What Katrina Revealed, Will Journalists Now Cover?

Reporting on Gaps That Katrina Revisited

Spring 2006: Introduction

By Melissa Ludtke• Features• March 15, 2006

In recounting her reporting experiences for the Palm Beach Post after Hurricane Wilma hit Florida, Jane Daugherty speaks to the “retrospective dynamic of our coverage,” in which journalists seem to rediscover in natural disasters the vulnerabilities of those who … Read more

Remembering Those Who Are Usually Forgotten

By Jane Daugherty• Features• March 15, 2006

The unfortunate reality is that American journalists do not systematically or analytically cover the plight of the poor, the marginalized, the isolated, or the powerless. When we put together elaborate hurricane coverage plans, organize medical beats, determine Iraq war coverage, or decide on approaches to stories about globalization of the economy, our focus generally is on implications for the affluent and what "experts" have to say, while keeping a watchful eye on breaking news. Read more

Questioning Assumptions About Poverty

By Emily Hanford• Features• March 15, 2006

A North Carolina public radio station devotes extraordinary time and resources to an exploration of what it means to be poor in this time and place. Read more

Exploring Connections and Tensions

By Dan England• Features• March 15, 2006

The small local newspaper in Greeley, Colorado devoted considerable time and space to examining the gaps emerging in its community. Read more

Advice About Doing Project and Daily Reporting at the Same Time

By Dan England• Features• March 15, 2006

What follows is more practical guidance about how to do large projects reporting at a small-staffed community newspaper, while also continuing to get news into the daily paper. — D.E. Offer free movie tickets, for example, in exchange for good … Read more

Views About Race Cloud Discussions About Disparities

By Martha Bebinger• Features• March 15, 2006

‘Do these labels — “health disparities” and “the achievement gap" — create a more comfortable way for us to talk about contemporary impacts of race?’ Read more

When the Role Race Plays in Societal Gaps Is Unspoken

By Claudia Meléndez Salinas• Features• March 15, 2006

A journalist faces ‘obstacles — some institutional, some personal — that stand like an invisible line between covering race and covering it up.’ Read more

Probing the Shifting Ground of Wage and Benefit Gaps

By Kevin Noblet• Features• March 15, 2006

Business reporters need to keep a careful watch on the numerous ways in which corporate executives are thriving, while promises to workers are being broken. Read more

Investigating the Nation’s Exploding Credit Squeeze

By Danny Schechter• Features• March 15, 2006

When I started out, my film was going to be about other people’s economic woes. Soon I realized I was part of this story of how the credit industry targets poor and middle-class Americans. Not only was I a target, … Read more

As Health Care Gaps Grow, Coverage Shrinks

By Trudy Lieberman• Features• March 15, 2006

Stories about the have-nots don’t ‘fit into today's paradigm of health news.’ Read more

Untangling the Achievement Gap’s Factors

By Cathy Grimes• Features• March 15, 2006

‘Gaps intersected and converged like earthquake fault lines; what affected one rippled through the others.’ Read more

The Working Poor: Is Their Gap With the Middle Class Narrowing?

By Paul Nyhan• Features• March 15, 2006

A reporter looks for ways to merge coverage of the middle class and the poor. Read more

Finding Perfect Pitch

By Susan Brenna• Features• March 15, 2006

‘… the stronger their facts, the more vivid their detail, the less reliant they are on the poetry.’ Read more

Numbers Don’t Tell a Story That Connects With Readers

By Jason Johnson• Features• March 15, 2006

With reports about tough economic times in hand, a journalist relies on families’ experiences to illuminate the significance of the findings. Read more

The News Gap With the Poor: Engagement, Then Silence

By Jennifer Friedlin• Features• March 15, 2006

‘I got the feeling that once welfare had been “reformed,” the news story was simply over.’ Read more

Wealth Is Displayed, While Poverty Goes Unnoticed By Many in the Mexican Press

By Ana Cristina Enriquez• Features• March 15, 2006

‘What one almost never reads or hears about in Mexico is the immense gap dividing the more well-to-do Mexicans from the native Indians ….’ Read more

Reporting on Gaps in a Country Devoted to Harmony

By Yuan Feng• Features• March 15, 2006

In China, social and economic gaps are acknowledged, but the news media rarely probe their causes or their consequences. Read more

Violence Attracts the News Media to a Story Not Reported Enough

By Françoise Lazare• Features• March 15, 2006

Coverage of the riots in France reaffirmed the need for ongoing, in-depth reporting of poor immigrants’ circumstances and the issues they confront. Read more

Journalist's Trade: The Job of Frontline Editor

Spring 2006: The Job of Frontline Editor Introduction

By Melissa Ludtke• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2006

The frontline editor’s job is one that, in the words of Jacqui Banaszynski, who holds the Knight Chair in Editing at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, “has expanded to one that just keeps on expanding.” As she … Read more

New Metaphors Needed for Changing Roles

By Jacqui Banaszynski• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2006

‘It is time for some new language to describe the role and value of the assigning editor. Even the job title is dated and limiting.’ Read more

Moments Illustrate the Lives of Frontline Editors

By Mae Cheng• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2006

Mae Cheng, regional editor at Newsday, president of UNITY: Journalists of Color, and former president of the Asian American Journalists Association, collected capsule reports from a diverse group of frontline editors, who described lessons they’ve learned in doing their daily … Read more

Editor and Reporter: A Writing Journey Together

By Stuart Warner• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2006

‘Then Joanna found her vision. It was crisp and clear. She made me see it, too.’ Read more

Listening to Editors’ Difficulties Helps Find Solutions

By John F. Greenman• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2006

‘Frontline editors usually come from reporting ranks, and it is not unusual for problems to emerge in the transition.’ Read more

Training Frontline Editors: Once Overlooked, Now Happening

By Michele McLellan• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2006

‘Despite their importance and the tough transition when they switch from reporter or copyeditor, frontline editors often are sent to the end of the line for training.’ Read more

Aiming to Put the Right People in Charge

By Marty Claus• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2006

New online tools will help prospective assigning editors see whether they have what it takes to succeed. Read more

Exploring What Makes Training Successful

By Lillian Swanson• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2006

Whether editors’ training takes place in a single newsroom or as a regional gathering, its essential elements remain consistent. Read more

The Dearth of Resources for Entering Editors

By Carl Sessions Stepp• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2006

There are available ‘… few books, a large but scattered field of articles, and the handouts and tip sheets collected at relatively few Web sites.’ Read more

Resources for Midlevel Editors

By Carl Sessions Stepp• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2006

This list of books, articles and Web sites has been compiled by Carl Sessions Stepp, a former assigning editor and now journalism professor at the University of Maryland. Books About Editing RELATED WEB LINK … Read more

Newspapers' Survival

Spring 2006: Newspapers’ Survival Introduction

By Melissa Ludtke• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2006

"Reinvent or die. It's that simple," is advice offered to newspapers by Tim Porter, an editor and writer with newspapers and now a news media consultant. "And the death will be slow and painful, a continuing slide into mediocrity and irrelevance, as tighter budgets reduce staff and the public opts for newer, more compelling sources of information." Porter argues that "local journalism," done in new ways that he describes, will be the difference in whether daily newspapers survive. Read more

If Newspapers Are to Rise Again

By Tim Porter• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2006

‘Reinvent or die. It’s that simple.’ Read more

Can the Newspaper Industry Stare Disruption in the Face?

By Clark G. Gilbert and Scott D. Anthony• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2006

‘Lessons learned from past failures can help to ensure future triumphs.’ Read more

When Journalists’ Voices Are Missing

By Jim Naughton• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2006

A former newspaper editor examines the impact of the lack of journalists serving on media company boards. Read more

An Open Letter From Knight Ridder Alumni

By 92 journalists who have worked for Knight Ridder newspapers• Opinion• March 15, 2006

What follows is a letter signed by 92 journalists who have worked for Knight Ridder newspapers. It was distributed to news media outlets in November 2005.  RELATED ARTICLE “When Journalists’ Voices Are … Read more

A Shrinking Staff Propels a Newspaper’s Transformation

By Amanda Bennett• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2006

‘If we’re forced to be a smaller place, then let’s aggressively teach ourselves the virtues that go along with that sensibility.’ Read more

A Newspaper’s Redesign Signals Its Renewal

By Anders Gyllenhaal and Monica Moses• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2006

‘… newspapers have enormous strengths to rely on — and that is where we need to concentrate.’ Read more

Lessons From a Newsroom’s Digital Frontline

By Michael Riley• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2006

In Roanoke, Virginia, a midsized newspaper has had ‘the freedom to run some experiments, fail, try again, and along the way discover some meaningful success.’ Read more

Wrong Turns Make a Difficult Situation Worse

By Carol Bradley• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2006

A journalist lists Top 10 bad decisions editors make when facing cuts in staff. Read more

Community News Drives a Newspaper’s Vigorous Growth

By Joe Zelnik• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2006

‘We joke about how almost every day maintenance people seem to be assembling another desk.’ Read more

Will the Meaning of Journalism Survive?

By Melvin Mencher• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2006

‘Journalism educators are in a state of disquiet, if not distress, at their students’ lack of the broad background essential for independent journalism.’ Read more

Teaching Journalism for an Unknown Future

By Peg Finucane• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2006

Journalism professors work to align essential skills with emerging technology. Read more

Damaging Ripple Effects of Newsroom Cutbacks

By Joel Kaplan• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2006

‘In previous downturns, rookie reporters reinvigorated the newsroom; now, there might not be any quality, young journalists to take over.’ Read more

Preserving What It Is Newsrooms Do

By Stanley Flink• Journalist’s Trade• March 15, 2006

A teacher challenges his students ‘to devise a proposal for the protection of newsroom independence and integrity’ in a changing media environment. Read more