We got the grant!

The American Society of Newspaper Editors has selected the Tracy Press and Millennium High School for an ASNE Partnership grant. The money — $2,500 — will be used for video equipment and software.

The grant is part of an ASNE initiative to promote the next generation of digital journalists and news consumers, funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

The Millennium class, meanwhile, will create an online newspaper, a key component of which will be video journalism. And the Tracy Press also will add video to its site, thanks to this grant.

All suggestions for software and equipment accepted here!

Week 4: A copy editor

For the scoop on Jon Mendelson's take on this day's class, go to his blog, Second Thoughts.

Week 3: A photographer

Glenn Moore is scheduled to talk about newspaper photography — and also take a look at the class cameras. And we'll have a surprise for Mr. Eddy!
- Cheri

Week 2: A reporter

Aaron Rognstad, our newest reporter, shared his experiences as a reporter, both for newspapers and the military.

Here's his notes on today's class:

Jack asked me what the most important things about being a journalist were, and I told him to make sure the information you write is accurate and free of factual errors. I told the students to always double-check spellings of names (something I should do more of!) and to make sure they get the technical details correct. Most importantly though, I stressed integrity and honesty in your writing, because without that, a journalist isn’t worth his word, and that’s everything in journalism.

I also went a little into my background and how I came to be a journalist. I told the class it was the military that got me into reporting, and I expressed a desire to be a war correspondent at some point down the road. I told the students if they want to a future in the journalism biz, they should immediately try to write for their student newspaper and get published as soon as possible to begin to get experience and some clips under their belts. I also told them to get on with their college newspaper when they go off to university, and then after that to get an internship. I stressed these stepping stones as crucial to landing a job as a reporter some day.

Any questions comments about the class today? Feel free to leave some!

Millennium's journalists

Mr. Eddy asked me to talk today about newspapers in the 21st century, but I started by talking about Gutenberg, who invented the printing press in 1447, and I described the growth of the newspaper industry through the Industrial Revolution, the emergence of radio and TV, and the technological revolution.

Finally, when I got to modern times, we talked about what's changed for newspapers in just the last 10 years, besides technology — demographics, reading habits and revenues.

I tried to convince everybody that newspapers aren't toast. While we haven't been quick to respond to change, we're now seeing the hybridization of print and digital media, and we're still cheap (for readers), convenient and easy to read, arguably trustworthy in our newsgathering and open to community journalism. And we're the best watchdog of government and freedom of information there is.

The five, bright students in this class want to start an electronic newspaper and a blog. They want to ask questions, write stories, take photos, take video and more. I think it's going to be fun!

Andrew Sanabra (left), Jorden Holden, Danielle Lamb, Dane Tran and Matt West.
(Photos by Anthony Brenes)

Feel free to post comments or questions here!

Hello, Millennium students

I want to revive this blog. Thursday will be my first meeting with Jack Eddy's Millennium High School journalism class. The class topic is "The Newspaper in the 21st Century."

More info, coming soon!

Sunshine experiment in Palo Alto

San Francisco Bay Guardian

he Palo Alto City Council is conducting a unique experiment in its efforts to comply with the Ralph M. Brown Act, which requires government bodies to conduct business in a public way.

Palo Alto now posts e-mails from council members on the city's Web site (www.cityofpaloalto.org/council), providing easy access to all with Internet capabilities. The e-mails were first posted online following a 2003 settlement of a Brown Act lawsuit against the city of Palo Alto by two local newspapers — Palo Alto Weekly and The San Jose Mercury News.

Eight private e-mails were in question, disclosing the votes of a closed city council session, and while the city never admitted guilt in violating the Brown Act, language in the settlement established the practice of posting council e-mails on the Web site and making them available in council agenda packets prior to meetings.

Peter Scheer, executive director of the California First Amendment Coalition, questions the merits of the system.

"Some people would look at this and think it is a giant and serial violation of the Brown Act — but I wouldn't necessarily say that," Scheer told the Guardian, noting that the prohibition on serial meetings bans such an approach. But he said that this is an interesting experiment, as long as council members don't deliberate by e-mail. But assistant city manager Emily Harrison told us the messages avoid Brown Act violations by sticking to basic questions about agenda items, which the public can scrutinize.

The city of San Francisco has no such system in place, and e-mails to and from the Board of Supervisors is available only through direct request. Frank Darby, the city's Sunshine Ordinance Task Force administrator, said that the city had never looked into putting one in place.

"We are not required to post e-mails [under the Sunshine Ordinance]," Darby said. However, he added, the city "constantly monitors" itself to ensure that it is in accordance with the Sunshine law. "There may be some people who disagree and feel that maybe we should put every e-mail online — but currently the Sunshine Ordinance does not require that e-mails be made available online."

Main Street America

You've heard all about the demise of newspapers. But what about community newspapers, those weeklies, twice-weeklies and three-times-a-week papers that report on local news?

This just in from the National Newspaper Association: Readership of community newspapers has increased slightly — from 81 percent in 2005 to 83 percent in 2007.

"We know community newspapers have a different story to tell than some of the big dailies," says Steve Haynes, president of NNA and of Haynes Publishing Co. in Kansas.

Read more here.
(Photo of Tracy Press intern Evan Gong)

Similar public records cases

These two cases, which are similar to the Tracy Press' pending suit over a councilwoman's e-mails, recently crossed my desk. One is settled, and the other is before a state supreme court.

• A state district judge in Texas has ruled that the city of Dallas must release e-mails requested nearly two years before by The Dallas Morning News, including messages from a city official's BlackBerry and personal e-mail account.

"This is a really important decision," said Charles Davis, executive director of the National Freedom of Information Coalition. "One of the arguments we're seeing emerge among public officials is that certain delivery platforms or technological devices should be, by their very nature, private, because they own them, or they keep them in their pocket. The delivery platform doesn't make any difference. It's what the content of the message is. If the content of the message is about governing, then it should be public."

• The Ohio Supreme Court has taken a case in which a retired prosecutor has sued a state representative for e-mail and text messages from private accounts that pertain to state business. Attorney General Marc Dann has said that both are public documents if they deal with government business, even if they come from private accounts