This is where libertarians ar born

OK, I'm getting off the journalism track here for this one, although my experience at the unemployment office the last two days might come in handy when writing about government and bureaucrats some day.

I'm on day 4 of my week-long furlough and, unlike my last furlough in November, I'm determined to collect the benefits I've been approved for. It's not much - less than half the week's pay I lost this week - but hey, it will pay some bills.

The fact that I had to go back there a second time could be a rant in itself; on my first visit - and apparently, if there wasn't some glitch between my employer and the unemployment folks didn't occur I wouldn't have had to visit there at all - it seems their system crashed, so my choice was to wait indefinitely or go home and try to their system from there.

What's that you say? That if I could do what they need me to do from any computer, why did I need to be there in the first place? I'm still waiting for an explanation on that.

A real telling moment was when I finally (as if I had been speaking an alien language and suddenly started speaking English) convinced a worker there that I am on a furlough and going back to work on Monday. Documents from DEW that were sent after my first furlough, the papers that pretty much spell out my status and what the procedures were apparently tainted by some toxic substance, judging by anyone's reluctance to handle them or even look at them.

The one that made me rally sigh was when two workers couldn't decide on what one is supposed to do first when applying for benefits. This chicken/egg debate made me conclude that I must have been lucky enough to draw two workers who were on their first day on the job.

Now, keep in mind these are STATE not Federal workers. But just the same. I walked out of their wondering how many Democrats walked in their and left as Republicans...or libertarians.

Letting go

So, I'm in Day 2 of a week-long furlough and (outside of the loss of pay) the toughest thing is not being a part of the newspaper. Not that there aren't qualified people to get the job done while I'm away, but when you pretty much structure your life around your job and your job is in the public eye, it's difficult to let go.

I'm doing better than I did the last time I was away though. I suspect I was annoying the folks filling in with my texts and emails with suggestions and questions, but it was almost like an addiction. that time, however, I was on vacation. Laws and rules governing furloughs prohibit me from doing even that, which makes it easier, I suppose.

It's easier today than it was yesterday.

There are no rules from me checking out our website or picking up the paper tomorrow, but it might be best just to pretend they don't exist for the rest of the week.

Blinded by science

A few posts back I mentioned that I need to explore what technology is out there to help a reporter digitally record interviews so notes can be uploaded as voice-to-text as opposed to me transcribing (and deciphering) handwritten notes the old school way.

Well, one Google search later, my mind is reeling. Not only is there a dizzying area of options, but it's necessary to figure out what's compatible with my computer (I'm a 'Mac'). Who's got time for that? Not me.

But, it's a necessary task. Just wish I had an assistant.

Will keep ya'll posted.

When good journalism goes bad

Oh, Ira.

That's what I thought when I heard the "This American Life," pretty much the best example of modern radio journalism, was burned bad by a source, a self-serving slimeball named Mike Daisy who also got over on other media platforms in the past few weeks.

Ira Glass is the creator and driving force behind TAL and I respect and enjoy his work so much that sometimes I plan my weekend around being able to catch the local broadcast rather than wait for it to be archived on Sunday evening.

It's that good.

See, TAL, which is funded mostly by listener donations (I give at least $10 a year to the show and more to my local public radio station, WFAE; when I make more, they all will get more and that's a promise) is impeccable with its research. I'm pretty sure they've had a clarification here and there in more than a decade of broadcasting, but never a full blown retraction like this past week.

Turns out that for whatever reason they didn't go the extra mile and vet one of the sources Daisy had sighted. What makes it worse is that another NPR journalist who sniffed out Daisy's odious scam tracked down the pivotal source, in China, in minutes with a Google search.

It reminds me of the blown story about W's slacker National Guard stint that cost Dan Rather so dearly. In something like 5o years of great journalism, Rather may have gotten it wrong once in a while but never that we heard about and the W story, though so much of it checks out, was such a spectacular embarrassment.

Like Rather, Ira (who also delegates a lot of legwork, out of necessity) had to fall on his sword and he did so maybe not so much gracefully (although it was that) but so sincerely. Look, I don't know the guy, but he sounded as pissed off as he should be. As pissed off as I'd be.

The question is, how much damage does this do to his show?

Not too much I hope. It's such great work. A truly creative blend of journalism and entertainment. For the show to suffer because of one misstep - one I'm sure Ira and his crew have learned from and will never repeat - would be the real tragedy.

The only thing I don't understand is why the subjects of the piece - Apple and some subcontractors, not to mention the People's Republic of China - haven't sued Daisy for libel. His scam seems to fit the definition of libel and thus his stage show that was excerpted in TAL shouldn't be protected speech.

Knowing what you don't know (and doing someting about it)

Sometimes, being a journalist, specifically the editor of a community newspaper, means being your readers' ombudsman. Readers have the notion that their newspaper has a certain influence, that we can pick up the phone or shoot off an email and make things happen.

There's something to that.

Sometimes.

If you're around long enough and have the leverage of lots of readers, there is a measure of authority to call on now and then. Mostly though it works because you've cultivated important relationships and have demonstrated responsibility and discretion.

Then there are the times you want to make something happen with no prompting and have no idea where to turn. And this is what led me to discuss this: Yesterday I noticed a dead dear in the middle of a main road - Hwy. 160 West. This morning, on my way to the office, it was still there.

I live in one of the fast-growing areas of the southeast, minutes from Charlotte and in a part of town that has a medium income that's likely higher than the rest of the town (no thanks to me; I'm sure my salary brings the average down). Not that a a large, decaying dead animal should be left on a road anywhere, but it surprised me this one was (is) still there.

The reason I'd like to see it removed is...just because it's sad and it seems this poor creature, driving to road sue the quickly shrinking size of its habitat, deserves better to rot in the sun. As a citizen, I wanted to call someone and find out why it hasn't been removed from this Major public road.

Then I realized I have no freakin' idea who's in charge of this. Maybe no one.

Next mission: finding out.

That was a close call!

There's nothing like having to re-do work when you're playing beat the clock everyday.

That's what almost happened tome today.

I went into our publishing system to call up a story a had worked on yesterday to put the finishing touches on it and move on to something else. What I see instead of my nearly finished story was some rough notes.

Did I not save before logging off?

That would unusual. I've become a compulsive saver - all it takes is losing a story or two to get into that habit. Before panicking and going into meltdown mode, I looked at the other files I worked on late yesterday and eventually found the missing story where a letter to the editor was supposed to be.

I have no idea how that happened and I don't really care! The letter was archived in my email (how I love the way email helps keep things organized and facilities my work flow, not to mention eliminating the need to re-type submissions to the paper like we had to do back in the day) and I found it in about 10 seconds.

Having to-rewrite most of a story from scratch would have ruined my day and then some.

(p.s.) I just spell checked like I always do before posting and there was not one misspelled word. Things like that make me happy.

Time to accessorize?

Now that I have to do some reporting regularly (as opposed to editing, which isn't exactly less difficult than reporting but definitely requires less heavy lifting) I realize how much I dislike note taking. Not the gathering of information, but the literal putting pen to paper out in the field.

Now, at my desk on the phone is a different story. for one thing, I typically key in my notes when working a story by phone. Love it. Born to do it. maybe it's because I'm not worried about making eye contact and reading body language.

I even don't mind doing some note taking by hand, the old fashioned way, when I'm at my desk. Maybe it's a comfort level thing.

Out in the field, with a notebook. hate it. Maybe it's my terrible handwriting becomes worse when I'm not leaning over, right elbow propped while holding the phone. Whatever it is (and keep in my mind when I was a young reporter I loved heading out with my notepad. It was sort of romantic like the scenes of reporters at work I saw in the movies growing up) I'd rather work without a pad and pen.

Absent the unlikely event I develop a Rainman-like instant recall, it's time to start exploring electronic alternatives. Keyboarding with laptop or phone seems viable, but rude.

I think it's time to invest in a digital recorder and that software that converts voice recordings to text. Yep, I think I'll be going high-tech.

The Doonesbury debacle

It's still bothering me that many newspapers that run the Doonesbury strip censored it this week out of fear of the potential backlash over the storyline. For those unaware, this week's arc is about a woman in Texas visiting a health care center.

Presumably, the character is seeking an abortion and is confronted with that state's (in my opinion fascist) requirement of having to first view an ultrasound image of her womb. Newspapers who carry the strip are concerned over so-called "graphic" content, although so far, as of day two, I've yet to see it. Some are not running it all. Others, such as my local daily, which is part of the company I work for, found a compromise in which it's publishing this week's strip on its website.

I honestly can't say if that compromise is a Solomon-like decision or a purely opportunistic attempt to drive traffic to its website. Or somewhere in between.

Admittedly, it's easy for me to judge since I wasn't confronted with the decision myself and I do believe the editor and publisher of that paper didn't make it lightly. It's likely that some of the discussion had to include the fact that the majority of the paper's audience is extremely conservative (don't forget, South Carolina voted for Newt Gingrich in the Presidential primary) and running what they would perceive as offensive content is counter intuitive at a time when all newspapers are struggling to retain enough audience to remain viable.

It's pretty much certain that running the strip in print this week would have cost the paper advertisers and I'm pragmatic enough to realize that is something to be avoided.

This makes me nostalgic for the "good old days" when newspapers could afford to let an advertiser walk if it came down to that or self censorship. I recall a chapter in a book chronicling the history of Newsday, a Pulitzer-winning paper on Long Island. The publisher at the time told one of its biggest advertisers, Macy's I think, that he'd rather the company not advertise at all as opposed to advertising less frequently than it had the year before.

In the end, Macy's (I think) decided to renew its 52-week contract.

The company needed the paper's audience that much.

That's still the case today. It's just that some companies forgot that because of the bells and whistles of electronic media (which we're a part of now of course) and some of these really crappy local "magazines" that look pretty, but offer warmed over press releases and genuinely vacuous content and super cheap ad rates.

I want to climb up on my high horse and say I'd always side with free speech when it comes to a potentially inflammatory comic strip, but I can't say I don't understand why some papers would pull it. At the same time, I think if you can't stand behind a longtime, Pulitzer-winning content provider like Gary Trudeau (who I admit has been a favorite of mine for nearly 40 years), then you should just not run it at all.

Time to change?

I was disappointed and a little surprised to learn one of our local state legislators, Chauncey "Greg" Gregory introduced a school choice bill.

What surprised me is that his constituency is pro public education. Which makes me wounder who or what influenced him. The first thing I thought was "too bad we don't endorse candidates." I don't care what else he stands for. If you're for using public money for vouchers at the expense of our public schools, you're against what we believe in.

Makes me wonder if our paper should change policy and endorse candidates. If for nothing else, we'd have to oppose his candidacy over this issue that's pretty much No. 1 in our area. Problem is, he's likely to run unopposed anyway.

On the other hand, this would give a possible challenger - even a Democrat (gasp!) a solid platform. We;ll see.

Resolutions unfulfilled

Near the top of my list was to blog more - no less than once daily.

OK, better late than never. But that's the life of a community editor these days. And, I actually composed some posts in my mind - while in the shower, driving, etc. - all inopportune times to actually post, which tells me I need a better smart phone.

Lately I've wanted to discuss my encounter with the Fort Mill PD over the issue of obtaining the incident reports. Long story short, we've identified and repaired what had been a disconnect, but both sides will admit there was quite a bit of acrimony building up and some feelings were hurt.

Love a happy ending though.

Now it seems I have some school administrators angry with me over a story we ran this week that involved a student's arrest on an assault charge. Just remember: not trying to provoke anyone here - just doing my job, people.