For my reporter and editor friends: The future of news

Glen Greenwald, journalist, blogger and lawyer, and Bill Keller, columnist and former executive editor of the News York Times, engage in an exchange about the recent past, current state and future of journalism. While they discuss matters in a global context, there is plenty to chew on for local reporters too.

An excerpt from Greenwald that resonated with me as relevant to national and local reporting:

"In essence, I see the value of journalism as resting in a twofold mission: informing the public of accurate and vital information, and its unique ability to provide a truly adversarial check on those in power." 

The unbelievable depravity of the News & Record

GREENSBORO, NC -- For all the things to which the News & Record could turn their attention; things for which the public begs and pleads for them to step up and do in the name of journalism—to do some investigation, fact checking and original reporting instead of just regurgitating press releases or acting as stenographers of differing opinions—with so much room for improvement, where does the News & Record go?

To the depraved depths of "reporting" on the mental health of a political consultant under the guise of  "election coverage."

What is wrong with that enterprise that it remains forever incompetent?

New Rhino sends Bledsoe down memory hole

GREENSBORO, NC -- Jerry Bledsoe is back. Jerry, as anybody who pays attention to Greensboro government will know, has the great distinction of doing the very heavy lifting of Greensboro's story from the muck and mire of lies and misinformation a lazy press and gullible elected officials almost left enshrined in history.

Jerry's series, "Cops in Black and White," was an account of the circumstances surrounding former police chief David Wray being forced from his position amid claims of racial motivations. It appeared in over ninety issues of the Rhinoceros Times newspaper and on the Rhino's website.

While the Rhino disappeared for a few months this summer because of financial troubles, it is back today with new financial backing and with Jerry Bledsoe as a contributing writer. Unfortunately, while the website is back too, it is without the archives of "Cops in Black and White". Search results for articles from the series link to "page not found" errors.

Bledsoe's series is an important resource—a touchstone for historical truth. The Rhino should restore its online presence.

Rhino returns, website stumbles

GREENSBORO, NC -- The local conservative weekly the Rhino Times is back. Having shuttered operations for financial difficulties five months ago, it has returned with the financial backing of local developer Roy Carrol. Reprising his role of editor is the Rhino's previous editor and former owner, John Hammer. Reg Freemyer, previously advertising director for The Courier Times of Asheboro, is the General Manager.

In introducing the new enterprise, publisher Carrol writes:

 "The key to the survival of any print publication today is interconnectivity with a web-based publication. We at the Rhino Times understand this and believe our readers will appreciate the new interactive format."

In this regard, the new Rhino stumbles. In addition to the awkward format and design of the website (no line breaks between paragraphs, garish colors, antiquated photo "galleries"), there are no obvious opportunities for the interactivity Carrol rightly identifies as as key and says we'll appreciate.

The most basic and nearly ubiquitous commenting features found across the web are missing here, there is no discoverable RSS feed and no integration with Twitter or Facebook. As former publisher and current search engine expert Willy Hammer is sure to recognize, the new site is also woefully short of search engine-friendly code.

Indeed, the only thing that appears different than the previous one-way, static website is the addition of an embedded video on the main page.

Most problematic though, and the matter to which the Rhino should first turn their attention is the awful inability of the site to display properly on mobile devices. Here's a screen shot:

As you can see, the content doesn't adapt to the size of the screen, portions of the page disappear and the navigation isn't mobile friendly.

If Carrol is serious about an interactive "web-based publication," there is a lot of work yet to be done.

Carrol also says, now that he is the publisher of a newspaper, he will refrain from making campaign contributions. That will be bad news for some candidates, but its a good move by Carrol; one that sets a respectable ethical bar and avoids tarnishing the Rhino's credibility.

Another WGHP bald faced lie

GREENSBORO, NC -- From a WGHP story about a robbery:

"The suspects were described as 6-8 males all in their teens or early 20s. No other information was provided." 

That's a bald faced lie.

From the Greensboro Police Department press release the story cites:

"The suspects are described as six to eight black males, all in their teens or early twenties." 

It's one thing if WGHP wants to, for whatever reasons it may have, withhold the race of criminal suspects, but to tell its audience flatly that no other information was provided when, in fact, other information was provided, is an inexcusable deception for an organization that pretends to be reporting news.

From beyond the grave: Dead people accessing city surveillance network

GREENSBORO, NC -- I spoke at last night's Greensboro City Council meeting about city records that appear to show large numbers of unauthorized accesses to city surveillance cameras, including by a couple of people identified by the City as former employees long retired and now deceased.

Here is the text of my remarks and the video, which includes commentary by city council and the City Manager.

Tonight, I am here to bring to your attention an example of the harmful consequences of the city of Greensboro's climate of obfuscation and hostility towards transparency.

In July of last year, I requested all records documenting access by anybody to city surveillance cameras for a one-week period. 

Rather than receiving copies of any kind of contemporaneous original records, I received a document obviously created in response to my request. A fake.

Although my request was officially closed, I reminded city staff that I had requested all records of anybody accessing surveillance cameras and requesting an explanation for why I had been provided a manufactured record. I had to ask three times. After my third request, I received a reply.

"The information listed is the names of the security guards who have access to view live and archive video from surveillance cameras thru out the city facilities."

For the sake of time, I must quickly summarize what happened over the next several months. My pursuit of the records I had originally requested was stonewalled at every turn. At various times, I was mislead, intimidated and ignored.

It became very frustrating.

For months on end, the City stood by their story, insisting that only security guards were authorized to access surveillance cameras and that I had been provided an accurate record of surveillance camera access.

I was even given this list, presented to me as those people authorized to access surveillance cameras. As you can see, it is a list of fourteen people. 

After seven months of city stonewalling, six months after my request was officially closed, I finally received a copy of an original record recording access to surveillance cameras.

It did not match the manufactured record I originally received, the one that was described as recording access by security guards because only security guards had access to surveillance cameras, supposedly. Instead, the real record showed people other than security guards accessing surveillance cameras.

So I asked for the log files for a longer period of time for a better idea of the extent to which City staff were watching surveillance cameras. What I found was shockingly different from what the City had said for month about who was accessing surveillance cameras.

Instead of the fourteen authorized users, log files showed well over fifty people accessing city surveillance cameras. Who?

According to the City's human resources department, those included not only security guards, but laborers, mechanics, and tax collectors -- over 50 people with various positions other than security guards.

It gets worse:

The City could not identify 21 of the people who the log files showed accessing surveillance cameras.

That's bad. But incredibly...

Two of the people recorded as having accessed city surveillance cameras are identified by the City's Human Resources as having long since retired and being deceased.

Questions:

- Why was I provided a manufactured record instead of a copy of an actual record?

- Why are people not authorized to do so, logging into surveillance cameras?

- Who are the people logging in that the city could not identify?

- Who was logging in using the names of deceased city employees?

- When is city council going to get serious about changing the culture of secrecy and hostility towards transparency that exists in city government?