John Tedesco

God, I love the Onion.

I’m working on this tipsheet for a presentation tomorrow at a Watchdog Workshop in Austin organized by Investigative Reporters and Editors. My boss and I are going to talk about some methods we use to fact-check stories. Check out the tipsheet and feel free to e-mail me or leave a comment if you have more ideas about improving accuracy in news stories or blog posts.

Update: For more information about setting up your own notes template that’s mentioned in the tipshseet, here’s a past post with instructions.

Mashable came out with a nice list of resources for Web-savvy mobile journalists. But the list focuses quite a bit on iPhone apps. Not everyone is cool enough for an iPhone, including me.

Here’s what I carry in my messenger bag — or as Jen calls it, my man bag:

A digital point-and-shoot camera that takes video. With a macro setting, this camera can do something that the iPhone can’t — perform as a portable photocopier. When you need quick copies of documents, you can simply take a snapshot of them. Very handy.

A notebook, pens and digital voice recorder.

A netbook and broadband connection for filing stories when I’m on the road or at the scene of a breaking news story.

This is what I carry around with me most of the time. If I know in advance that I’m going to be covering a story where I’ll be shooting video for online, I’ll also take my camcorder with its external microphone and tripod.

I admit I’m obsessive about carrying around my man bag, even when I’m not on the clock. You just never know when you’ll need need this stuff. What if I’m driving around and see a police chase or something? It would suck if I didn’t have all my gadgets with me.

I was able to take this video one day when I was walking to Starbucks downtown and saw two construction workers dismantling an old sign outside an abandoned store. I had walked under that sign a million times and so I thought there might be a story about this really old building being torn down to make way for something new. Since I had my camera on me, I shot some video, and since I had my notebook and recorder, I interviewed people and found out a new hotel was going to be built at the site. I had discovered a decent story about the changing character of Houston Street, from retail to tourism.

If I hadn’t had my camera on me, I would have missed the chance to take some interesting video. There was no time to run back to the office. And being able to interview people right there at the scene helped me figure out there was an interesting story happening. So the man bag filled with gadgets saved the day. And I didn’t even need an iPhone.

Brilliant.

The suit at the 18 second mark is 100 percent pure awesome.

(Hat tip: Boing Boing)

2009 was a brutal year for the Express-News. We lost a third of the newsroom in March from painful layoffs, and the exodus of talent was demoralizing, there’s no way to sugarcoat it. Even after the layoffs, we’re still occasionally losing bright journalists who don’t see much of a future in mainstream news.

They might be right for leaving and I might be an idiot for staying. But right now, I still see the Express-News as a place that gives reporters a chance to do good work.

It seems like every day I read an online comment accusing the mainstream media of abandoning watchdog journalism. But at the Express-News, we still have a crew of skilled journalists who are paid full-time salaries to dig up stories that tell readers what’s really going on in the city. That’s huge.

Take a look at these headlines published in 2009:

La Villita for sale: Reporter Guillermo Garcia revealed how the city was privately discussing a plan to sell two historic icons in downtown San Antonio: La Villita and Market Square. After a public outcry, the city backed off the deal.

Brian Chasnoff unearthed stories about missing police reports at the San Antonio Police Department; a speeding police officer who crashed into citizens; and officers who shot at moving vehicles, creating dangerous situations if the driver is incapacitated. He also learned that an officer of the department’s elite Tactical Response Unit was suspected of driving drunk and wrecking an undercover police car. The scandals have prompted a top-to-bottom review of the department.

Top salaries and overtime at City Hall: Greg Jefferson and Kelly Guckian analyzed a city payroll database and discovered which employees were paid the most in salaries and overtime. The database was posted online for everyone to search.

Left at bus station, mental patient dies: Karisa King and I examined the little-known practice by state psychiatric hospitals of dropping off mental patients at bus depots to find their own way home. One patient, Raquel Padilla, was dropped off at the Greyhound station downtown and given a ticket to Laredo. Three days later, she was found dead.

The story prompted new, potentially life-saving legislation authored by state Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, that requires hospitals to draw up specific transportation plans for their patients, to make sure they get home safely.

Tax exemptions for … miniature donkeys? This year Karisa also delved into the murky world of property appraisals in Bexar County, and how agricultural valuations are used as a way to drastically reduce taxes on property. Analyzing county data, Karisa found the case of a wealthy couple who received a tax break for raising a herd of miniature donkeys on their estate, and how the controversial site of the PGA Village golf course sought a tax break by claiming the course served as a wildlife refuge. The county’s database of property appraisal protests was posted online for readers.

Ambulance chasing thrives: We’ve all heard of ambulance chasers — lawyers who hound accident victims in an attempt to drum up new clients. But this fascinating story by John MacCormack names names and goes into great detail about how ambulance chasing is actually done — and how the accident victims end up losing.

Trouble at the Alamo: Scott Huddleston revealed how the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, the caretakers of the Alamo, have been feuding over fundraising disputes, causing some members to form a splinter group. Scott wrote a cool story by doing what reporters are supposed to do — following the money — and looked at how the Daughters spent funds raised from license plate sales. It turns out the Alamo received a relatively small portion of that money.

Dead by Mistake: The Express-News assisted in a nationwide investigation of fatal medical errors. Hearst-owned news organizations across the United States spent months investigating a little-known problem that plagues the health-care system: “Every year approximately 200,000 Americans die from preventable medical errors and healthcare-associated infections as tools to fight these needless deaths go unused at many hospitals.”

The project has its own Web site, Twitter account, Facebook page and YouTube channel, and reporters are still tracking the issue with follow-up stories.

Amusement ride injuries go unreported: I found a unique database kept by state officials that tracks injuries that occur at Texas carnivals and theme parks. We posted the data online, published a story about injuries that went untold, and examined the woes of Kiddie Park, where aging rides have literally fallen apart with children inside. (The park was closed when the story was published and Kiddie Park is now under new ownership.)

Unregulated puppy mills: The media is often accused — and rightly so — of publishing too many stories about cute fluffy animals. But Brian Chasnoff found a puppy story with some teeth. Brian investigated unregulated “puppy mills” run by breeders who sell sick animals to unsuspecting buyers. The story revealed how there’s little anyone can do to prevent the practice. “Populated by cash-hungry breeders and brokers, the puppy industry grinds on across Texas, unburdened by laws that would ensure the health of its stock,” Brian wrote. It’s a heart-breaking read.

Developers vs. the U.S. Army: We’ve written a lot of stories about the conflict between the U.S. Army’s Camp Bullis, and the real estate developers who want to develop new neighborhoods nearby. A tiny, endangered bird called the golden-cheeked warbler is caught in the middle of the squabble. Josh Baugh found out a San Antonio lobbyist was behind an effort to amend the Texas Constitution and allow investment zones near military bases — including Camp Bullis. Baugh’s article revealed local officials didn’t want the amendment to pass.

Hard times hit home in San Antonio: My girlfriend Jennifer Hiller has been covering the wave of foreclosures that swept across San Antonio this year. Analyzing foreclosure data, she told the human toll of the housing crisis, and maps ran with her story showing the hardest-hit areas of the city.

Mexican immigrants denied sanctuary from drug war: Todd Bensman revealed how U.S. immigration judges have denied sanctuary to immigrants fleeing the drug war in Mexico. “‘The government is fighting them tooth and nail,’ said El Paso lawyer Carlos Spector, who has lost several cases, including one by a police officer who arrived in El Paso with eight fresh bullet wounds.”

Southwest Airlines ticket scandal: Guillermo Contreras covered an unusual scandal at the Bexar County courthouse: Thousands of stolen airline tickets were sold at a discount to county employees — including judges and other public officials. Guillermo obtained a database of ticket purchases showing which employees bought stolen tickets, how much the tickets were worth, and where the employees flew. The database was posted online for readers to examine themselves and understand the sheer scale of the operation.

Uncovering an “embarrassing” arsenic problem at UTSA: Education Writer Melissa Ludwig found a story that the University of Texas at San Antonio would prefer go untold — elevated levels of arsenic at a campus greenhouse. Internal e-mails Melissa obtained show the school viewed the arsenic problem as “an embarrassing public relations problem” for the university. The problems were laid bare on the newspaper’s front page.

CPS Energy’s nuclear plans fizzle: A team of reporters spent months examining CPS Energy’s controversial proposal to expand the South Texas Project nuclear plant in Matagorda County. Anton Caputo and Tracy Idell Hamilton have led the coverage with scoop after scoop about the real costs of the project, and how CPS kept them hidden from the public. The newspaper set up a Web page where readers could check out online resources and the latest stories about the controversy.

I’m not here to be a cheerleader for every decision made by the Express-News or its parent company, Hearst Corp. I’m personally frustrated by the glacial pace of change at the paper — we don’t even have an iPhone app yet, for crying out loud.

But this is still a newspaper that publishes hard-hitting investigative stories that truly make a difference. As long as it remains that kind of paper, my New Year’s resolution is this: I’m going to try to stick it out.

Paul Bradshaw wrote an interesting review of Living Stories, Google’s vision of how news should be read, shared and discussed online. Partnering with the New York Times and the Washington Post, Google has created an experiment that tries to move beyond the limitations of typical newspaper Web sites.

In this great post at Mashable, Leah Betancourt profiled five journalists, including yours truly, and asked why we use social media:

There’s a lot of hype behind measuring social media ROI. But what about the payoff on an individual basis? Those who invest time into social media on a daily basis need to see a return on that time to make it worthwhile. Journalists who regularly use social media tools such as Twitter and Facebook on the job with success make it part of their daily routine, and focus on communicating quality content that’s worthwhile to recipients.

There’s good advice for everyone in this post — not just journalists. “Though this post focuses on journalists, many of their tips can be more broadly applied to anyone working with social media tools.”

I hate celebrity news. So it should be refreshing to read the chorus of complaints about the media unfairly wallowing in the muck of Tiger Woods marital “transgressions.” Here’s what reader “w_sands” posted on an Associated Press story on our site: “Woods says he let family down:”

Is this really any or our business? If any reader of this rag had anything like this going on in there lives it probably would not be known outside of their immediate social circle. And please, no feedback that because he is a celebrity we have the “right” to know. “Right” being the key word here…where are his rights? Lost because he is a celebrity? I think not!

Normally I’d wholeheartedly agree. But there are two factors about this sordid saga that, to me, actually make this celebrity story newsworthy, at least in the early days of the coverage:

The controversy was ignited by a legit news story — a car accident involving the most famous golf player in the world. The wreck raised legitimate questions. Was Tiger OK? What was the extent of his injuries? Would he be able to golf again?

The initial reports about the wreck were marred by a falsehood — that Tiger’s wife had bravely broken the windows of the vehicle with a golf club to save her husband. Thanks to TMZ, we now know this was a lie.

Once that falsehood was released publicly to millions of fans, the media was right to try to figure out what really happened.

I’ve stopped paying attention to the most recent titillating coverage about Tiger’s alleged mistresses. I don’t care. But in the initial days after the accident, I was glad to see TMZ correct the public record about the accident and get the truth out.

(Photo credit: Keith Allison)

Here’s a clever video that pokes fun at iPhone commercials and reminds us about the “amazing full-color display” of old-school newspapers.

The Web is amazing. It gives journalists a way to produce interactive graphics and videos, post breaking news and share conversations with readers.

But newspapers are easier to read. Newspapers offer huge photos and compelling lay outs. And you don’t need a Wi-Fi hot spot to use newspapers.

iPhones and newspapers are both cool. Just in different ways.

(h/t mUmBRELLA and crindalyn)