The following is the text from a speech given by Eric Newton, the senior adviser to the president at the Knight Foundation, earlier this month at a national conference of journalism educators at Middle Tennessee State University. The text has been edited for length. You can read the entire version here. In 2005, two of America's largest foundations created the Carnegie-Knight Initiative on the Future of Journalism Education. This was before Facebook got big. Before Twitter, Instagram, Groupon or Pinterest. Before the iPhone or the iPad. Before the largest collapse in American newsroom history, with vanishing local journalism jobs totaling more than 15,000. You might think we launched a project on the future of journalism education because we saw all that coming. We didn't. The ... Continue reading →
In Silicon Valley, where sudden wealth is hardly something new and CEOs favor hoodies over bespoke blazers, Facebook's IPO on Friday didn't bring everyday life to a halt. Employees weren't popping champagne corks at company headquarters, at least not where anyone outside could see them. And locals had plenty to do —from finding a job to locating the next Facebook. The company's sprawling headquarters along the southern edge of San Francisco Bay was quiet except for security guards walking the parking lots, a dozen TV satellite trucks and an onslaught of reporters who were not allowed inside. The morning began with a ceremony attended by a few dozen people in a courtyard in the center of campus known as Hack Square. Mark Zuckerberg rang the ... Continue reading →
click to enlarge REMEMBERING MILES DAVIS' KIND OF BLUE: JIMMY COBB'S SO WHAT BAND Jun 25-Jun 26, 2012 Feat. Jeremy Pelt, Javon Jackson, Vincent Herring, Larry Willis & Buster Williams playing the album in its entirety! 50th Anniversary of Miles Davis' legendary album Jimmy Cobb Drums Jeremy Pelt (Trumpet) or Eddie “Doc” Henderson (Trumpet) Javon Jackson (Sax) Vincent Herring (Alto Sax) Buster Williams (Bass) Larry Willis (Piano) Mon & Tue: 8pm $30, 10pm $18 Legendary jazz drummer, Jimmy Cobb, was born in Washington, D.C. on January 20, 1929. A superb, mostly self-taught musician, Jimmy is the elder statesman of all the incredible Miles Davis bands. Jimmy’s inspirational work with Miles, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderly and Co. spanned 1957 until 1963, and included the masterpiece "Kind ... Continue reading →
Some Valley voters are getting campaign mail that shows Rep. Brad Sherman with his wife, Lisa Kaplan Sherman, and their three young children. The lucky ones also get his mother, Lane Sherman, apparently photo-shopped in to the same park scene. You decide whether it's cynical or just creative. I've heard both ways. Click on the mailers to enlarge. Continue reading →
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama hold assets worth between nearly $2.6 million and nearly $8.3 million, according to financial disclosure reports released Tuesday by the White House. The documents show the couple's assets for last year. The first family's assets were valued between $1.8 million and nearly $12 million in 2010. Obama released the annual report in the middle of a presidential campaign that has brought attention to the wealth of his Republican opponent, Mitt Romney. The former Massachusetts governor is worth $190 million to $250 million, with much of his money coming from investments. Romney has amended his 2010 financial disclosures during this primary season, and also caved in to pressure to release his tax returns. The returns ... Continue reading →
The recent brouhaha over pink slime (and other lovely mass meat production processes) is only the beginning. Here’s our roundup of some standout reporting about the food on your plate. This is a multifaceted, perennial topic. If you think we missed any, we’re happy to hear suggestions. Please email a link to MuckReads@propublica.org or tweet it with the hashtag #muckreads. Safety of Beef Processing Method Is Questioned, The New York Times, December 2009 A look at the development of Beef Product Inc.’s “novel” method of meat production that later became known as the infamous ‘pink slime.’ Reporter Michael Moss won a Pulitzer Prize for his investigations into contaminated beef. Our Dwindling Food Variety, National Geographic, July 2011 Our dwindling food variety, in a stride-stopping infographic ... Continue reading →
