Date: Sun, 13 Dec 2009 17:19:24 -0600
From: Andy Hall
To: Bill Densmore
Subject: Report for America Project
Hi Bill,
Feel free to use this note (or excerpts from it) however you wish.
Thanks for the wonderful discussion this evening about your ideas for
the Report for America Project.
The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism is interested in
being considered as a potential site for the Report for America
Project.
Aside from several counties that include large-or medium-sized cities,
the majority of Wisconsin's 72 counties are rural -- and lack
sustained, in-depth coverage of important social, political, economic
and environmental issues facing rural residents.
Since its launch in January 2009, the Wisconsin Center for
Investigative Journalism has begun collaborating with print, broadcast
and online journalism organizations throughout Wisconsin.
Journalists at news organizations in rural areas are eager to make use
of the Center's investigative reports, and to build upon them with
local reporting, because these additional resources help improve
coverage of their communities.
The Report for America Project could provide significant support to
those efforts throughout America's Dairyland.
Sincerely,
Andy
--
Andy Hall
Executive Director and Reporter
Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
ahall@wisconsinwatch.org
o 608-262-3642
www.WisconsinWatch.org
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Date: Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:07:10 -0600
From: "Peck, Chris"
To: "Bill Densmore"
Subject: Report for America - from Peck
Bill - Some good work you're doing on this.
Yes, we can be a beta site for the project - and would like to do it.
Worth noting that Scripps supports programs at the University of
Memphis, Hampton, and Ohio U, and we might be able to team up with these
three colleges to get grad students, or other resources, if needed.
Let me know if there is more to do.
Chris Peck
Editor, The Commercial Appeal
CA Media
Publishers of The Commercial Appeal & commercialappeal.com
495 Union Avenue
Memphis, TN 38103
(P) 901.529.2390
(F) 901.529.2329
peck@commercialappeal.com
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Date: Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:16:24 -0500
From: "Garcia, Marcela"
To: Bill Densmore
Cc: "Kadzis, Peter"
Subject: Report for America Project
Hi Bill,
Thank you so much for thinking of El Planeta (definitely one of the best
ethnic media newsrooms in America!) for the Report for America Project. FYI,
El Planeta would love to be considered a host organization for this amazing
project.
Our newsroom has already served as a "journalism lab" for bilingual talent.
For the past two years, we were partners of Integrants, a program funded by
Fundacion La Rioja in Spain. Integrants was a grant program designed "to give
Spanish university graduates the opportunity to carry out internships in
companies in the U.S. and Canada for a period of six to twelve months." (More
here .) Integrants ended just this year,
but in the course of the past 24 months, El Planeta hosted a total of six
Spanish journalists for a period of six months each (no cost to us either).
After my experience with Integrants, I could clearly see that the future of
journalism lies in programs like those. Much is said every day about
globalization and how the world is flat, etc., but just as important is how
diverse (and bilingual) the face of the U.S. is becoming. By 2050, Latinos
will be a majority in this country, and we cannot wait until the mainstream
media figures its future out to tell our stories. I can go on and on about
the type of articles on minorities that would go unreported if it weren't for
ethnic papers like us, that's why it's quite significant that a proposal
dealing with the future of journalism includes an ethnic (Latino in this
case) component. Topics like immigration reform, struggles of
second-generation Latinos, the high school drop-out rate of Hispanics, lack
of political representation locally and nationally, etc., are some examples
of the stories we report on every week.
Last but not least, because of the industry's challenges, journalists are
eager to equip themselves with as many tools as they can to become more and
more specialized. Being bilingual is indeed a powerful asset, and any news
organization should see that as a must in light of the changing face of
America.
The Report for America Project would not only make sure that El Planeta
continues to carry out its mission of telling the proverbial untold stories,
but also that it provides the much needed training for journalists in this
evolving industry environment.
Sincerely,
Marcela García
Editor | El Planeta
marcela@elplaneta.com
p. 617.937.5921 | f. 617.933.7688
126 Brookline Avenue | Boston MA | 02215
Part of Phoenix Media/Communications Group
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