Week on reflections

Well after spring break I'm ready to get back to the ol' books. I'm stoked for this spring as it will give me the opprotunity to write a whole bunch more. This is the newest series of writings I suppose I'll be doing for my advanced journalism class.
Advanced journalism looks to be a productive experience. Rylan Sorenson is in the class along with several other people who are on the Indepenedent with me. It is a small class in numbers but I'm sure it will be a big class in learning. Ms. K. has got the opprotunity to really impress upon us some good tenets of investigative journalism, considering the size of the class I can't see why we all won't come up with some interesting things to talk about and write about.
Two texts were assigned for reading this quarter and I'll critique the learning proccess I'm undergoing here. I'll post about what we are discussing in class and also respond to the readings as well.

In class we have been discussing the importance of the news media and how it functions as an essential partner in the democratic experiment. We discussed the importance of a well informed public and their dependence on the news to infrom them so they can make the best possible choices for our democracy. In order for the news to do this well and with good reason there are the nine creeds that journalist adhere to in order to preserve their principles.
Most of this is review of the "rich" text that we covered in 101. Although it seems boring to go over it again it is good to base our selves in the philosophy and morale apptitude of good journalism. It is also nice to see what other contributions are made to the discussion by my piers.
I would outline the nine principles of journalism and cover them individually, but that would take to long so instead I'll take from my favorite and share my oppinions about them. The first principle is the best. Journalists must always do their best to tell the truth and be held accountable for the truth.
The pursuit of the truth is an honorable course, at times it can even be dangerous. It is important that attention is payed to honor the truth when reporting the news because this is what the reader most expects. It is a wonder to me how much is reported in comparison to how much the reader actually believes the accounts to be true. The paradox of news reporting in comparison to what it attempts to achieve is astounding.
I have had the opprotunity several times to whitness accounts that had later been portrayed by the news. I never can quite believe that the small box through which the reader obtains the information is a reflection of the actual accounts. This I think is what made me so interested in studying journalism. How can we shape the events of the real world into representations that truly reflect what happened? I imagine that the road to the truth will be a troubling one.

-some notes on Helen Thomas-

I have read through the intro and first couple of chapters and am real interested in finding out how exactly the press corp and the major media organizations have stumbled. It seems that Thomas has got quite the concionse about how the media has turned out. She harkens back to the twentieth century as being the greatest for her profession. Could this be because this is the era she lived in and is overcome with ego and pride? Or does she have a truly historical context to which she could apply these comments?
I don't know but I'm sure that as the book progresses we will find how she was involved, but not responsible for the break down of journalistic ethos in the latter half of the century.
I think it is funny that in the last eigth years the media has become fataly flawed, every journalist is aware of the flaw, many jounalists are publishing books about how it's not their own fault, but the problems persist... we'll see how Thomas tried to tell the truth but in the end the truth continues to be suspect.

-Houston-
This text looks tremendous. It is like the repair manuel for a car! It is a refined reference for the serious investigator. As I read through it I was filled with a kind of suttle power to become the uber journalist who will save the world from every conspiracy imaginable.
Early in the introduction it primes the reader to learn a "documents state of mind". It outlines strategies for the reporter to think more abstractly and followe paper trails and secondary sources who can provide missing information and alternative routes toward the investigators role. Everything that happens should have a paper trail, this paper trail can be used to obtain critical information to help along an investigation.
The intorduction also place importance on the curiousity and ability to think through the conventional wisdom. I'm excited to be studying a topic that encourages critical thought and critical questioning of the norm.
The text continues to attribute much of the ideas of investigative journalism to the "Paul Williams Way" and shortly summarizes his work.
The last portion of the Intro covers several other readings that give the student a chance to see how investigative joiurnalists have employed these tactics in real investigations.

From the outside in is the philosophy of the first chapter. This chapter outlines how the investigator can us several secondary sources available to him in order to develope stories. The idea is for the journalist to continue to use sources such as newspapers, cable news, magazines and reference books to help him in stages of the investigation. These sources are the most available. Although they are less specific in information these sources paint a more general percpective that crucial information can be obtained.
This chapter emphasizes that a regular regiment of looking and reading and curiosity, coupled with unconventional wisdom can open doors to investigations.
The text discusses how to use search engines in libraries and the internet to "Dig" or "Mine" the information you are seeking. This text seems to be a never ending list of good places to look and helpful hints on how to look when you get there. Along with all the good adivise and sound navigation techniques it also supplies the reader with accounts of how other journalists empoloyed these tactics in real investigations.

The second chapter covers Primary Documents. Primary Documents are typically produced by the governement or there friends and are typically the most dificult to refuit. This is another step by step guide on how to effectively "mine" these sources for an investigation.
The chapter covers the social security number and how it can give you greater access to the information you are seeking.
Databases are organized by the government and commercial sources. Commercial databases are a means trhough which the investigator can access critical information about people under investigation and can lead to other info.