Paul Steiger

Join us at 2 p.m. EDT on April 4 for a live chat with Paul Steiger, CEO and editor-in-chief of ProPublica, a nonprofit, investigative-reporting organization.

Previously, Steiger served as the managing editor of The Wall Street Journal from 1991 to 2007. During his tenure, members of the Journal’s newsroom staff were awarded 16 Pulitzer Prizes. In addition, a ProPublica reporter received a Pulitzer Prize in  2010.

Steiger is the chairman of the Committee to Protect Journalists, a nonprofit that advocates for press freedom around the globe, and a member of the steering committee of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, which provides free legal assistance to journalists. From 1999 to 2007, he was a member of the Pulitzer Prize Board, serving as its chairman in his final year. He also is a trustee of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Steiger worked for 15 years as a reporter, the Washington economics correspondent, and the business editor for the Los Angeles Times, and for 26 years as a reporter and editor for The Wall Street Journal. He received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Yale University in 1964.

Bring your questions on nonprofit news organizations, business journalism and the Pulitzers for Steiger from 2-2:45 p.m. EDT on April 4.

In the world of journalism today, many of us have to write articles in minutes, rather than hours or days. On top of that, we have to blog about the story or do a video or podcast.

This requires reporters and editors to get their hands on information fast so they can meet the ever-mounting demands of the job…and hope to have a life outside the office.

Tami Luhby

In this free Webinar, “15 Tips on Time Management for Business Journalists,” participants will learn simple things they can immediately incorporate into their daily work and personal lives that will allow them to juggle more efficiently. You can attend the hourlong, interactive session at either noon or 4 p.m. EDT on May 3.

Attendees will learn how to stay on top of developments on their beats, get their hands on sources quickly and find ways to save precious minutes, which can really add up!

What you will learn

• Keeping track of your beat efficiently
• Finding sources fast
• Crafting the magical ‘To Do” list
• Juggling newsroom/multimedia demands

YOUR INSTRUCTOR

Tami Luhby is a senior writer at CNNMoney.com, where she covers the economy. Previously, she covered personal finance for Newsday. Before joining Newsday, she worked at Crain’s New York Business and American Banker. She also worked as a metro reporter at The Home News Tribune and at the Asbury Park Press in New Jersey. Luhby also teaches at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, from which she graduated in 1997. In her spare time, she does triathlons and marathons with her husband. A Bronx native who still lives there, Luhby is also a graduate of Columbia College.

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

This free Webinar is sponsored by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism. If you have any questions about the Webinar or the center, please e-mail Executive Director Linda Austin or call 602-496-9187.

The Particulars

Time: 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Jan. 31

Location: The Philadelphia
Inquirer/Daily News
1st-floor conference room
400 N. Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA 19130
Click here to download
the Parking Map (PDF).

Instructors: Steve Doig,
Knight Chair in Journalism
at Arizona State University,
Paul Overberg, database
editor for USA Today and
John Duchneskie, graphics
editor at The Philadelphia Inquirer

Hotel:
Hampton Inn Center City
Mention The Inquirer for a $129 rate

Parking:
Limited free spaces available
at 15th and Callowhill Streets.

Registration is now closed.

Wondering what’s in the Census for a business journalist? The answer is a lot of good stories — if you know where to look.

One example is a recent Brookings Institute report that relied on Census and IRS data to track the rise of poverty in the suburbs as a result of the recession.

Find out how to mine the Census and other government data for local business stories at one of two free workshops: Jan. 31 in Philadelphia and April 7 in Dallas. The April 7 workshop will precede the SABEW annual conference at Southern Methodist University, which opens that evening. If you can’t make either one in person, we will live-stream video of the Jan. 31 workshop on BusinessJournalism.org.

What You Will Learn

• How to access and use Census and other government data sets with news about local businesses.
• You do not need to be able to use Excel or Access to attend. It is not a hands-on class. However, you or someone in your newsroom will need database skills to analyze the data that the workshop teaches you about. For training in computer-assisted reporting (CAR) for business journalists, see the Reynolds Center’s Be a Better Business Watchdog workshop in Seattle on Sept 13.

Steve Doig

Your instructors will be two stalwarts in the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting (NICAR): Steve Doig, Knight Chair in Journalism at Arizona State University’s Cronkite School, and Paul Overberg, database editor for USA Today.

Each daylong session will cover how to access and analyze local business data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, Economic Census, County Business Patterns, Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics, plus how to track foreign trade, gross domestic product and household income down to the local level. Click here to register for this workshop.

YOUR INSTRUCTORS

Steve Doig joined the Cronkite School at Arizona State University as the Knight Chair, specializing in computer-assisted reporting, in 1996 after a 23-year career as a newspaper journalist, including 19 years at The Miami Herald. There, he served as research editor, pollster, science editor, columnist, federal courts reporter, state capital bureau chief, education reporter and aviation writer. At the Herald, he worked on “What Went Wrong,” which won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 1993 for revealing how weakened building codes and poor construction practices contributed to the damage from Hurricane Andrew. Doig is a political science graduate of Dartmouth College.

He also graduated from, and later taught at, the Defense Information School, and spent a year as a combat correspondent for the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, for which he was awarded a Bronze Star.

Paul Overberg

Paul Overberg has been USA TODAY’s database editor since 1993. He is one of the foremost experts among journalists on the U.S. Census and has trained journalists through Investigative Reporters and Editors and the Society of Professional Journalists on how to cover the Census. He describes his job as finding news in data. ”Often, it’s demographic data. But I analyze lots of numbers — airport security wait times, stream flows, Gallup poll data, campaign contributions,” he writes on USA Today’s website.  ”And data isn’t just numbers. I analyze speech texts and social networks and spatial patterns, too.”

Before working at USA TODAY, he was a science and environmental reporter and editor at Gannett News Service in Washington and held a variety of reporting and editing roles at The Courier-News in Bridgewater, N.J. He holds a B.A. in history from Rutgers University.

John Duchneskie

John Duchneskie is the graphics editor at The Philadelphia Inquirer, where he has worked since 1985. He helps direct 10 visual journalists in producing work for print and the Internet. John has also taught information graphics at the University of Missouri and has presented his work at the Esri (mapping-software) Users Conference and the American Press Institute.

His work has been honored by the Society for News Design, the Society for Professional Journalists, the Associated Press Sports Editors, and the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association.

AGENDA: Mining the Census for Local Business Stories

8:30 a.m.: Continental breakfast reception and registration

9 a.m.: Welcome and introductions — Kelly Carr, Senior Online Producer

9:15 a.m.: Overview of the Census: How the data is gathered and how to get at it — Doig

10 :15a.m.: Analyzing American Community Survey data, including data by occupation — Overberg

11:15 a.m.: Break

11:30 am.: Analyzing Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics data — Overberg

12:30 p.m.: Tracking poverty in Philly using Census data (Box lunch provided) — Duchneskie

1:30 p.m.: Analyzing County Business Patterns data — Overberg

2:30 p.m.: Analyzing data from the Economic Census, done of every business in years ending in 2 and 7 — Doig

3:30 p.m.: Break

3:45 p.m.: Analyzing gross domestic product down to the metro level — Overberg

4:15 p.m.: Analyzing foreign trade down to the state level — Doig

5 p.m.: Adjourn

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

Please do not register unless you are sincere about participating. Space is limited, and signing up and not participating deprives someone else of the opportunity.

Those who successfully complete three regional workshops or online seminars presented by the Reynolds Center are eligible to receive a “Circle of Achievement” certificate.

This free workshop is sponsored by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism. If you have any questions about the workshop or the center, please e-mail Executive Director Linda Austin or call 602-496-9187.

The Particulars

Time: 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. April 7

Location: Southern Methodist
University
James M. Collins Executive
Education Center, Classroom 120
3150 Binkley Ave
Dallas, Texas 75205
Access campus map here.
(Collins Center is No. 49.)

Instructors: Steve Doig, Knight Chair in
Journalism at Arizona State University,
and Paul Overberg, database
editor for USA Today

Hotel:
Hotel Palomar
Workshop precedes the SABEW
annual conference April 7-9 at SMU.

Registration is now closed.

Wondering what’s in the Census for a business journalist? The answer is a lot of good stories — if you know where to look.

One example is a recent Brookings Institute report that relied on Census and IRS data to track the rise of poverty in the suburbs as a result of the recession.

Find out how to mine the Census and other government data for local business stories at one of two free workshops: Jan. 31 in Philadelphia and April 7 in Dallas. The April 7 workshop will precede the SABEW annual conference at Southern Methodist University, which opens that evening.

Steve Doig

Your instructors will be two stalwarts in the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting (NICAR): Steve Doig, Knight Chair in Journalism at Arizona State University’s Cronkite School, and Paul Overberg, database editor for USA Today.

Each daylong session will cover how to access and analyze local business data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, Economic Census, County Business Patterns, Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics, plus how to track foreign trade, gross domestic product and household income down to the local level.

YOUR INSTRUCTORS

Paul Overberg

Paul Overberg has been USA TODAY’s database editor since 1993. He is one of the foremost experts among journalists on the U.S. Census and has trained journalists through Investigative Reporters and Editors and the Society of Professional Journalists on how to cover the Census. He describes his job as finding news in data. “Often, it’s demographic data. But I analyze lots of numbers — airport security wait times, stream flows, Gallup poll data, campaign contributions,” he writes on USA Today’s website. “And data isn’t just numbers. I analyze speech texts and social networks and spatial patterns, too.” Before working at USA TODAY, he was a science and environmental reporter and editor at Gannett News Service in Washington and held a variety of reporting and editing roles at The Courier-News in Bridgewater, N.J. He holds a B.A. in history from Rutgers University.

Steve Doig joined the Cronkite School at Arizona State University as the Knight Chair, specializing in computer-assisted reporting, in 1996 after a 23-year career as a newspaper journalist, including 19 years at The Miami Herald. There, he served as research editor, pollster, science editor, columnist, federal courts reporter, state capital bureau chief, education reporter and aviation writer. At the Herald, he worked on “What Went Wrong,” which won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 1993 for revealing how weakened building codes and poor construction practices contributed to the damage from Hurricane Andrew. Doig is a political science graduate of Dartmouth College. He also graduated from, and later taught at, the Defense Information School, and spent a year as a combat correspondent for the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, for which he was awarded a Bronze Star.

What You Will Learn

• How to access and use Census and other government data sets with news about local businesses.
• You do not need to be able to use Excel or Access to attend. It is not a hands-on class. However, you or someone in your newsroom will need database skills to analyze the data that the workshop teaches you about. For training in computer-assisted reporting (CAR) for business journalists, see the Reynolds Center’s Be a Better Business Watchdog workshop in Seattle on Sept. 13.

AGENDA: Mining the Census for Local Business Stories

8:30 a.m.: Continental breakfast reception and registration

9 a.m.: Overview of the Census: How the data is gathered and how to get at it — Steve Doig

10 a.m.: Analyzing American Community Survey data, including data by occupation — Paul Overberg

11 a.m.: Break

11:15 am.: Analyzing Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics data — Overberg

12:15 p.m.: Box lunch provided.

1 p.m.: Analyzing County Business Patterns data — Overberg

1:45 p.m.: Break

2 p.m.: Analyzing data from the Economic Census, done of every business in years ending in 2 and 7 — Doig

3 p.m.: Analyzing gross domestic product down to the metro level — Overberg

3:30 p.m.: Analyzing foreign trade down to the state level — Doig

4:30 p.m.: Adjourn

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

Please do not register unless you are sincere about participating. Space is limited, and signing up and not participating deprives someone else of the opportunity.

Those who successfully complete three regional workshops or online seminars presented by the Reynolds Center are eligible to receive a “Circle of Achievement” certificate.

This free workshop is sponsored by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism. If you have any questions about the workshop or the center, please e-mail Executive Director Linda Austin or call 602-496-9187.

By Flickr D Double H Photography

As the lazy days of summer recede, weekend devoted to gardens, hammocks and fun in the sun are being reclaimed.  For many in our audiences, that means recreation shifts to fall festivals, faires and seasonal attractions.

For the financial journalist, writing about these fun activities isn’t as frivolous as it may seem.  Apple cider, doughnuts, haunted houses and tours of medieval villages are quite the discretionary purchases and probably among the first to go when cash-strapped consumers decide to stay home and watch college football instead.  So checking up on the financial health of promoters, vendors, venues, performers and other components of these fall attractions is a great way to capture a snapshot of your region’s economy this fall.

Indeed, it seems that many communities and event organizers are finding that the current economy just won’t support the usual program.  With a quick search I found several cancelled events, including this Carolina in the Fall music festival (The economy was not the reason Carolina in the Fall was canceled. Please see Melissa’s comment below.), fall and holiday fests in Aurora, Ill., and the 2010 Annie Tramper festival in Kentucky.  Famously, the Michigan State Fair – touted as the oldest in the nation – now is history, victim of state budget cuts, low sponsorship and ebbing demand.

Some of the shuttered events seem to be failing due to poor turnout; others cited waning corporate sponsorship as well as dwindling consumer demand.
Check your news organizations events calendars going back the past few years and compare them with this year’s; also of course talk with events promoters and guilds that represent performers, artists and musicians.  Food-service suppliers and concessionaires also may talk to you about changing conditions.

Other events going dark this year include craft shows usually held in fall and spring; area artisans and hobby crafters count on these shows for revenue – having half of your annual output cut off is a blow to these small businesspersons, especially those using their arts business to offset loss of more traditional income stream.

Meanwhile, thousands of festive events still are full steam ahead between now and Halloween.  Directories like Festivals.com can help you pinpoint the ones in your market – and search in subcategories for art shows, carnivals, harvest festivals and historic events.

In addition to the economic-impact stories – your local convention and visitor’s bureau no doubt compiles the numbers – the possibilities for career profiles and small business features are myriad.

You might home in on a niche – like the Renaissance Faires that dot the nation.  Going strong for some 50 years, these festivals – and others that feature pirate themes, Civil War reenactments and other role-playing activities – often set up shop for weeks on end, along the lines of temporary theme parks.  This “directorie” of RenFaires, as they are known, will help you find gatherings near you.  Google similar terms and geographical terms in your neck of the woods for local organizers and associations.  Talk with the venues, with suppliers of costumers and lances and horses, interview jugglers and mandolin players about their spending – and earning – at these fantasy parks.

Another interesting angle is spotting how some seasonal businesses try to cash in on autumn.  Truck farmers turn their cornfields into mazes; amusement parks go haunted and swimming pool sellers around here transform themselves into Christmas wonderlands selling ornaments, artificial trees and more.

Click on the button that looks like this one at the lower right of this page for help with a story.

We at the Reynolds Center get queries from journalists seeking help with business stories, and we try to offer ideas and sources. We got one yesterday from a journalist in Wisconsin, who wrote:

“Folks starting up businesses say it’s impossible to get a commercial construction loan from any bank in the State of Wisconsin right now.  Aside from calling every bank, is there an easier way to track lending?  Not to mention most probably won’t comment.

This all started with one business.  This man has been a hotel developer for 35 years, but always for other companies.  When he went out on his own, he ended up having trouble getting money and now has a half-built hotel.

Obviously there might be a bigger story, and that would have to come with identifying other folks having trouble, but I was curious if there was a way to get numbers.”

Here’s what I suggested:

“You’re in luck in that the Federal Reserve just put out a survey, based on interviews done in July, of bank lending officers. Mary Beth Chosan is the author, and the Fed’s main number is (202) 452-3000. She might be able to tell you whether the data goes down to the state level.

As you can see, the upshot is that banks say they are loosening loan standards for small firms (those with annual sales of less than $50 million).

However, most banks are still reporting lackluster demand for credit, according to AP’s story on the report.

The Fed also held a conference on July 12 about the problems of tight credit for small businesses. There are some clips from it on You Tube. And here’s a summary of what was said.

And here’s a USA Today story on how construction loans are “the worst bet in real estate today.”

You also need more businesspeople who say it’s a problem. One possible starting point is SCORE, an organization of volunteers who counsel small business owners. You can enter a ZIP code on its website to get your local chapter. Another possibility is all the local trade and commerce associations: the chamber, the ethnic chambers, any local groups of contractors or real estate developers or retailers. You can also tap into searches on social media.

On the commercial real estate front, here are three private firms that track data that might be willing to give you some Wisconsin info on distressed properties:

Trepp LLC –New York firm that tracks data on the commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) market.

Realpoint LLC – Horsham, Pa., firm that rates CMBS. Recently purchased by Morningstar.

REIS – New York firm that tracks real estate performance, e.g., vacancy rates nationally and regionally, leasing trends, investment-sales activity.”

YOUR THOUGHTS?

Would those of you who have covered the credit crunch have other ideas to aid this Wisconsin journalist? Please offer a comment below.

Instructor: Jaimi Dowdell,
training director for IRE;
Raquel Rutledge, Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel investigative
reporter; Ben Poston,
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
database reporter

Location: Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel,
333 W. State St.,
Milwaukee, Wisc. 53203

When: 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Hotels:
Hyatt Regency Hotel
Hilton Hotel

Click here for the
Hotel and Parking Guide
(PDF).

Registration for this
workshop is now closed.

Polish your skills in computer-assisted reporting (CAR) and learn how to hold local businesses accountable with this free, daylong workshop co-presented by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism and Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE).

Even if you’ve never touched an Excel spreadsheet before, you will leave this hands-on workshop with the skills you need to begin analyzing the wealth of information available in public databases about businesses. Remember: the 2010 Pulitzer for Public Service was won by a reporter for The Bristol (Va.) Herald Courier who used CAR skills he learned from IRE to investigate the mismanagement of natural gas royalties.

Jaimi Dowdell, IRE training director, speaks at 2010 CAR Conference in Phoenix, Ariz.

Data is one of four developments transforming the business and financial press, according to Forbes Managing Editor Carl Lavin in a July 1 interview with IR Alert. “There will be an exponential increase in data available—to analyze businesses, to compare them to model future activity and so on. The people with the tools and personnel that can mine business data for intelligence will be adding tremendous value,” he says. (The other three developments are social media, the semantic Web and mobile Web.)

In this Nov. 9. workshop in Milwaukee, you will learn how to find and download online databases, use Excel spreadsheets to analyze that information and translate that analysis into business stories. The Reynolds Center and IRE are co-presenting the identical workshop in Atlanta on Oct. 11. (You do not have to be a member of IRE to attend either one.)

The Reynolds Center, which has trained more than 10,000 journalists in business journalism since 2003, is partnering with IRE, which has been training journalists in investigative techniques since 1975, to offer this mini-boot camp in computer-assisted reporting for business journalists. Our host is The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

YOUR INSTRUCTORS

Jaimi Dowdell joined IRE as a training director in October 2008. Before that she was computer-assisted reporting editor at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for more than three years. Her duties included obtaining and analyzing data for daily and long-term stories; training staff on CAR and investigative techniques; and maintaining the newspaper’s online data center. In addition to her work at the Post-Dispatch, she taught a CAR course for Washington University in St. Louis.

Previously she worked at IRE and NICAR in the Database Library and Resource Center while completing her master’s degree at the University of Missouri.

Ben Poston talks about one of his stories at IRE

Raquel Rutledge is an investigative reporter on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s watchdog team. Her series, “Cashing in on Kids,” won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting. It also won the George Polk Award, Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting and the Worth Bingham Prize for Investigative Journalism. Rutledge previously worked for the Colorado Springs Gazette, where she covered education, the military and city hall.

Ben Poston has been a database reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel since 2007 and contributed to “Cashing in on Kids.” He was a 2009 Livingston Award finalist for coverage of the federal economic stimulus. He was a member of the Journal Sentinel team who won a 2010 IRE Award for breaking news investigation for coverage of the gap in the Wisconsin DNA databank.

Previously, he was a data analyst at NICAR. | VIDEO and presentation: Michael Grabell and Ben Poston on Covering the Sluggish Recovery. [Presentation starts on Slide 4.]

“Be a Better Business Watchdog — CAR for Business Journalists” Workshop Agenda

8:30-9 a.m.: Continental breakfast and registration

9-9:10 a.m.: Introduction and welcome, Linda Austin, executive director, Reynolds Center

9:10-12:40 p.m.: How to use Excel spreadsheet software, Jaimi Dowdell, training director, IRE

12:40-1:30 p.m.: How CAR figured in the Pulitzer-winning “Cashing in on Kids” series, Ben Poston and Raquel Rutledge, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Box lunch provided.

1:30-3:30 p.m.: Where and how to access great databases with examples of business stories done from them, Dowdell

Here’s a video by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on how Rutledge got the “Cashing in on Kids” story:

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

Please do not register unless you are sincere about participating. Because this workshop offers hands-on training on individual computers, space is extremely limited, with spots allotted on a first-come, first-served basis. Signing up and not participating deprives someone else of the opportunity.

Those who successfully complete three regional workshops or online seminars presented by the Reynolds Center are eligible to receive a “Circle of Achievement” certificate.

This free seminar is sponsored by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism. If you have any questions about the workshop or the center, please e-mail Executive Director Linda Austin or call 602-496-9187.

Jim Motavalli test drives a car for his blog "Driving Directions," which is published in The Daily Green

During the first day of our “Covering the Green Economy” conference, Jim Motavalli led a session to help journalists identify green auto trends. But after he was finished, he jumped right back to work.

Motavalli, a green transportation writer for a variety of publications including The New York Times and Mother Nature Network, stayed for the reminder of the conference, sitting in on sessions to soak up as much as he could. Once he got back from Phoenix, he put those story ideas into action, blogging away on a variety of topics, including this piece on converting delivery trucks to battery power.

Just the other day, Mother Nature Network published Motavalli’s Q&A with the seminar’s featured speaker, Jeff Goodell. Goodell is a contributing editor for Rolling Stone and author of How to Cool the Planet,” which details the emerging science of geoengineering. In this piece, Motavalli asked the investigative journalist to dive deeper into the controversial subject and to give readers a glimpse of how it could someday impact global warming. It’s definitely worth a read.

Also, don’t forget to check out the archive of conference materials, which include Motavalli’s session, “Greening the auto industry: Hype or reality?”  He shares lots of great tips for localizing green auto trends on the biz beat.

Jeff Goodell talks with fellows at Covering the Green Economy

Jeff Goodell, contributing editor at Rolling Stone, contributer to the New York Times Magazine, and author, has covered the coal and energy industries for nearly a decade. Goodell talked to journalists about the challenges and importance of telling the energy stories, in addition to his book, “Our Story: 77 Hours That Tested Our Friendship and Our Faith,” the story of the Pennsylvania coal miners who were trapped underground in July 2002.

Goodell said he began covering the coal industry when an editor suggested he do some research in response to the Bush administration’s proposed energy bill in 2001. One of his biggest allies was, ironically, his ignorance about coal in general.

“I went in completely blind. I’d never seen a piece of coal in my entire life,” Goodell said. “I knew nothing, nothing, nothing.”

This lack of information allowed him to ask the simple questions, Goodell said, and let him look at the industry from a completely new perspective.

Goodell advised journalists to be strait referees and make the tough judgement calls to sort through the PR “weapons of mass pursuasion” that are throw during the battle between fossil fuels and clean energy.

Writing about clean energy is different from any reporting we’ve done, Goodell said, and will require dedicated reporters who tell the stories in a new way.

Goodell gave a few tips for reporters who are tackling this large issue:

• Ask the simple questions. What happens when you turn on a light switch? Think about the story from the perspective of someone who knows nothing
• Don’t underestimate the fossil fuel industry. These companies have the potential to be very pursuasive and industry changing
• Tell more than the ”balanced” party-one-said-this, party-two-said-that-story. As a journalist, you need to make the call and tell it like it is.
• Take advantage of incidents when you have the public’s attention. When the Pennsylvania miners were trapped underground or during our current oil spill crisis, people look for information. Tell them the stories you have been covering for years.
• The money in these industries is under reported right now. Follow the financial information
• Use local ties, such as population growth, to talk about the environmental issues facing your area

Baby Miguelin in the Spanish Pavillion

On Wednesday this week we headed out to the World Expo.  It is something difficult to put into words simply because of its enormity.  An entire section of Shanghai has been virtually fenced off for the six-month long world fair.  It has its own bus line and ferry system to navigate through the Expo and across the river.  Attendance numbers average approximately 500,000 people a day.  At the discounted student price of 100 RMB to enter that is 50,000,000 RMB a day, just shy of 7.5 million U.S. dollars a day.

The Expo consists of a number of pavilions, the majority belonging to countries from around the globe.  Some of which you can walk right in the front door and see how these countries want to portray themselves to the rest of the world.  For the most popular, (China, Germany, and Saudi Arabia) a wait of 4-5 hours is common.  This makes it near impossible to get a full experience in the 12 hours we were given.

However, it was still very interesting.  The majority of the buildings were in someway architecturally appealing.  Many had paintings on the outside to depict some of the culture.  Others were made of things never seen before.  Great Britain looks like a ball of pins, Spain was covered in pieces of wicker chairs, and Romania was in the shape of an apple!  Many businesses had pavilions as well, including GM, which took a look at what the future may hold for travel on roads across the planet.

As a group we visited GM, but as the day went one we all split in to small groups to experience a number of different areas throughout the park.  While my group visited a number of small pavilions belonging to the African Countries, perhaps the most interesting one we were able to visit was Spain.

At the very end of the Spanish pavilion is a baby that is 6.5 meters tall.  It moves its head and blinks and left all of us speechless, as it was clearly something we never expected, or really even understood.  Due to the large crowd we were unable to get to the front to get to the bottom of it, however accorded to the Chinese paper, People’s Daily the Spanish pavilion is designed by three different famous Spanish film makers from three different decades.  The theme is listed as “From the City of Our Parents to the City of our Children.”  While it now makes slightly more sense, it certainly hasn’t been unable to take away the shock we had when we first laid our eyes on baby “Miguelin.”