ISSUE

Fall 2005

Covering Indian Country

As a young reporter at The Rapid City Journal, Tim Giago was seldom allowed to cover stories on the nearby Pine Ridge Indian Reservation where he was raised. As one editor told him, being Native American meant he could not be objective in his reporting. In 1981 he moved back to the reservation to start a community newspaper called the Lakota Times. At that time it was the only independently owned weekly Indian publication in the United States. In this collection of stories, Native Americans and non-natives who tell stories about the lives of Indian peoples talk about their obligation to fairness and the skills they need to live up to this responsibility.

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Articles

Features

The Internet: Continuing the Legacy of Storytelling

‘I often reflect on my work as a journalist and wonder if I’ve some inherent genetic code that comes from this time-honored practice.’
Victor Merina
September 15, 2005
Opinion

Probing the Successes and Failures of the Washington Press Corps

‘Great reporting in Washington is about cutting through the bureaucratic maze.’
James McCartney
September 15, 2005
Covering Gun Violence Features

Cultures Clash in Coverage of a School Shooting

Some reporters didn’t understand the implications of tribal sovereignty when they went to the Red Lake Indian Reservation to report this story.
Dan Gunderson
September 15, 2005
Features

When Reporters Lack Access and Knowledge

‘… access would be easier to achieve if reporters had been there to cover some of the more routine stories that had taken place on the reservation.’
Dorreen Yellow Bird
September 15, 2005
Features

The Healing Power of Well-Reported Words

A reporter returns home—to a troubled reservation—to write about what happened to its land and people.
Larry Oakes
September 15, 2005
Opinion

The Difficult Path of a Tribal Watchdog Reporter

‘I asked the council politely, “What is the role of this board? Will you be looking over and deciding what news goes to print?”
Bonnie Red Elk
September 15, 2005
Journalist’s Trade

When Major News Has a Very Short Shelf Life

With The Associated Press offering an ‘optional lead,’ questions arise about the handling of yesterday’s news.
Russell Frank
September 15, 2005
Diversity

Challenges Native and Non-Native Journalists Confront

Those who tell Indian people’s stories are ‘expected to be truthful, responsible, accurate and excellent communicators.’
Jodi Rave
September 15, 2005
Journalist’s Trade

Organizing the New News

‘… the greater velocity of information today multiplies the opportunities for confusing and misleading the public.’
Philip Meyer
September 15, 2005
Nieman Notes

A Long Journey Home

A photojournalist on assignment uncovers dormant feelings about his past and the South.
Lester Sloan
September 15, 2005
Journalist’s Trade

Getting Acquainted With Newspapers and Journalism

Students who didn’t read newspapers started doing so, and before long they knew a lot about journalism and were inventing news outlets of their own.
Susan E. Tifft
September 15, 2005
Journalist’s Trade

Graceful and Persuasive Words and Passionate Beliefs

RELATED ARTICLE“Griping About Newspaper Editorials Doesn’t Change”– Michael GartnerThese excerpts from editorials illustrate how, as Michael Gartner writes, “personality—personal and institutional—made the men voices to be listened to and made…
Michael Gartner
September 15, 2005
Journalist’s Trade

Griping About Newspaper Editorials Doesn’t Change

The problem editors face is figuring out how to get people to read editorials.
Michael Gartner
September 15, 2005
Opinion

The Silent Takeover of American Journalism

‘… realistic solutions to the problems newspaper editors face nowadays are elusive as best.’
Gilbert Cranberg
September 15, 2005
Journalist’s Trade

Wondering About the Wonders of Technology

Francis Pisani is a journalist and teacher who has gained expertise in new media from his study of its global impact on journalism. He was a member of a panel…
Francis Pisani
September 15, 2005
Features

Native News Honors Project

In a journalism class at the University of Montana, students report from the state’s Indian Country, and their words and images are published.
Carol Van Valkenburg
September 15, 2005
Diversity

Broadcast News: The Absence of Native Storytellers

Without American Indian journalists, potential news stories are untold and the complexities of issues aren’t addressed.
Mark Trahant
September 15, 2005
Journalist’s Trade

Creating The Online Timeline

The online world left no physical tracks. This meant that a permanent record was nearly impossible to keep because hard disks were small and CD and DVD writers were not…
David Carlson
September 15, 2005
Journalist’s Trade

The News Media’s 30-Year Hibernation

Online newspapers ‘are not creative. They are not interactive. They’re too much like newspapers.’
David Carlson
September 15, 2005
Journalist’s Trade

Traditional Media in the Digital Age

Data about news habits and advertiser spending lead to a reassessment of media’s prospects and possibilities.
Douglas Ahlers
September 15, 2005
Journalist’s Trade

The Transparent Life of Newspaper Blogs

At the News & Record in Greensboro, North Carolina, many reporters write blogs—and newspaper stories, too.
John Robinson
September 15, 2005
Journalist’s Trade

The Ascent of Blogging

Old media report on the new media, but they haven’t figured out how to adapt.
David D. Perlmutter
September 15, 2005
Journalist’s Trade

Online Timeline

1962United StatesU.S. Air Force contracts with Rand Corp. to study computer networking for defense purposes.1963United StatesTed Nelson, an author and futurist, coins the word “hypertext.”RELATED ARTICLES“The News Media’s 30-Year Hibernation”“Creating…
David Carlson
September 15, 2005
Journalist’s Trade

A New Journalism for Democracy in a New Age

On February 1, 2005, former Nieman Foundation Curator Bill Kovach, who founded and directs the Committee of Concerned Journalists, gave a speech at the School of Journalism at the Universidad…
Bill Kovach
September 15, 2005
Opinion

Fall 2005: Words & Reflections Introduction

In reflecting on the book, “A Matter of Opinion,” Ray Jenkins explains why its author, Victor S. Navasky, so strongly advocates “cutting-edge reporting, with an acknowledged point of view unrestrained…
Melissa Ludtke
September 15, 2005
Journalist’s Trade

A Newspaper Talks With Readers in a Cyber Town Square

‘Changes wrought by the Internet demand that newspapers innovate, and that means experimentation as we move beyond the boundaries of our known world.’
Patrick Dougherty
September 15, 2005
Journalist’s Trade

Transforming the Gathering, Editing and Distribution of News

Is technology poised to replace journalists and their judgment by consuming their tasks?
Francis Pisani
September 15, 2005
Journalist’s Trade

Managing the Transparent Newsroom

To make a transparent newsroom function requires some changes in the tasks people take on in connecting more effectively with members of the community. What follows are some brief descriptions…
Steven A. Smith
September 15, 2005
Journalist’s Trade

A Newsroom’s Fortress Walls Collapse

At The Spokesman-Review, editors and reporters explain ‘what we do and why’ and involve ‘citizens, at some level, in news planning and decision-making.’
Steven A. Smith
September 15, 2005
Journalist’s Trade

Sharing All That Reporters Knew With Readers

In the spring, following a two-year investigation, The Spokesman-Review reported that Spokane Mayor Jim West: Allegedly molested two or more young boys while serving as a deputy sheriff and Boy…
Steven A. Smith
September 15, 2005
Diversity

Finding a Different Path Into the Newsroom

For Native students, a summer journalism institute, an online newspaper, and internships can lead to full-time jobs.
Denny McAuliffe
September 15, 2005
Features

Taking Time to Understand the Story to Be Told

To report this story meant ‘immersing ourselves in a system of government and a way of life that, shamefully, we knew little about.’
Michael Moore
September 15, 2005
Journalist’s Trade

Fall 2005: Changing Newspapers, Changing News Introduction

In an effort to make decisions and activities transparent, Steven A. Smith, editor of The Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington, invites members of the public into morning news meetings, assigns five…
Melissa Ludtke
September 15, 2005
Opinion

Time and Techniques Define A ‘New New Journalism’

Conversations with writers reveal how and why their stories are being told in different ways.
Madeleine Blais
September 15, 2005
Journalist’s Trade

Looking Behind the Scenes of Political Coverage

A study compares national presidential press coverage with local reporting on congressional races and emerges with some unexpected findings.
Jennifer McGrady
September 15, 2005
Opinion

When Media Create the Message

The author of ‘Mediated’ makes us ‘feel as if our very beings are enslaved by the messages as well as the messengers.’
Howard Shapiro
September 15, 2005
Journalist’s Trade

Reinventing A Newspaper’s Web Site

The online Los Angeles Times is ‘very different. It should be different. It should look different.’
Barbara A. Serrano
September 15, 2005
Features

Covering Indian Country: How an Outsider Gets In

Relying on decades of experience, a journalist provides valuable reporting tips.
Steve Magagnini
September 15, 2005
Opinion

Blending Economic Ideas With the Persuasive Power of Journalism

Galbraith ‘performed that balancing trick as well as it has been done.’
John Geddes
September 15, 2005
Opinion

A Student’s Most Memorable Story

In tackling a tough topic—racial relations in a Montana community—a young reporter learned how much good journalism matters.
Anne E. Pettinger
September 15, 2005
Opinion

Going to War With a Camera as Artillery

With war photography, ‘similar themes emerge; even the fields and faces can start to appear to be the same.’
David Leeson
September 15, 2005
Opinion

When What War Is About Becomes Invisible

‘If it wasn’t for people like you, people over here would not know what was really going on.’
Steve Northup
September 15, 2005
Opinion

Recommendations From the Ad Hoc Committee on the Press

RELATED ARTICLE“The Silent Takeover of American Journalism”– Gilbert CranbergIn 2002 the Ad Hoc Committee on the Press, made up of nine well-known journalists, presented newspaper company CEO’s and directors with…
Gilbert Cranberg
September 15, 2005
Journalist’s Trade

Valuable Web Sites About Indian Country

Listed below are addresses of Web sites that Victor Merina selected fortheir value as resources for journalists. Native American Times Navajo Times Indian Country Today News From Indian Country Sequoyah…
Victor Merina
September 15, 2005
Journalist’s Trade

What ‘Band’ Means

Dorreen Yellow Bird offers an example to explain the correct use of the term “band.”
Dorreen Yellow Bird
September 15, 2005
Features

Attitudes and Mindsets Hinder Journalists in Their Coverage

‘… consciously or unconsciously, stories have been shaped to fit well known themes of bad, good or degraded, ancient and exotic Indians.’
Mary Ann Weston
September 15, 2005
Opinion

Opinion’s Place in Journalism

Victor S. Navasky explains why he loathes objectivity and values ‘critical opinion.’
Ray Jenkins
September 15, 2005
Opinion

Freedom of the Press in Indian Country

At its creation, the Lakota Times ‘became the only independently owned Indian weekly publication in America.’
Tim Giago
September 15, 2005
Features

Fall 2005: Introduction

As a young reporter at The Rapid City Journal, Tim Giago was seldom allowed to cover stories on the nearby Pine Ridge Indian Reservation where he was raised. As one…
Melissa Ludtke
September 15, 2005
Journalist’s Trade

Fall 2005: Comparing National and Local Campaign Coverage Introduction

As a young reporter at The Rapid City Journal, Tim Giago was seldom allowed to cover stories on the nearby Pine Ridge Indian Reservation where he was raised. As one…
Melissa Ludtke
September 15, 2005
Journalist’s Trade

Senate Hopefuls Clash Over Minimum Wage

This excerpt is from a story written by Schuyler Kropf that appeared in The (Charleston) Post and Courier on October 20, 2004. Those conducting this study regard it as an…
Schuyler Kropf
September 15, 2005
Journalist’s Trade

Winning By Just Losing Less Badly; Edwards Visits Lima to Nibble at GOP

This excerpt is from a story written by Stephen Koff that appeared  in The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer on October 25, 2004. Those conducting this study regard it as an example…
Stephen Koff
September 15, 2005
From the Curator

Mainstream Media and the Survival of Journalism

In March, Nieman Foundation Curator Bob Giles welcomed to Lippmann House the participants in a symposium cohosted by The Media Center at The American Press Institute. Called “Whose News? Media,…
Bob Giles
September 15, 2005