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Spot NewsVol. 15, No. 7 APRIL 2009

A publication of the East Tennessee Chapter

of the Society of Professional Journalistswww.etspj.org

National SPJ, ETSPJ settown hall meeting on credibili

SEE FROM THE PRESIDENT, PAGE 2

From the presidentBY MIA RHODARMER

ETSPJ

RHODARMER

Happy birthday to us.The Society of Profes-

sional Journalists is cel-ebrating its 100th birthdayFriday, April 17. There willin Greencastle, Ind., thebirthplace of SPJ. Ourown chapter member,Georgiana Vines, who is a past nationalpresident, will attend.

Chapters across the nation will be hold-ing their own celebrations that night. Here

in Knoxville, we will celebrate with anevening of SPJ Ethics Poker. I know thatthat sounds funny, ethics and poker. Butwe will be playing with special SPJ cardsthat include the Code of Ethics. And, therewill be fun prizes for the winners.

Ethics Poker Night will be at 6:30 p.m.at Jean Ashs home in Knoxville. Visitour Web site (www.etspj.org) for direc-tions. We will have pizza to eat, and youcan bring your beverage of choice for theevening. Please plan to join us!

Also as part of the 100th anniversary,SPJ has asked 10 chapters to hold townhall meetings about ethics and credibility.Our East Tennessee chapter was chosenas one of the hosts. Our meeting will beat 7 p.m. Thursday, April 30, at the BakerCenter on the UT campus.

The evening will begin with a discussionabout how citizen journalism, bloggers andreader/viewer comments play into de-veloping stories. Is the information peopleget from those sources different than

April 30 at Baker CenterIn todays world of 24-

hour access to information,the need for credible, fairreporting is more importantthan ever.

T h e S o c i e t y o f Professional Journalistswill observe Ethics Week,April 27-May 1, by hosting a series oftown hall meetings focused on restoring

journalistic credibility by helping readers,viewers, listeners and Web site visitors

understand what credible journalism is.The East Tennessee Society of

Professional Journalists has been selectedas one of 10 chapters across the country tohost one of these meetings, beginning at7 p.m. Thursday, April 30, in the ToyotaAuditorium of the Howard Baker Jr.Center for Public Policy on the Universityof Tennessee campus in Knoxville. TheBaker Center is cosponsoring the event.

The meeting will begin with a discussionabout citizen journalism, bloggers and

reader comments on Web sites. As moreand more media businesses cut their newsstaffs, editors and news directors may relyHowever, do these citizen journalistsoperate under the same ethical guidelinesas trained journalists? Bloggers and Website visitors often comment on popularissues and stories presented in the news,which can blur the line between factualinformation and opinions.

SPJs large and diverse membership

organizations most important mis1926, is an industry standard. One elof the code is to invite dialogue wipublic over journalistic conduct.

During the town hall meetingaudience is encouraged to ask queabout how local stories are coverethe decision-making process of eand reporters as they go about theiof covering and presenting the new

The panel will include Jack McE

editor of the News Sentinel, KnoxvillShory, WBIR-TV news director; MGrider, VolunteerTV.com interaproducer; and Glenn Reynolds, Uprofessor and founder of Instapcom. Marianna Spicer, Cable Networks (CNN) executive editnews standards, Atlanta, will mothe program.

as weekend supervisor in the WashinD.C. bureau and was promoted th

year to senior producer. In 1999, she jand deputy to Executive Vice PreRick Davis. Earlier, she was exeproducer for CBS News FacNation, producer of ABCs This With David Brinkley and as producnotable CBS news programs such aMinutes.

For more information, call East TenSociety of Professional JournPresident Mia Rhodarmer at (4237101 or editor@advocateanddem

com.

SPICER

http://www.etspj.org/http://www.etspj.org/http://www.etspj.org/http://volunteertv.com/http://volunteertv.com/http://www.etspj.org/http://volunteertv.com/http://www.etspj.org/

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Mia Rhodarmer, presidentJean Ash, first vice president

and communications coordinatorElenora E. Edwards, second vice president/

Golden Press Card Awards and Spot Newseditor

John Huotari, secretary and immediate pastpresident

Dorothy Bowles, treasurer and FOI chairmanJohn Becker, membership chairmanMichael Grider, program chairmanAmanda Womac, diversity chairman and

student liaisonKristi Nelson Bumpus, ethics chairmanGeorgiana Vines, at large; Adina Chumley, exofficio

ETSPJ Officers and Board of Directors 2008-09

From the presidentFROM PAGE ONE

- Spot News

what they get from trained journalistsworking for media businesses? Areitizen journalists and bloggers bound byhe same ethics as working journalists?

How can readers and viewers distinguishmong the different sources? What is theole of the journalist in this new age of

24/7 news coverage?These are just some of the topics to beovered. National has encouraged us to

pertaining to media ethics and credibilitynd the decision-making process we gohrough as we do our jobs.We will send out a press release about the

meeting soon. Please help us publicize thisvent and encourage public participation

by running the release in your newspapersor mentioning it in a broadcast and addingt to your calendar of events.

The future of the news media

I am writing this during a break at theRegion XII conference in Little Rock.There has been a lot of good discussionbout the future of the media, especially

newspapers, and what role the Internetwill play in our future.

The majority of the people here are stu-dents. They are getting ready to embark on

where there is a lot of uncertainty right now.And, those of us who have been journalistsfor many years are often shaking our heads,wondering whats coming next and whatour jobs will be in the future.

One thought that keeps me going is thatwe have an essential role in our country andin helping to making democracy work. Yes,we must provide some entertainment alongthe way, but there always will be a needfor reporters to cover our city and county

commissions, to know how our schoolboards are running our school systems, tokeep tabs on how our local governmentsare spending our tax dollars, to know howthe planning commissions newest regula-tions may impact our personal property andour neighborhoods. People need to knowabout the things that affect their lives andtheir wallets.

How we present that news may change,as they were in the past, but we provide anessential service to our communities andthe people who live in them.

I am honored to be a member of an orga-nization that has worked for 100 years toprotect the freedom of the press, the free aid journalists around the world as we goabout our jobs.

Lets celebrate 100 years of SPJ and lookforward to 100 more.

BY GEORGIANA VINESAuction items are needed for the Front

Page Follies on July 18.As auction chairman, I am appealing tovery ETSPJ member to consider contrib-

uting one item.-

Auction items needed for Front Page Folliesvorite restaurant? Do you make jewelry orstained glass windows or take photographsthat you would donate for the auction?

I recently interviewed Alan Lowe, whosleaving as executive director of the HowardH. Baker Jr. Institute for Public Policyat UT to become director of the George

W. Bush Presidential Library in DallaI asked if he would provide a letter ffour free admissions to the library whit opens. He agreedand said he alwould offer a tour.

Please take advantage of opportunitilike that and let me know about them. Welike to have some different and successf

items this year.Jim Crook, the retired director of UT

School of Journalism, is helping out withis.

Contact either of us with your ideas.its something that has to be picked uwe can arrange that.

Were available at gvpolitics@hotmacom orjcrook@utk.edu.

The Bill of Rights Institute will holdconstitutional academy July 19 througAug. 1 in Washington, D.C. The deadlifor applying is April 17. For informatioincluding scholarships, see wwbillofrightsinstitute.org/dbacademy.

Institute planned

Looking ahead

The ETSPJ nominating committis working toward a slate of officeand board members for 2009-10. JohHuotari is chairman.The committselected Elenora E. Edwards, second vipresident/Golden Press Card, to attend tScripps Leadership Institute June 5-7 ballots in the summer.

If one is interested in serving on the boaor assisting with ETSPJ projects such Golden Press Card and Front Page Follie

grateful. Contact Huotari, john.huotarioakridger.com.

mailto:jcrook@utk.edumailto:jcrook@utk.eduhttp://billofrightsinstitute.org/dbacademyhttp://billofrightsinstitute.org/dbacademyhttp://oakridger.com/http://oakridger.com/http://billofrightsinstitute.org/dbacademyhttp://oakridger.com/mailto:jcrook@utk.edu

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Golden Press Card banquetto recognize journalists best wor

Youll want to be present Friday, May 15,

for the annual Golden Press Card Banquet.Youll want to know whos wonmaybeyou in the 26 categories. Youll want tohear Bob Benz talk about the mixed mes-sage of the news media today.

Award winners wont be announced untilthe banquet. It will be held Friday, May 15,at The Foundry at 747 Worlds Fair ParkDrive at the north edge of the Worlds FarPark in Knoxville. A cash bar will beginat 5:30 p.m. and dinner at 6:15.

In addition to the general awards, aGolden Press Card Award will be presented

the top entry, and a Horace V. Wells,Jr., Community Service Award will beconferred as well. In most categories,Awards of Excellence, Awards of Merit,third place and honorable mention willreceive awards. Awards of excellence re-ceive plaques, while the other three placesAward and Wells Award winners, and theGPC winner also will receive $100.

Benzs topic is Shut Down Your WebSites!

In addition, Larry Van Guilder, chairman,

will recognize B.J. Guerrero, the winner

of the ETSPJ High School Essay Contest,who has written on why free news mediaare important. This is the second year forthe contest.

Elenora E. Edwards, ETSPJ second vice

president/Golden Press Card, and Dorothy

Bob Benz, 46, is the chief

Markets, LLC, a multi-technology platformlocal businesses acrossin newsrooms before helping to launch the

BENZ

Bowles, treasurer and freedom of inftion chairman, are in charge of the G

Press Card event.The cost of the dinner is the same

year, $20 in advance and $25 at the dspace is available. To make reservago to www.etspj.org, where one caattached reservations form and mcheck to East Tennessee SPJ, c/o EE. Edwards, P.O. Box 502, Clinto37717-0502. The check should beto ETSPJ Golden Press Card.

The deadline for making reservis May 8.

MUST REGISTER!

May 15 at The Foundry

EDITORS NOTE:Following is thehigh school essay entry chosen as thewinner in the ETSPJ contest chairedby Larry Van Guilder, Shopper-NewsNow. The winner is a 12th grade stu-dent of Joy Caleb at Upperman HighSchool, Baxter.

BY B.J. GUERREROFreedom of speecha phrase that so

many people have trouble understanding.What is so hard about freedom of speech?We have the right to say what is on ourminds, and no one has the right to takethat freedom away from us. It is with thisfreedom that we get information that is vitalto our everyday lives; it is with this freedomthat we do not live in a world blindfoldedfrom the truth. This freedom has given birthto a new weapon: free news media.

Free news media are an essential part

of everyday life because they inform thesociety of events that are paramount to ourknowledge. I was born in The Philippines,and my stay there was not a very pleasantexperience. Over there, poverty and scarcityof food devour the lands. Televisions, news-papers and phones are almost nonexistent insome places. In contrast, the United Stateshas one of the worlds largest communica-tions services, and in addition, we are theworlds most prosperous country. We needfree news media to balance the scale. Incountries such as The Philippines, someareas need to know what is occurring in theworld around them. People in those areasare already stricken with poor housing andfood, why do you want to make their livesworse? Let them be informed and educatedin events that are happening within theirarea, and their lives will be better.

Also, free news media give students like

me and many other people [a meavoice their opinions. Where would without Martin Luther King Jr. speabout the errors of racism and the bof unity? Where would we be wPresident Barack H. Obama givininaugural address to the country?freedom allowed others to speak won their minds and give the general an idea of what and how they think.speeches may not be the best in tercontext, but the overall idea is that thto speak freely without bounds.

My experience as an immigrant aexperience in news media class gotrealize how important free news meally are. I would give up soda; I woulup my personal belongings; I would geating sweets; but I will never give right that was given to mespeech

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ETSPJ publishes Spot News in paperand PDF versions. To subscribe,one should contact Jean Ash,communications coordinator, atjeanash@comcast.net. The PDFversion is available at www.etspj.org, the chapter Web site.

Letters to the Editor Policy:The boardencourages letters to the editor ofSpot News. Like letters policies atmost newspapers, we ask that lettersbe limited to 200 words or less. Theywill be subject to editing for spaceand content. Send e-mail to ETSPJ.communications@gmail.com.

Spot News2008-09 editor

Elenora E. Edwards

eleedwards@aol.com

(865) 457-5459

Writing GreenEnvironmental journalism conferenceBY RANDY NEAL

www.knoxviews.comThe East Tennessee Society of Profes-ional Journalists hosted Writing Green,

a conference on environmental journalism.

The all-day conference, held at Calhounson the River (March 27), featured paneldiscussions among leading energy andnvironmental experts and journalistsrom around the region. There was also a

keynote address by Jim Detjen, directorof the Knight Center for Environmentalournalism at Michigan State University,

Lansing.ETSPJs Amanda Womac organized and

hosted the event. I estimate turnout at ap-proximately 50 people, which includedeveral UT students who also helped or-

ganize and cover the event. Panelistsncluded scientists from UT and ORNL,nvironmental activists and experiencednvironmental journalists. The program ranmoothly and covered a lot of information.

The presentations were timely and informa-ive, and the discussions were lively.The purpose was to familiarize journal-

sts with energy and environmental issues,provide an overview of the science involvedand to discuss related public policy issues.ournalists were encouraged to practice

accurate and responsible environmental

eporting that raises public awareness ofhe issues and promotes effective public

policy to address them.Catastrophic events such as the Exxon

Valdese oil spill, Hurricane Katrina andhe more recent TVA coal ash disaster fo-us media and public attention for a shortime, but panel experts made a compelling

argument for ongoing, in-depth coverageof environmental issues that affect us allon a day-to-day basis and their long-termffects.Panelists urged journalists to learn more

about the science so they can educate thepublic using clear, reliable information thatnforms and promotes awareness. They dis-ussed ways to frame complicated energy

and environmental problems in understand-able terms that people can relate to. Therewas much discussion about the pervasiveffects of pollution and wasteful energy

policies on public health, the economy,cosystems and overall quality of life.There was also discussion of the serious

hreats to our transportation and energyystems because of our dependence onossil fuels. Experts warned that solutions

are decades or even generations away, sothe time to act is now. The recurring themewas that the media must play a key role ineducating the public about the problems andthe solutions.

This was an outstanding program with animpressive panel of experts who covered awide range of environmental issues, makingfor a lively and informative day of learning.The program materials included a compre-hensive, seven-page list of online resourcesfor environmental journalists prepared byparticipating UT students. That alone wasworth the price of admission, but the realvalue is in the hundreds of story ideas jour-nalists took away from the conference.

Following is a recap of the panel discus-sions.

Introduction to environmental issuesFirst session

-vironmental issues in Southern Appalachiamoderated by UT professor of environmentalethics Dr. John Nolt.

Dr. Meng-Dawn Cheng, distinguishedscientist, ORNL Atmospheric and AerosolScience Group, gave a presentation aboutair quality and the numerous sources ofair pollution and its pervasive effects. Henoted that you can go several days withoutfood or water but asked, how long can

you hold your breath? He cited acid rain,ozone, haze and visibility, global warming,toxic air pollution, indoor air quality, smogand particulates as key issues that impactrespiratory and cardiovascular health, theeconomy and ecosystems. He said thatcarbon emissions are affecting the earthsheat and energy balance. He also discussedvarious air quality monitoring and regula-tory standards, noting that some are not thatmeaningful or effective.

Dr. Randall Gentry, director of the Insti-tute for a Secure and Sustainable Environ-

ment, talked about sustainability. He saidbecause it involves both fundamental andapplied science, and the challenge is apply-ing fundamental science to quality of lifeissues. The EPA is attempting to developmetrics to describe sustainability, such asthe water usage required per hectare toproduce a particular crop or measuring thecarbon lifecycle for an activity or project.He said there are currently no civil engineer-ing standards for consideration of climatechange/variability. He discussed waterresources and how adequate water supplies

and regional disputes are often-overlookeenvironmental issues. He discussed diffeences between the riparian doctrine in thEast and the appropriated doctrine in thWest and said there were no good standar

for water usage.Jonathan Overly, executive director

the East Tennessee Clean Fuels Coalitiospoke about development of clean alterntive fuels, particularly for transportatioTransportation is especially vulnerabis wasted in production, distribution and usHe also said there is no perfect alternatifuel and that ethanol is not a replacemefor gasoline, but its production is a mo

said the public has a general lack of thougor caring about energy consumption becauit is so cheap and feels that fuel will havto become much more expensive before wact on the problem. He summarized the keto sustainable energy use as reduce (bett(alternative fuels).

Dr. Stephen A. Smith, executive directof the Southern Alliance for Clean Energ

SEE CONFERENCE, PAGE 5

The deadline for the May issue of Spot Neis May 4.

mailto:jeanash@comcast.netmailto:communications@gmail.commailto:eleedwards@aol.comhttp://www.knoxviews.com/http://www.knoxviews.com/mailto:communications@gmail.commailto:jeanash@comcast.netmailto:eleedwards@aol.comhttp://www.knoxviews.com/

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ConferenceFROM PAGE 4

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Front Page Follies to honor Jones brotherThe East Tennessee Society of Profes-

sional Journalists announces that the 31stAnnual Front Page Follies will honorthree members of a longtime Greenev-ille newspaper family. They are JohnM. Jones Jr., editor of The Greene-villeSun; Gregg K. Jones, co-publisher of the

Media; and Alex S. Jones, director of theJoan Shorenstein Center on the Press,Politics and Public Policy at HarvardUniversity.

Watch the ETSPJ Web site, www.etspj.

The Follies will be Saturday, July 18, inKnoxville. Elements of the evening area reception, dinner, spoof of Knox areanewsmakers, recognition of the honoreesand an auction.

All three of the Jones brothers haveworked on Tennessee newspapers. JohnJones is a self-described hands-on edi-

tor. Gregg Jones career has emphasizedthe business aspect of the family mediaproperties; and Alex Jones has focused onthe academic side of things.

Jones Media is composed of several print

and online publications.David Lauver is chief script writ

the Follies, and he and his committebegun the creative process.

Adina Chumley, Chumley Commtions, and Dorothy Bowles, retirednalism professor at UT-K, are servFollies co-chairmen.

The auction, chaired by Georgianaprovides journalism scholarships aKnoxville and Pellissippi State TecCommunity College.

SEE CONFERENCE, PAGE 6

talked about work on policy, advocacy andpublic awareness. He urged the media toconnect the dots between the economic

and environmental costs of our energy poli-cies and the harmful effects of fossil fuels.He noted that the South has generally beenan obstacle to energy and environmentalreforms because of the abundance of coaland a lack of political leadership. He noted,however, that Tennessee is uniquely posi-tioned to become a key economic player inrenewable and alternative energy.

Second sessionEnvironmental law and policy

The next session on environmental lawand policy was moderated by Amy Gibson,

director development and policy researchfor the Baker Center.Don Barger, senior regional director of

the National Parks Conservation Associa-tion a competing hierarchy of legal, politicaland regulatory authority are an obstacle toeffective management of natural resources.He said that sustainability is not somethingweve just discovered; it is something weveforgotten, reminding us of the old adagedont eat your seed corn. He said that ifwe dont act, Glacier National Park wont

have any glaciers and Joshua Tree NationalPark wont have any Joshua Trees. He urgedjournalists to make science truth but alsoto make it understandable.

Dr. Christian Vossler, UT professor andprogram leader for energy and environ-mental policy at the Institute for a Secureand Sustainable Environment, spoke froman economists point of view. He said the exceed the cost and discussed ways tomeasure their value. He also discussed dif-ferent approaches to meeting policy goalsat the lowest possible cost such as pollution

taxes and cap-and-trade schemes. He saidinformation disclosure is an inexpensiveway to create adverse consumer reaction

encouraged journalists to make the connec-tion between energy costs and pollution topromote conservation and strengthen socialnorms regarding energy and environmentalprotection.

Professor Dean Rivkin, UT College ofLaw, is an expert on environmental law.He discussed the public nuisance theoryof environmental lawsuits, citing the recentNorth Carolina lawsuit against TVA as anexample. He said journalists should be ask-ing why the Tennessee attorney general isnt

pursuing a similar action. He also discussedthe history of environmental law, the basisof which is to make polluters internalizethe cost of pollution. Regarding enforce-ment, he said everything stopped in 2000and that deadlocks in the political processinevitably lead to court. During the ques-tion and answer session, Professor Rivkinsaid that the media should be a partner oftruth. He quoted Frank Lloyd Wright, whosaid truth is more important than factsand noted that facts are unfortunately beingmanipulated to distort the truth.

During the lunch break, Jim Detjen,director of the Knight Center for Environ-mental Journalism, Lansing, Mich., gavea presentation about the history and futureof environmental journalism. He reviewedcoverage of disasters such as Exxon Valdese,Bhopal and Katrina, with special recogni-tion of the award-winning journalism bythe New Orleans Times-Picayune. He saidthat the media have a special responsibilitybecause the public gets virtually all of itsinformation about environmental issuesfrom news reports and that the environmentconsistently ranks among their top concerns.

He cited population growth, climate cand water resources as environmentalthat journalists should be following.

The energy beatThird session

The third session, The Energy Beain Appalachia, was moderated by DrMcKinney, UT professor of environmstudies.

Dr. T.J. Blasing, researcher for the OCarbon Dioxide Information Analysiter, gave a technical presentation on sof CO2 emissions, which are mostly cotailpipe emissions. A map showed thatwith the highest per-capita CO2 emicorresponded with the presence of

including the Southern Appalachian rRegion 5 (West Virginia, Virginia, Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, FDeleware, Maryland and the District lumbia) has the largest carbon footpriRegion 6 (Kentucky, Tennessee, Missand Alabama) produces energy for Repercent of energy conservation savin

Bill Kovarik, professor of journalRadford University and editor of Achian Voices, talked about the TVA

ash disaster. He outlined inconsistenTVA public statements as the event unand discussed discrepancies between reported water testing results and EPother independent testing that showedhigher concentrations of toxic pollutansaid this issue would be the subjectupcoming Senate investigation. ProKovarik also discussed how environmactivists and citizen journalists are byptraditional media and taking their directly to online new media, althougmay result in bringing a little mor

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ConferenceROM PAGE 5

SPJ has joined an amicus brief writtenby the Tennessee ACLU supporting amagazine that won an open records battle

in its quest to cover and analyze prison-ers rights.

The brief supports the appeal of Prisonby the Corrections Corp. of America, a pri-vate company that operates state prisons inTennessee, after a lower court determinedthat the CCA was subject to the states openrecords laws. The brief argues that the trialcourt was correct in determining that thelaw in Tennessee requires contractors ofthe corrections system to turn over recordsupon public request, just as government

agencies must do.The Prison Legal News also has a

pealed the lower courts decision to den

it attorneys fees in the case. The PrisoLegal News should have its legal fepaid by CCA, said SPJ President DaAeikens. It would serve as a good deterent to those who refuse to release pubinformation.

Joining the ACLU and SPJ in supporing the Prison Legal News on appeal athe Reporters Committee for Freedoof the Press, the American Society Newspaper Editors, the Associated Preand the Association of Capitol Reporteand Editors.

SPJ supports prison magazine on open records

nd a little less light to the issues.Barbara Martocci, TVA public relations,

declined to comment on the preceding dis-ussion other than to point out that it matters

where water samples are taken. She gaven overview of TVA recovery operationst the Kingston ash spill disaster site, with

particular emphasis on the types of heavy

quipment and barges being deployed tohe Emory River dredging operations which

began this week to remove ash deposits fromhe river. TVA anticipates a three-phase

operation that will take several months to

way, is expected to take 60 days. Phaseswo and three are not yet designed. Theyre proceeding with caution because ofoncerns about disturbing toxic legacyediments.Liz Veazy, regional campus coordina-

or for the Southern Alliance for CleanEnergy, discussed media coverage of theTVA coal ash spill disaster. She said thateporting on the TVA disaster was muchmproved as compared to coverage of aimilar 2000 coal sludge spill in Martin

County, Ky. Ms. Veazy also noted the roleof blogs and other new media in coveringhe disaster. She said the media should be

questioning whether TVA needs to buildnew generating capacity, given expecteddemand reduction, and whether cleanoal is a myth, given that mountaintop

emoval, sludge dams, air pollution, coalsh and other problems suggest the entireoal cycle is extremely dirty.

Working the beatFourth session

he Beat, was moderated by ETSPJ host

Amanda Womac, instructor of media writ-ng at Lincoln Memorial University.Scott Barker, environmental reporter for

he Knoxville News Sentinel, talked aboutoverage of the TVA disaster. Because it

happened over the holidays, the newspaper

was short-staffed. When the story brokeust after midnight, Barker was the edi-or on duty and had only two reporters, a

business reporter and a UT beat reporter,o dispatch to the scene. He said no one

before this happened, so they were facingsteep learning curve. He said that when atory like this breaks, the media initially getnformation only from the agency involved.

As it evolves, they have more time to don-depth reporting and get independentxperts involved. He said that TVA postingnformation such as inspection reports on

its Web site was a welcome change from theInformation Act requests and wait months.He noted that the national media have movedon, and it is up to local media to stay on thestory and focus their watchdog role on notonly the cleanup costs, but also the potentiallong-term health effects.

Dr. Gregory Button, UT professor of an-thropology, is a former National Public Radioreporter and now an expert on the study ofenvironmental disasters. Dr. Button said thatnews media coverage of extreme events isimportant because thats how most people,including policy-makers, learn about the sci-ence and the issues. He also noted that everydisaster is different, even similar disasterssuch as two separate hurricanes, because ofthe varying impact on unique local communi-ties and environments. He urged the mediato be accurate and to not generalize. He said

environmental disasters must be looked atas a continuum, from the initiating event torecovery to the long term effects. The storiesdont go away, they just move off the frontpage and are forgotten. He said there is nodistinction between natural and unnaturaldisasters because all disasters are unnaturalin terms of policy and the responses, whichare frequently more harmful. He said whenlooking for answers, look for the power, not-ing the asymmetrical relationships in socialorganizations and the body politic.

Rikki Hall, editor of the Hellbender Press

environmental newspaper and contributor toMetroPulse, spoke next about his approach toenvironmental journalism. He said that youalways have the natural resource in mind andthat its important to communicate its value.He said that he always starts with maps to bet-

ter understand the place involved, the riveand streams, the land and the creatures antheir role in the ecosystem, and that enviromental reporters can use this understandito make the story important and relevantthe reader. He said the Discovery Channshould have looked at a map before repoing that certain species of mussels wou

be threatened by the TVA ash spill disastewhen in fact they live in a part of the rivfar above the disaster site, where gravidictates they wont be affected. Hall said thenvironmental reporting is at the crux to understand not only the science, but al

Ann Keil, reporter for WATE-TV, talkabout the stations coverage of the TVA aspill disaster. She said TV news reporteoften face obstacles getting these types stories on the air because people aren

generally interested and that the reporterchallenge is to make them interesting anrelevant. Keil said that one way to do this to connect people and their emotions aanger and fears to the story. She offertips for reporters, which included talkiwith people as if they are neighbors talkiover coffee to get them to open up, to shothe scene, but also the emotions of peopaffected, to keep up with contacts, bo comment, to show both sides of the stoand to do your research.

EDITORS NOTE: ETSPJ thanRandy Neal for allowing us to use in SpNews his account of the environmenton his blog, www.knoxviews.com.

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BY JEAN ASHA hundred thousand blogs are being

started every day, and most are being readonly by the blogger and his mother.

So says Sree Sreenivasen, professor anddean of students at Columbia UniversityGraduate School of Journalism, who addsthat some, like East Tennessees ownInstapundit, attract tens (if not hundreds)of thousands of readers a day. Thats a lotof eyeballs, which Sree says is the cur-rency of blogging.

So, how do you create a blog that fallscomfortably between the two extremes?

A catchy tag line, what it is youre sell-ing with original reporting, an originalpoint of view. Moreover, you dont needmillions of eyeballs, just the right ones,a subset of those addicted to the Web,he says.

Then, drive the eyeballs toward youwith a lot of posts. His mantra is con-tent, content, content. Your posts dontneed to be long, but they do need to beInstapundit.com tosee the master at work with rat-a-tat-tatposts. Sree notes that the technology ofsomething to say.

The best way to build a blog, accordingto Sree, is to post as much as humanlypossible without losing your day job.That could be something like 10 postsa week, if theyre good. He cited oneblogger as spending two hours on a Sun-day afternoon writing several posts andpostdating them so that they appear onthe blog throughout the week, makingit seem like the author is posting all the

Figuring out blogs and whatevers nexsession at the SPJ Convention in Atlan

time. Otherwise, he recommends de

your blog.Material could come from out

your regular writing, interesting tyou see elsewhere on the Net. make the blogs of others work forParticipate in other blogs by commeor posting something intriguing thamake readers click back to your bsee what else you have to say. Whemake a particularly good entry, e-mnote to all your friends and/or posyour Facebook or Twitter account.

Your blog can be part of your rsumtion editors and the like read blogs aan idea of a persons value from her blog. Srees bottom line, particvaluable in these times of economic is that the more you can do for yovia a blog, the more you can withlayoffs and show you have addivalue by having developed a fan basays this is of particular value to telejournalists.

If you have a few hoursmake thattual lifetimecheck out Srees Wehttp://sreetips.com/blogs.html . Thesome of Srees own blogs, plus linblogs of all types that he recommconservative, liberal, those by journabout journalists, business, entertaintravel, photography, video, techtis nearly endless. One blog in partthat he thinks every journalist shouldevery day is that of Romanesko, nPoynter.org.

BY JOHN HUOTARIThe Oak Ridger

be correct, and readers of research studiesshould be skeptical, the editor-in-chief ofScience News said March 13.

All kinds of studies in many areas turnout to be wrong, said Tom Siegfried, who

is also an award-winning science writer.As an example, he cited studies that showthat coffee is good for people one year,only to be contradicted by later studiesthat say that its bad.

During an hour-long talk at the Univer-sity of Tennessee, Siegfried denouncedthe current system used to judge whether want to rock the boat or dont knowabout the boat anyway, and, in any case,

journals, he said.Its all bogus, Siegfried said.

He also condemned clinical trials, thegold standard of medical judgments.

His lecture was called Odds Are, ItsWrongThe Misuse of Math in Science,Medicine and the Media.

Much of Siegfrieds talk, part of the Alfredand Julia Hill Lecture Series, focused onwhat he regards as the faults in a statisti-cal method and argument commonly used are known as P values. Some of the

concepts are not well understood, evenby some of the scientists who use them,Siegfried said.

But Siegfried, who is also a book authorand former science writer at the DallasMorning News, laid out some easier-to-understand concepts. For example, heoutlined the recipe for science news -- aswell as wrong science and wrong sciencenews.

Errors are likely to be found in the verytypes of stories that journalists pursue,

new research, advances in a hot research-ous belief.

Incorrect conclusions can sometimes leadto politicians making decisions based oninformation that is wrong, he said.

In the end, science does provide valuableinformation, but, along the way, somewrong information may be published orused, Siegfried said. I am not saying thatscience is worthless, he said.

He said there is hope and offered a brief

Be skeptical, be very skepticaloverview of what he called Bayesian Sta-tistics, which he said echoes the idea thatan experiment has to be replicated. Its alsobased on the idea that prior outcomes andadditional information are important.

So what should the average person dowhen trying to determine, for example,whether wine is good or bad for them,

was asked.

You need to be really a skeptical audi-ence, he responded. Theres always thechance that the statistics are wrong.

Siegfried, who has a masters degree and

has studied journalism, chemistry, hand physics, also encouraged aumembers to think about their informsources and said the specialist memore likely to be reliable than thespecialist media.

The Hill Lecture Series bringtinguished science journalists to U

talk about science, society and themedia. The lectures are made possian endowment created by Tom HiMary Frances Hill Holton in honor oparents, Alfred and Julia Hill, foundThe Oak Ridger.

http://instapundit.com/http://instapundit.com/http://sreetips.com/blogs.htmlhttp://sreetips.com/blogs.htmlhttp://poynter.org/http://poynter.org/http://poynter.org/http://sreetips.com/blogs.htmlhttp://instapundit.com/

8/6/2019 April 2009 Spot News

8/8

1802 Pinoak Ct.

Knoxville, TN 37923

April 17National celebration of SPJs100th anniversary, SPJ headquarters,Greencastle, Ind.April 17ETSPJ Ethics Poker nightand pizza/SPJ anniversary celebration,6:30 p.m., Jean Ash house, 1802 PinoakCourt, off Middlebrook Pike, KnoxvilleApril 27ETSPJ board meeting, 9 a.m.,Longs Drug StoreApril 30Town hall meeting on news

Amanda Womac, organize

Writing Green, speaks duthe environmental journaconference March 27. Attable, from left are Ann reporter, WATE-TV; Rikki editor, Hellbender Press contributor to Metro PulseGregory Button, UT professanthropology and former pradio reporter; Scott Baenvironmental reporter, NSentinel, Knoxville.

Photo from Writing Green environmental journalism conferenc

PHOTO BY RANDY NEAL, www.knoxviews.com

media ethics program in cooperation national SPJ, Baker Center, UT-KnoxMay 15Golden Press Card Awardsbanquet, The FoundryJune 5-7Ted Scripps Leadership Intute, IndianapolisJuly 18Front Page Follies, KnoxvilAug. 27-29National SPJ Conventio100th anniversary observance, India-napolis

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

- Spot News

We are creeping back up to near typicalumbers, John Becker, WBIR-TV newsnchor and ETSPJ membership chairman,aid. Becker noted that ETSPJ had 66

members as of March 30. In February, thehapter had 61 members.

ETSPJ numbers back up

Check SDX winnersAnyone interested in learning who has

won awards in the Sigma Delta Chi contestf national SPJ can go to www.spj.org/ews.asp?REF=878#878.

http://www.knoxviews.com/http://www.spj.org/http://www.spj.org/http://www.spj.org/http://www.knoxviews.com/