The Craft of Research

Former NBC researcher and CUNY J-School Research Adjunct Jerry Bornstein has passed away.  Read about Jerry here and watch a video of him talking about his job below.  The last minute of the video is especially poignant.

This is the expanded, FUNNY way of asking Are you sure? and Says who?

Is Twitter really worth a billion bucks?

Is this what we should learn from the Mark Whicker debacle?

In light of the ACORN videos and their subsequent media coverage, does this Slate column make a good case for “activist” journalism?

On a related note, could Media Matters, despite some good points on fact-checking and the like, be more apoplectic about it? (And would they be if this weren’t “conservative” activism?)

Regarding the Google Book Search controversy, have you seen the New York Times topic page and the Open Book Alliance site?

Also on the topic of digital archives, will this joint effort take off?

Last but not least, did you know you’re already working for the Times? (See video below.)

Don’t forget the two questions that need to be addressed when using statistics in a story:

1. Are you sure?
2. Says who?

In other words, you need to check the accuracy of your numbers and must cite their source.

Today’s bonus: I’ve posted about Twitter here before, but these Washington Post videos are flat out hilarious.

Double bonus: Just how many nuts in ACORN?  Sheesh!  San Bernardino and San Diego too?  Update: In a story about James O’Keefe, NBC Nightly News just reported that there are more videos to come…

Tonight’s program also had an interesting spelling note…

OK, I won’t bore you with a kiddie-style rundown of everything I did the last few months, but here’s some stuff I came across that may interest you…

Just this month, MSNBC acquired EveryBlock, a hyperlocal news aggregator you should definitely check out if you’re not already familiar with it. Also, several parties are challenging a settlement between Google Books and authors and publishers. And this week, I was happy to read that Wikipedia is getting stricter.

Earlier, I stumbled upon an interesting (albeit lengthy) web project about The Future of Journalism. Related to that, I largely agreed with this Columbia Journalism Review article, but found this Huffington Post piece utterly ridiculous.

Here’s a good 4-minute video on political fact-checking.

Twitter obsessed? Then check out The Ultimate List of Twitter Tools.

Speaking of Twitter, Editor & Publisher posted the Wall Street Journal’s rules for online conduct and Pro Football Talk did likewise with ESPN’s guidelines. In January, Poynter had posted the New York Times policy on social networking.

Speaking of the Times, an embarrassing snafu there last month showed the importance of fact-checking and research (more here and here). On the positive side, this New York City homicides map is pretty impressive and the paper continues to develop the Represent database of elected officials representing NYC addresses. Lastly, if you’re looking for Times-related laughs, did you read this article or see this segment from Comedy Central’s Daily Show?

So has everyone been reading all the hype on this newly-launched “search engine” called Wolfram|Alpha?  Some have billed it as a challenger to Google, although it’s really quite different.   I’d call it a “fact engine,” or even an almanac on steroids.  Chock full of statistics in particular, it seems useful in its own way.  I like that it supposedly uses authoritative sources of information, but I don’t see any source citations in the search results, so I don’t care much for that.

But hey, anything to deflect the media obsession with Twitter, right?  Ah, Twitter me Twitter… (more…)

On April 7th, Barbara Gray, who put together the immigration handout, will give you the same social networking presentation she gives to New York Times reporters.  I’ll be “along for the ride,” but the research lesson that morning will be hers.  It looks like we may also have a special visitor.

In the meantime, I’d like you to read the Times policy on social networking as well as the social networking material I’ve posted to the blog since the fall.  Although I won’t be able to hold you accountable for reading any of it prior to the 7th, I can hold you accountable for it on the final quiz, so you may as well familiarize yourself with it now, when it makes sense.

Also, for a laugh, check out the Twitter video below!

Looking for public records?  According to a Sunshine Week survey jointly sponsored by the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the National Freedom of Information Coalition and the Society of Professional Journalists, online access varies widely by state.

Looking for more Jon Stewart skewering of CNBC? (more…)

I mentioned The Local earlier this week. NBC has launched New York Nonstop as well, a possible competitor to NY1. See video below.

Behind the Scenes at WNBC’s New York Nonstop from Broadcasting & Cable on Vimeo.

On Tuesday, Mark pointed us to Charlie Gasparino’s bad phone etiquette. Things got even worse for CNBC Wednesday night. If you haven’t already seen it, cable comedy king Jon Stewart skewered the network, fair editing or not. (more…)