Thursday, September 30, 2010

Information and Curiosity

The amount of information that can be found through one outlet is incredible. I have already had experience searching through property taxes purely out of curiosity; a trait passed on from my mom.

It was actually my mom who introduced me to the Hernando County Property Appraisers website. I was curious about a historic house in the Spring Lake area of Hernando County that had been uninhabited for years that I had fallen into renovation love. I found out the house had been built in the early 1900’s. It was a two story, two bedroom, two bath house with a fireplace in the living room. The current owners came into possession of it when a trust was transferred into their names. The cost of the transfer was only $1000 which was thoroughly shocking. The owners however never lived there. In fact, they currently live in Georgia (GA address can be found on the website.) The house is in considerable dilapidation but still holds its historic charter.

I then proceeded to look at the worth of my moms house, my fiancés parents house, my sister’s house, my fiancés brother’s house, and anyone else I could remember full names and general location of their home. It was sickeningly compulsive. My curiosity had gotten the best of me. Consequently, all those numbers were pointless.

Even though I am familiar with the Hernando County Property Appraisers website, I never thought to look more deeply into the owner’s of the historic house. Mainly for the fact, the only time in the last 20 years the house had changed hands was when the trust transferred.

In a sense, having the ability to see if the person owning a house is delinquent on taxes, when they bought the house, names on the deed etc seems very voyeuristic. While that information can be pertinent for people running for public office, who cares if John Doe down the street owns a $250,000 house that was originally worth $500,000.

It was funny to see the look on the class’ faces when Trigg began to divulge all the information that can be found on the site. There were looks of shock, puzzlement and even a few dropped jaws. The information is out there. All it takes is an inquisitive mind.

As a journalism major I understand the importance of public records, but sometimes wonder if there is too much personal information out there. My line of thought is going towards identity fraud. I am fully aware how controversial my public records comment was too.

People are allowed to know what is going on in the world surrounding them especially if it affects their safety, and I am a full supporter of the Sunshine Laws. If I wasn’t a full supporter I would be graduating with the wrong degree in December. My question from Trigg’s presentation is when is the amount of information on the internet too much?

Maybe I’m just getting soft, but it seems like sometimes personal identities are not valued enough.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Innovative Information Outlets

When you think of police work the typical things of flashing lights, arrests, court dates, and bail generally come to mind. Unless you are a member of the media you don’t think of the criminal report affidavit, booking sheet or general offense hardcopy. All of which are important documents in order to write a story about the happenings of Hillsborough County.

While a reporter drowns in papers from the Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office and Courthouse there are other ways that social media allows for citizens to get the news “from the source” easily. This is where J.D. Callaway and Cristal Bermudez Nunez come into play.

Callaway and Nunez are a part of the HCSO Community Affairs Office. They answer the media inquiries from broadcasting, radio, print etc. They handle press releases which must meet three general standards. Is this information in public interest? Is there media interest? Will this helps us get leads?

Social media has allowed Callaway and Nunez to broaden the horizons of HCSO community affairs. Internet sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have helped to revolutionize HCSO’s communication.

On Facebook, the “fugitive of the week” allows citizens to see who they need to be on the lookout for. Twitter allows immediate posting of important information, and YouTube broadcasts “pseudo-newscasts.” The pseudo-newscasts are of surveillance videos or press conferences in their entirety. These outlets allow citizens to be more informed and have transformed HCSO into a newsmaker and producer. Or as Callaway so aptly put it, “We don’t generate news. We release facts.”

Facebook, Twitter and YouTube may not be the conventional ways of emitting information, but they are the tools that allow places like the HCSO to reach the masses easily. Press releases are the traditional way, but with technology traditions change. The HCSO Community Affairs Office is working with today’s technology to help create a safer tomorrow.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Did he say math??

Hearing from your professor that a guest speaker is coming to talk about how charts, figures and of all things math help to create a story doesn’t exactly scream interesting. It really doesn’t help that half the allure of being a journalism major is the lack of math. But after hearing Matt Doig from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune speak; math in its relation to journalism actually doesn’t seem that bad. In fact, it almost sounds like fun.

The use of public records has the ability to transform and even create a story. It is “irrefutable evidence.” The information gathered from public records has the ability to bring to light evidence that many people would like to keep buried in a dusty file in Tallahassee. Doig gave thorough evidence of persistence and the power of public records.

Teacher Certification Scores are not something every parent thinks about when they send their child off to school. It wasn’t until high school that I found out that teachers are regularly tested so they can teach. This information was provided when I overheard my English teacher complaining because she had to take the math portion of the test for the fifth time. Thankfully she passed the English portion of the test with flying colors.

Doig’s investigation into teacher’s scores was very elaborate, but was made easier by a computer program that allowed a classification system. Doig was able to categorize teachers throughout the state by name, race, district, school, social security number, and test scores. There were also indicators about the school grade, how many students were in gifted etc.

It was sad in a sense to see that a teacher could fail a test 65 times and still be allowed to teach. The teachers who failed more were put in poorer schools. How does that set children up to succeed if their teachers aren’t capable enough to pass a test?

The use of math helped greatly with the teacher’s scores but what about a database of 19 million. Add in some parameters of 30 days with a 30 percent increase, a computer to handle the load and you have “Flip that house fraud.”

The philosophy of “If it’s happening in one place; it’s probably happening in more places” led to a substantial wealth of information regarding housing fraud. In fact, it led to 55,000 incidents of house fraud, billions of dollars, and the realization that Florida is now considered the #1 state for housing fraud.

The process of compiling the information and relaying it to the masses took a year. The knowledge gained though was very pertinent to understanding locally why the housing market turned out the way it did.

My hostility towards math has been slightly diminished after Doig’s compelling stories of how math and a computer program can help to create a beneficial story for the readers. Public records provide the information needed to begin the story and sometimes math helps to finish it.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Tim Nickens

I have learned a lot over the last few semesters about journalism, and as my time at USF comes to a close, I am learning even more information relevant to my future. Tim Nickens, editor for the St. Petersburg Times editorial pages, helped to solidify the importance of using public records as a source for a news story.
Nickens coming speaking to the class could not have come at a better time. The Wednesday following his visit I learned the fundamentals of my internship with Creative Loafing. I will be writing for the news and politics section. What better use for public records than in news and politics?
A statement that was particularly true for me may seem insignificant compared to the stories Nickens told of public records bringing about valuable information about politicians. “It is one thing to have a record. It is another thing to know what it means,” said Nickens. In news and politics, knowing what you have in front of you is extremely important so that you can quickly and reliably report a story. Knowing what you’re talking about has the ability to give you credibility.
Sometimes I feel like I let myself become victim of not asking enough questions, but Nickens was able to thoroughly reach me to help me to better understand the importance of asking questions. The questions can be about the documents in front of you or the actions taken in order to get a piece of legislature passed.
Along with questions, good sources are invaluable. A good source can lead you to the documents needed to complete the story. Reporters learn to think in terms of “not why is something open, but why is something closed?”
I was able to take from Nickens visit the different avenues in which to pursue a story. Documents from the property appraiser, courthouse, money appropriation committees, arrest records etc are all tools that can help complete a story.
When I found out the type of writing I would be doing for Creative Loafing, I was glad I had the knowledge from Nickens visit in order to be able to dig a little deeper into stories. I have to know where to look and what I am looking at.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Farhad Manjoo "True Enough"

For this blog I decided to listen to my muse talk for a couple days instead of ignoring his political babble. A wealth of information regarding current politics and foreign affairs, my fiancé, JT can tell anyone the current events in Washington D.C. Many of this information regarding health care but also gun policies, illegal alien acts, debt margins etc. If you choose to listen it never ends.

“True Enough” is an apt title for a book that discusses selective perception, questionable expertise, reality, etc. If you are a critical reader/ listener of the news you will understand that many things are not 100 percent true. So essentially, if it is “true enough” it must be reputable news. Too bad that truthiness has become based off of the political views of the network with which you get your news from.

While reading Farhad Manjoo’s chapter on objectivity, I couldn’t help but laugh. I have never taken any reporters word for the truth without question. JT, has become one of the avid Glenn Beckers who take Beck’s word for the gospel truth. An attribute he gained through exposure from family. I realized that JT has become the epitome of an individual with “biased assimilation.”

Fox News is considered the conservative voice in news with Glenn Beck at the forefront spewing information regarding the administration’s work. Beck has proclaimed himself as “not a reporter.” In a current disagreement between JT and me, JT tried to justify that statement. My response; “He talks about the news so he reports information? He’s just a reporter with his own TV show.” JT was quick to stand up for his idle with fervor only to meet my stubbornness. I will admit that Beck does have the most watched broadcast from 5pm – 6 pm.

There are many events and legislation that only Fox News covers which is highly commendable. While CNN was having a marathon on Michael Jackson’s death, Fox News was covering the earlier stages of the Health Care Bill. Fox is more about the hard news, things that “should” matter to the masses. CNN covers many of those issues as well but with a more tender approach.

JT bases all his gathering of news from the reports that Beck makes. There is no variation whatsoever. Biased assimilation says that people tend to interpret and understand new information in a way that accords with their own views. In JT’s situation, makes his gathering of news very limited. It is then that news that he passes along to all those willing to listen. “I feel that Fox is more accurate then any other news source because they cover a wider variety of information and they do plenty of research so that they are informed,” JT said during one of our many political conversations.

After going through a few semesters of journalism classes and being aware of the world around me, I understand the importance of hearing many different sides of the story. Sometimes my opinions change and sometimes they don’t. At least, I cannot say that I have a tendency for biased assimilation or selective perception.

No matter the person, they can fall prey to selective perception. People tend to see or believe what they want to be true. This is where conspiracy theorists come from and those crazies on both sides of the political spectrum. Theories like the government blew up the World Trade Centers, JFK’s assassination and the Lone Gunman theory are all brilliant examples of selective perception. Those so jaded by the government that they would give anything for a big conspiracy to damage it will find anything to prove bad practice in government.

Manjoo provides shocking statistics about the amount of people who actually trust the news. “Since the 1990s, people have become far more skeptical about what they watch, read, or listen to. The numbers for CNN are illustrative of what’s happened throughout the industry. In 1998, 42 percent of the people whom Pew surveyed said that the believed “all or most” of what they watched on the network. In 2006, only 28 percent said the same.”

When it comes to selective perception, “trusting your senses” is critical. While trusting your senses cannot save everyone from falling prey to idiotic theories, the normal, sane person will be able to keep their sanity intact.

Manjoo’s book was a slap to the face for all those that thought everything was done by the book which is one reason why I liked it. Manjoo eloquently portrayed the realities of news media. He did not sugarcoat anything, and although I got annoyed with the stupidity it was a much appreciated emotion.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Best of Blogs: Third Times a Charm

Blogs, blogs, blogs! I feel like my mind is a swirl of blogs. Trying to find ones that I feel are interesting and noteworthy is not as easy as it may seem. There are so many pointless blogs out there filling up the blogosphere. So I search yet again; clicking next blog more often then not. I get excited and then realize the title is more interesting then the writing underneath. Oh well. By now, I am well versed in blogs. And considering this is the most I have written about blogs, it seems I have found a good spot.

Blog 1: Venture Bound
http://www.venturebound.net/

My great grandmother was 100 percent Cherokee Indian. That fact made this blog extremely interesting. The pictures as well as the words portray vividly the lives and pertinent information about many different types of Native Americans. Since the author of the blog writes for a travel column it gives the blog the necessary background. The author is very educated and editing is apparent in his writing. The amount of information in the blog is not overwhelming. Navigating through the different articles is also easy.

Blog 2: White Trash BBQ
http://whitetrashbbq.blogspot.com/

Even though Florida somehow is not considered part of the south, good ol southern bbq is not something people joke about. People roast hogs for weddings and smoked ribs stands can be found fairly easily. When I saw the title of this blog, I was amused. After looking over the many pages, I wasn’t only amused but also hungry. Pictures showed any type of meat smothered in bbq sauce. Recipes were provided and a long list of meals scrolled across the pages. Links to explore and restaurants that are recommended were on the right side of the page allowing for more mouth watering occurring.

Blog 3: Around the World “L”
http://www.aroundtheworldl.com/

I’m a sucker for anything foreign. I love learning about different places and people. How people’s day to day activities vary depending on location excite me. An Australian friend of mine frequently laments about the lack of Reeses Peanut Butter Cups. America gave her that love for the mixture of chocolate and peanut butter. So yet again I am attracted to a blog from foreign countries. This blog covers anything and everything from a funny sign in Barcelona to Day Traveling Packages. It is well written with plenty of pictures, easy to navigate and spontaneous. It comes from an Americans stand point while she travels the world for a year or so. That must be nice…

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Best of Blogs 2

Yet again I am at a loss for blogs. So I turn to my trusty sidekick the “blogs of note” button at the bottom of my dashboard on BlogSpot. There I can find a plethora of interesting blogs from scrapbooking to news. There is some searching required but it allows for me to stumble upon some unknown blogs. This week I have stumbled upon blogs that express one of my passions. Photography.

Blog 1 http://runningfromcamera.blogspot.com/2006_06_01_archive.html
Running from Camera:

This blog is one for those who love photography and foreign countries. The concept is easy. Put the self-shutter on for two seconds and run from the camera. I enjoyed the blog because I am able to see different parts of the world. The photography was also well executed. The layout was easy to follow with the older photos separated into files by month. However, after a few photos I got tired of the running man unless the timing caught him when he was not touching the ground or blurred.

Blog 2 http://inplainview1.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2010-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-05%3A00&updated-max=2011-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-05%3A00&max-results=9
In Plain View

If you like unique ways to takes photos you’ll love this blog. The first photo intrigued me because of it simplicity but also beautiful colors. How many people think to make art out of Sharpies, a card, or colored salt? The photographer has a list under each photo of the camera used, the f-stop, ISO, and mm. On the side of the page she also has a list of cameras she uses for her photography. The photos are well organized and easy to access. She also has a search by word on the left side of the page. The colors of the photos are vivid. I really enjoyed her use of different focuses and points of visual impact.

Blog 3 http://rezamasoudi.blogspot.com/?expref=next-blog
Reza’s Photo Gallery

The way architecture should be photographed. As a former architecture major I loved this blog. The photos were remarkable. It was extremely interesting to see architecture from different parts of the world portrayed in such an artistic manner. I also enjoyed the nature pictures that were included in the older files. The site was slightly difficult to navigate because the files were at the bottom of every page instead of on the side. The work was still excellent quality even if navigation was difficult.