Best predictor was the money collected in the first quarter of the election primary. Two Dems were ahead of everyone else: Obama and Clinton. That shaped coverage, said Sweet.
Is that how life should be?
Money chase meant two candidates could expand -- have local offices, etc. -- can't fault press for paying attention to who's getting paid (or donations). Plus, the Media found coverage could be a marketing decision: put Obama or Clinton on a cover and you'll sell issues.
There was no superstar Republican candidate.
Frerking:
She felt the sexism when she started covering the Hillary campaign. There were people on the bus who she had respect for that said they don't believe sentimental moments at all. People didn't believe the now-infamous teary eyed moment in the coffee shop during Clinton's campaign.
All political coverage is more complex than we think.
Ann Friedman:
Having women in the race has made a difference in getting a female voice onto larger platforms. That's important and points to the stats that say when women run, more women vote.
Showing posts with label women. Show all posts
Showing posts with label women. Show all posts
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Beth Frerking: Speed is of the essence
It's huge, Frerking said.
Pace for The Politico is relentless. And is essential. Good thing is that with the bloggers, they are transparent. (Edwards deciding whether to stay in the race or not, a Politico blogger got a bogus tip. Read about it here. But the blogger, Ben, also was transparent about what he did wrong.)
Go behind the curtain. Tell us what's behind the curtain. Interesting convos about politics happen when reporters go to lunch and talk about what's REALLY happening on the campaign trail.
We should be telling those stories.
Pace for The Politico is relentless. And is essential. Good thing is that with the bloggers, they are transparent. (Edwards deciding whether to stay in the race or not, a Politico blogger got a bogus tip. Read about it here. But the blogger, Ben, also was transparent about what he did wrong.)
Go behind the curtain. Tell us what's behind the curtain. Interesting convos about politics happen when reporters go to lunch and talk about what's REALLY happening on the campaign trail.
We should be telling those stories.
Lynn Sweet
The travelling press often gets advance information for "planning purposes."
"There is nothing that happens at a fully blown national campaign that isn't done for their purpose."
A lot of what you see and hear on a daily basis from the campaign comes from pool reports. (Apparently, however, not Lynn. Yesterday, she was writing a story -- she's the primary Obama reporter -- as the rest of us were eating dinner.)
Candidate is not accessible every minute when you are traveling with them. Special service agents were all around Obama early on.
"There is nothing that happens at a fully blown national campaign that isn't done for their purpose."
A lot of what you see and hear on a daily basis from the campaign comes from pool reports. (Apparently, however, not Lynn. Yesterday, she was writing a story -- she's the primary Obama reporter -- as the rest of us were eating dinner.)
Candidate is not accessible every minute when you are traveling with them. Special service agents were all around Obama early on.
Election Roundtable
Here's what we're supposed to be talking about:
"Hear election coverage stories from JAWS women on the front lines and back in the newsroom. What's it like to be on the road with the candidates? What have the media covered well/poorly? How does coverage of this campaign compare to that of campaigns past?"
Moderator: Jodi Enda, vet political reporter and freelance journalist/program planner, Knight Center for specialized journalism
Beth Frerking -- Asst. managing editor, Politico
Ann Friedman -- Deputy editor, The American Prospect
Felice Belman -- Editor, Concord Monitor
Lynn Sweet -- Washington Bureau Chief, Chicago Sun-Times
Felice is telling us about what it's like to be at the center of election coverage, here in New Hampshire. The editorial board was split for a long time, so they called Clinton in, then later Obama, and then Bill Clinton came in. Obama then called and said, "hey, do you want Michelle's cell phone number?"
Early on, there are also lots of missteps by the candidates. Denis Kucinich refused to eat any food from a vegan potluck because, as Felice said, "he was persnickety." This is what they do when they think no one is looking?
"Hear election coverage stories from JAWS women on the front lines and back in the newsroom. What's it like to be on the road with the candidates? What have the media covered well/poorly? How does coverage of this campaign compare to that of campaigns past?"
Moderator: Jodi Enda, vet political reporter and freelance journalist/program planner, Knight Center for specialized journalism
Beth Frerking -- Asst. managing editor, Politico
Ann Friedman -- Deputy editor, The American Prospect
Felice Belman -- Editor, Concord Monitor
Lynn Sweet -- Washington Bureau Chief, Chicago Sun-Times
Felice is telling us about what it's like to be at the center of election coverage, here in New Hampshire. The editorial board was split for a long time, so they called Clinton in, then later Obama, and then Bill Clinton came in. Obama then called and said, "hey, do you want Michelle's cell phone number?"
Early on, there are also lots of missteps by the candidates. Denis Kucinich refused to eat any food from a vegan potluck because, as Felice said, "he was persnickety." This is what they do when they think no one is looking?
Sahar Sarshar gave us some tips on how to tell stories of international women -- locally and globally
- Get to know the culture you're covering and show them that you care and understand their everyday life --- then find the stories that will inspire and motivate them.
- Research is key.
- Take what you present to your audience seriously
- Find stories that can work across cultures and bridge the gaps across the globe.
Sarshar showed us a 30 second clip of an animation bumper VOA created for the Iranian New Year that showed a woman, Ms. Spring, who is so magical she can make the sun shine and flowers bloom with a snap of her fingers.
Here is the Web site for Voices of America.
The women in Paola's book are her partners
She asks them their most interesting stories, interviews them in their first language and only works with women interpreters.
She records all of her interviews, transcribes the work and forms the chapter, and then sends the draft back to the partner in the other country and asks them to correct facts, spelling, etc.
That process has yielded some changes, but surprisingly, not many fact changes, she said. She also has the publisher give the women a copy of the book and allows non-profit organizations to use the photographs she uses in the books.
"it's an interesting collaborative system that really works for this type of project," she said.
She asks them their most interesting stories, interviews them in their first language and only works with women interpreters.
She records all of her interviews, transcribes the work and forms the chapter, and then sends the draft back to the partner in the other country and asks them to correct facts, spelling, etc.
That process has yielded some changes, but surprisingly, not many fact changes, she said. She also has the publisher give the women a copy of the book and allows non-profit organizations to use the photographs she uses in the books.
"it's an interesting collaborative system that really works for this type of project," she said.
Honor Killings
Lois Raimondo is showing us photographs from her story on honor killings.
A man gouged out his wife's eyes and sliced off her nose because she wouldn't give him a divorce. Raimondo was at the courthouse when the woman went to trial against her husband. The man, in chains, is shown smirking in one of Raimondo's photos.
His response to how he felt about what he'd done?
"She offended my honor, so I 'm proud of what I did."
The police he was with patted him on his back.
The story ran on the front page of the Washington Post (I'm trying to find the story online) and Raimondo said she felt sick about it and wanted to tell a story about the complexity of honor killings and the people involved.
A man gouged out his wife's eyes and sliced off her nose because she wouldn't give him a divorce. Raimondo was at the courthouse when the woman went to trial against her husband. The man, in chains, is shown smirking in one of Raimondo's photos.
His response to how he felt about what he'd done?
"She offended my honor, so I 'm proud of what I did."
The police he was with patted him on his back.
The story ran on the front page of the Washington Post (I'm trying to find the story online) and Raimondo said she felt sick about it and wanted to tell a story about the complexity of honor killings and the people involved.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Talking Sourcing at JAWS - and and invitation to JAWS members
This is cross-posted from WIMN's Voices, the media analysis group blog of Women In Media & News, a national women's media analysis, media education and media advocacy group. -- Jennifer L. Pozner, Executive Director, WIMN
Quick note -- there's a powerful set of women in journalism gathered in Door County, Wisconsin this weekend for the annual Journalism & Women Symposium (JAWS) conference. Last night, I led one of twelve discussion groups about what bothers female journalists about representations of women in news media -- and what we as journalists can do to improve these content problems both in our individual reporting/editing/producing, and what we can do to affect institutional change.
Our group focused on the sourcing problem (it turned out numerous others did, too) -- the underepresentation and marginalization of women and people of color as sources, experts, pundits, commetators and the like -- and the way this flattens out stories, makes each story seem to similar to every previous story, and makes it harder for readers and viewers to see themselves reflected in our coverage... which of course loses audiences. We talked about many of the causes of the underrepresentation, and many individual as well as institutional factors that play in... as well as individual and institutional solutions we could employ to attempt to improve the situation.
We also talked about how JAWS members and JAWS colleagues could make better use of WomenIn Media & News's POWER (Perspectives Of Women Expand Reporting) Sources Project -- the first project of its kind, founded in 2001, the POWER Sources Project is anational network of ethnically, geographically and professionally diverse women experts who are ready to serve as sources for journalists. We've helped print, broadcast and online journalists connect with articulate, informative, media savvy, qualified sources on hundreds of topics. These are not people journalists can call only when looking for "women sources" -- they're go-to resources for journalists looking for great sources, period.
Anyway, there's much more to say about this session, but it's 8am and I'm already missing breakfast. I will likely be posting guest posts from JAWS members throughout the day or the following week. JAWS members are learning to liveblog - some for the first time - so their posts will most likely happen at http://jaws07.blogspot.com/ -- check it out. But, we will likely bring you JAWS' members reflections on the content and representation discussion, as we feel this is an important set of reflections from women in the trenches, and it's crucial that the larger public understands that women (and especially women of color) working in journalism at every level -- from interns and new beat reporters to high-level execs, news managers and news division heads share some of the same frustrations WIMN's Voices readers do... the structural critique we have of media content linked to media consolidation is real, and very relevant to the ability of journalists being able to do their jobs most effetively, inclusively and to most authenticaly cover our communities.
NOTE TO JAWS ATTENDEES: I'd like to repeat the invitation I made last night at the post-dinner session, to write up your reflections on the discussions we had last night about representations of women in news media (sourcing, content areas, solutions, whatever you discussed), so that our readership -- 90,000 unique visits per month on a good month -- who are extremely interested in issues related to women and the media will be able to hear some of the frustrations, challenges, solutions and strategies from women in the media biz. If you would like to post, email info[at]wimnonline[dot]org
Quick note -- there's a powerful set of women in journalism gathered in Door County, Wisconsin this weekend for the annual Journalism & Women Symposium (JAWS) conference. Last night, I led one of twelve discussion groups about what bothers female journalists about representations of women in news media -- and what we as journalists can do to improve these content problems both in our individual reporting/editing/producing, and what we can do to affect institutional change.
Our group focused on the sourcing problem (it turned out numerous others did, too) -- the underepresentation and marginalization of women and people of color as sources, experts, pundits, commetators and the like -- and the way this flattens out stories, makes each story seem to similar to every previous story, and makes it harder for readers and viewers to see themselves reflected in our coverage... which of course loses audiences. We talked about many of the causes of the underrepresentation, and many individual as well as institutional factors that play in... as well as individual and institutional solutions we could employ to attempt to improve the situation.
We also talked about how JAWS members and JAWS colleagues could make better use of WomenIn Media & News's POWER (Perspectives Of Women Expand Reporting) Sources Project -- the first project of its kind, founded in 2001, the POWER Sources Project is anational network of ethnically, geographically and professionally diverse women experts who are ready to serve as sources for journalists. We've helped print, broadcast and online journalists connect with articulate, informative, media savvy, qualified sources on hundreds of topics. These are not people journalists can call only when looking for "women sources" -- they're go-to resources for journalists looking for great sources, period.
Anyway, there's much more to say about this session, but it's 8am and I'm already missing breakfast. I will likely be posting guest posts from JAWS members throughout the day or the following week. JAWS members are learning to liveblog - some for the first time - so their posts will most likely happen at http://jaws07.blogspot.com/ -- check it out. But, we will likely bring you JAWS' members reflections on the content and representation discussion, as we feel this is an important set of reflections from women in the trenches, and it's crucial that the larger public understands that women (and especially women of color) working in journalism at every level -- from interns and new beat reporters to high-level execs, news managers and news division heads share some of the same frustrations WIMN's Voices readers do... the structural critique we have of media content linked to media consolidation is real, and very relevant to the ability of journalists being able to do their jobs most effetively, inclusively and to most authenticaly cover our communities.
NOTE TO JAWS ATTENDEES: I'd like to repeat the invitation I made last night at the post-dinner session, to write up your reflections on the discussions we had last night about representations of women in news media (sourcing, content areas, solutions, whatever you discussed), so that our readership -- 90,000 unique visits per month on a good month -- who are extremely interested in issues related to women and the media will be able to hear some of the frustrations, challenges, solutions and strategies from women in the media biz. If you would like to post, email info[at]wimnonline[dot]org
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