Thanks for the good time, Austin.
Emily
July 9, 2010
Apparently, one does not come here expecting authentic gyros.
July 7, 2010
Nothing much other than a pretty sunset and bean fields so far.
Driving to Texas.
Emily
February 17, 2010
#Wjchat preview: A Q & A with moderator Greg Linch
#Wjchat debuted last week with the general question “What is the job of a web journalist and what skills do you need?”
In its second week, the chat will take a more specific turn: geekspeak. Greg Linch of Publish2 will moderate the chat tonight after accepting an invitation from #wjchat organizers. He’ll focus on journalism and coding in the weekly web journalism Twitter chat.
Linch said he wanted to talk about relationships between journalists and coders in the newsroom and what journos and coders can learn from each other.
I asked him a few questions through email in advance of the chat. Below is an edited version of our conversation.
Why did you choose to talk about coding?
I thought the intersection of coding and journalism would make a good topic, generally, because of the widespread interest in this area and, specifically, because the previous chat started to scratch the surface. So I thought it might be good to delve deeper and bring together a group with more diverse skill sets and experiences, including coders.
Some of the inspiration comes from events such as Burt Herman’s Hacks and Hackers meetup and an idea by the same name, devised by Rich Gordon and Aron Pilhofer.
Do you think it’s an important thing for journalists to understand? Why?
I think it’s important for journalists who don’t have a technical background to better understand what might seem like wizardry and alien tongues. That’s not to say every journalist needs to be a programmer. What we need to do is look at the landscape as an equal plane of journalists who use different tools to do their jobs.
At a fundamental level, first there must be a mutual respect and appreciation for what everyone does. Next, they need to be able to communicate and collaborate. These three steps are also a good launching point for non-coding journalists to start learning skills.
That said, I don’t think there’s a set ladder to climb — there are various ways to starting learning to code, including jumping in on your own.
What’s your hope in discussing the topic?
My goal is to have a constructive conversation where participants offer original, insightful comments based on their experiences. I hope to keep the conversation moving forward and not rehashing old silly arguments. Instead, the focus is what we can all learn from each other, brainstorm ideas, share tips and keep the discussion going beyond a one-time chat.
I know why I’m involved in #wjchat. Why do you choose to be involved in it?
I’m involved with #wjchat because I think there’s a lot of potential to learn from one another. Generally, I don’t think Twitter is the best platform for such conversations because of the nature of the medium, but I think it’s important to help in any way I can and encourage others to do the same.
#Wjchat is tonight from 8 to 10 p.m. EST. You can see what people are saying about the chat here.
February 17, 2010
Journalists are talking about #wjchat
Chats on the microblogging site Twitter aren’t new, but a chat that debuted last week has journalists buzzing.
#Wjchat, a chat that focuses on web journalism, started Feb. 10 with one main question — “What is the job of a web journalist and what skills do you need?”
More than 100 people have tweeted the hashtag around 900 times since its start last Wednesday. Journalists are taking notice of this chat that lets them share ideas of collaboration in what can be a challenging time in journalism. J-school student Ethan Klapper blogged about it here.
It is modeled after #journchat, a Monday night Twitter chat that happens between journalists and public relations professionals.
Actually, the co-creators of #wjchat started talking during #journchat about the need for a discussion that focused on web journalism. They spent a night collaborating and came up with the idea of #wjchat, @kimbui told me in an email.
She wrote:
We’re hoping to talk about the challenges of being a web journalist in a changing industry. We all have different titles and different backgrounds, but we all believe firmly that we need to evolve as journalists. We’re hoping to tackle ethics, tech topics, content, and business models – all things that are up in the air at times.
#Wjchat runs every Wednesday from 8 to 10 p.m. EST. I participated last week and will try to do so whenever I can. I have a previous commitment this week, but I’ll be checking the chat’s sweet archive system.
This week’s chat moderator is Greg Linch of Publish2. He’ll focus on the relationship between journalists and coders. I did a quick Q & A with him. Look for that post in a few.
February 3, 2010
What inspires you?
I’ve shared what inspires me to write and report. I got an overwhelmingly positive response.
So now, I challenge you, what inspires you? To write, to take photos, to teach, to play, to do whatever you do.
You’ve taken the time to read what inspires me. Now it’s your turn. Go!
February 2, 2010
The ring on my right hand
An interaction with a source who seemed to get cold feet about a very personal interview yesterday reminded me why I wear this ring on my right hand.
It goes with me every place I go.
The cheap silver has tarnished into a dull gold. The cursive L reminds me of the girl my family lost almost 15 years ago.
It reminds me of the grief my family has been through, the strange feeling of picking up the pieces of your life off the floor. Of figuring out how to be a family when a vital part of you is missing.
The yellowed, curling newspaper clip I keep from fall of 1995 isn’t one of the many spot news pieces published the day after my sister’s car accident. It’s not a clip of the story where the reporter talked to her soccer teammates. It’s not her obituary, in which my name is misspelled.
A sports columnist for a weekly paper in our town wrote the piece I’ve kept since I was nine years old. He had covered her in high school sports and wrote the column as he was looking at her soccer mug shot.
In the column, he mused over the death of a high school senior and what that meant for us, her family. He approached the subject with care, compassion and thoughtfulness.
There’s a reason I kept his column. I haven’t forgotten the warmth in those words.
Lindsey’s ring reminds me to write like him, to remember the people I write about are human and so am I. His column is proof of that.
Maybe someone else will find value and closure in my writing. Maybe someone else will hold on to my work, too.
January 30, 2010
Me and Charlie
This picture is about four years old, but still one of my most favorite horse pics.
November 10, 2009
It’s an interesting time to be a health reporter. The House of Representatives passed a health care bill Saturday and now the ball is in the Senate’s court.
I’ve been able to explore political reporting by writing some health-focused articles that also deal with the economy and health care reform.
I wrote a couple of stories for the Truth in conjunction with MSNBC’s theGrio.com in September, focusing on how the economy is taking a toll on the health of the black community and beyond.
One story led with a woman who was selling her possessions in order to afford to pay her mounting medical bills. She was behind on her mortgage payment and had just gotten her lights turned back on with some money from her weekly garage sales.
The story generated a firestorm of comments on theGrio.com’s web site, and lots on ours, too. Although the story didn’t explicitly mention proposed health care reform that was before Congress at the time, the comments quickly turned political. And heated.
In other words, they reflected the ongoing debate of 2009.
November 10, 2009
What not to do
I have learned the hard way what not to do when you start a blog: don’t promise to blog about an event unless you know you’ll have time to post during the event. And instead of lamenting the fact that you didn’t post, catch up the next week.
Otherwise, you’ll have two and a half months of silence, like I did.
August 27, 2009
Tales of a journo conference newbie
It’s 1:30 a.m., exactly 4.5 hours before I’m supposed to be leaving my house and driving to Indianapolis for the Society of Professional Journalists National Conference, and I can’t sleep. Naturally.
I’ve made copies of my clips, updated my resume and ironed my clothes.
I’ve written down a dozen seminars I want to attend. I’m signed up for two writing critiques.
You’d think that I’d feel ready to go and able to relax, but nah. It’s not surprising, though. I can’t remember a first day of work, the beginning of a school semester, or the night before a job interview where I’ve gotten more than 5 hours of sleep.
But I did use my insomnia to tackle a project:
Business card labels
I printed a sheet (about 30) of these bad boys and attached them to the back of my already-printed business cards. The front of my cards have my paper’s information and my work contacts. The back now has my personal web site and my twitter handle.
Unnecessary? Absolutely. Fruitful? We’ll see.
I’m going to meet lots of journalists this weekend, and everyone’s Twitter handles and web site names will be floating around. I figured I’d have all of mine in one place. Plus, no one ever knows how to spell my last name.
I’ll be at #spj100 through Sunday. I’ll be sure to share my thoughts and observations. Stay tuned.
August 25, 2009
What good is health coverage when it empties your wallet?
The cost of health care can be crippling, but is it better than going without?
Published: Tuesday, August 04, 2009 — The Truth, A
By Emily Monacelli
ELKHART — Taffy Wuthrich isn’t one of the estimated 46 million Americans without health insurance, but that doesn’t mean she can afford the insurance she has.
A former owner of a downtown Elkhart store, Wuthrich, 63, now lives off survivor benefits she has received from Pfizer Inc. since her husband died in 1999.
Back then, she paid $126 a month for health insurance. Now it’s $755 a month and she’s afraid of her premiums rising another $300, as they did last year.
“I’m still paying on it, because what are my choices, you know?” she said. “It’s getting to the point to be unaffordable.”
A health care reform bill being considered by the House of Representatives is designed to expand coverage for the poor, cut costs and improve coverage for people like Wuthrich, who already have insurance. But it also would raise taxes on high-income individuals and families, mandate that businesses with more than $500,000 a year in revenues provide health insurance for their employees and establish a government-sponsored health-insurance option, the Associated Press reported.
Wuthrich owned Dollars ‘N Cents, with locations on South Main Street and in Concord Mall, until she closed the doors in March. Essentially, she ran out of money to keep the store running, she said.
She could not afford to offer her employees insurance, either.
“There’s no way we could have,” she said.
Eventually, her daughter quit the store to take a managerial position at Arby’s. It came with insurance. But her other daughter, who holds a master’s degree in social work, is uninsured despite having a job in her field of study.
Data released by the U.S. Census Bureau’s Small Area Health Insurance Estimates Monday show that in 2006, 16.5 percent or 29,151 Elkhart County residents younger than 65 years old were uninsured, just shy of the national average of 17.8 percent.
Rex Sentabar, 48, of Goshen, is one of them.
June 19, 2008
I know I’m behind the times.
But I decided to finally start a blog anyway. Here you’ll find many ramblings, some articles I’ve found especially interesting, new concepts I like and, well, whatever I feel like posting.
I’ll be blogging my preparation and attendance for the Society of Professional Journalists’ Convention and National Journalism Conference which happens in Indy this week — Aug. 27-29.
I’m a first time journalism conference goer, so expect some surprises, mistakes and “Did that just happen?” moments.
