great community to work with. Plus, I'm broke so a steak from a good restaurant is appealing to my appetite and a few new T-shirts keep me from spending money on new ones.

I believe none of the stuff I have received has affected or will affect my coverage. At the end of the day, I have a certain number of pages to fill and I have to go to the event(s) that help me fill those pages. I'm putting in my 50-plus hours giving everyone as much coverage as I can. … The girl whose parents gave the gift card happened to be the best basketball player on the team the last two years, so she earned the right be interviewed and photographed; but I think anyone will tell you I try to get every kid I can in the paper at some point in the year, trying to keep it fresh.

I've had the discussions before about accepting stuff from bowls (food, gifts, etc.) and I basically came to the conclusion it's a personal decision or up to whatever the paper says you can and can't do. This is just something I'd like a veteran to weigh in on.

Here was my response:

Always a quandary, where do we draw the line - at being human?

The gift cards are problematic. It's a real bear for a community journalist because you have to continue living in the community. But the very fact that it's bothering you shows that it's problematic.


You have plenty of personal integrity. Just raising the question shows that. And that's why it's a problem. You know you aren't going to be bought by a $50 gift card, etc. But you also know that, as a result of that personal integrity, appearances mean as much as reality. And there's no way to control appearances.



So here's what I would do:

 If you can, try to meet personally with those who gave them to you. Thank them profusely and tell them how honored you are that they think so highly of your work - that there is no greater praise than readers - and the parents of the children you cover - thinking you are doing right by their kids.

But then explain that thank-yous beyond an occasional kind word are problematic - you'd never want anyone to have reason to question your ethics - especially any opponent whom you might also have to write about.

So ask if they wouldn't mind if you treated the gift as recognition not only for your work, but also for all those others  (editors, former professors {grinnn}) who help make such work come together. And so it is a gift to the paper that would be honored to be able to use it to support an organization like Salvation Army or, better, the local kids' home that could really use the cards to thank their volunteers or show their kids a good time.



Before you do this ...


Go to your editor, outline this strategy, and get it blessed. There may be things you don't know about that could give the editor blowback (for all you know, one of these parents sits on the local Kiwanis with old eddie, and maybe said something about doing this and the boss, wanting to be a good guy or girl, said sure, OK).


Either way, sleep easy. You know your integrity.

The roots of community journalism

Al Cross has a good piece in Nieman Reports this month on the roots, and some of the challenges, of community journalism.

The pull-quote says it all:
‘In community journalism, there is no place to hide, and if you want to hide, then you have no business in this business anyway.’

COMJIG panel gets lengthy story in AEJMC news

Our panel on "Community Newspapers: Healthy for Now, but for How Long?" got a nice story in the AEJMC News, the student-run newspaper from last week's convention in Denver.

A shorter earlier story also covered our "Media Ethics in My Little Town" panel.

For a full rundown of convention stories, especially those who could not be there, see AEJMCnews.net.

Denver convention programming

Hello from Jacksonville!

Once again, the chipping and wheeling and dealing are over, and we have come up with a great program (we think) for August's AEJMC meeting in Denver.

Many thanks to vice head/programming Andris Straumanis for all his hard work. Now, give research head Joe Marren something to do by getting those papers ready to come in by April 1. Or volunteer to be paper reviewer.

Here is our line up for Denver:

Wednesday
10-11:30 a.m. News coverage and commentary about local government, co-sponsored with Newspaper Division
This session examines the coverage of city government bhy daily and weekly newspapers, TV and radio stations, and citizen journalism sites using a National Science Foundation sample of more than 200 cities.

1:30-3 p.m. Citizen journalism research co-sponsored with Civic and Citizen Journalism IG
This panel will share current research examining citizen journalists, their role conceptions, motivations for contributing content, training, and other areas.

5-6:30 p.m. Media ethics in my little town. Co-sponsored with Media Ethics Division
This session explores the ethical dilemmas facing journalists working in small communities and the implications for ethics educators.

Thursday
11:45 a.m. - 1:15 p.m. Refereed research
Come hear some of the great research being done in this area.

8:30 p.m.: Membership meeting
Part of it will be held in conjunction with CCJIG. Executive committee meeting to follow.

Friday
Noon: J-lab luncheon, co-sponsored with CCJIG.
Progress in the Networked Journalism project, which pairs five news organizations with at least five hyperlocal sites in their communities.

1:45-3:15 p.m. Community newspapers: Healthiest in the trade, but for how long? Co-sponsored with Newspaper Division
Smaller newspapers have not been hit as hard in this recession, and this panel looks at that and also at how smaller newsrooms will have to adapt to a 24/7 world.

3:30-5 p.m. Into the mean streets: Lab community newspapers take on tough neighborhoods. Co-sponsored with CCJIG
Four journalism programs have separately launched lab newspapers and Web sites devoted to immer-city or at-risk neighborhoods. How did they do it? Get the answers here.

(In addition to the refereed research session, we also will have slots in one of the two midday scholar-to-scholar poster sessions.)

This is a great program. I hope you'll come to Denver for it.

-- Doug