John Tedesco

After online publications won Pulitzer Prizes this year, Dennis Yang at Techdirt asks if a blog could ever win:

Nothing about a physical newspaper inherently makes it better suited for doing great reporting. Print and online are just mediums, and as consumption patterns shift towards online, we should see more of this in the future.

As Yang notes, it’s unclear whether blogs that aren’t affiliated with a newspaper would be eligible to win the prize under the current Pulitzer rules. But putting that issue aside, Yang is right — there’s nothing stopping a blog from producing top-notch journalism. All it has to do is generate enough money to produce top-notch journalism. And there’s the rub.

It cost at least $100,000 for Sheri Fink’s prize-winning story about the life-and-death decisions at an isolated hospital in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Zachary M. Seward at Nieman Journalism Lab got the cost breakdown:

Fink was paid $33,000 plus $10,000 in expenses for her Kaiser fellowship, according to Steve Engelberg, her editor at ProPublica, where she’s been for 14 months. Engelberg, who was kind enough to go through these figures with me, said, “Fourteen months of salary plus benefits for us easily gets you north of 100 plus, 100, 150 or something.” He threw in another $20,000 to $30,000 for travel expenses, in addition to three months of editing and lawyering at ProPublica and the Times, which also spent $25,000 to $30,000 on photographs, he said.

Those sky-high expenses are simply out of reach for the majority of bloggers who care passionately about their niche, but who blog on a part-time basis, and often for little or no money. That doesn’t mean they can’t produce an interesting, valuable blog. But it does make it exceedingly difficult to devote the time and effort it takes to interview sources, unearth hard-to-find records, overcome legal hurdles, and tell compelling stories. That takes time — and money.

Let’s say you care about local politics and you blog about your local city council. If you’re like most people, you’re blogging as a hobby and you have a full-time job. Right out of the gate, you’re at a disadvantage because you don’t have the luxury of attending the weekly city council meetings that usually last all day. Not to mention the countless subcommittees that meet every week. And you can’t capitalize on all the time spent hanging out at City Hall, where you meet sources, learn new things, get story ideas and tips, and start really understanding what makes City Hall tick.

Newspapers have traditionally paid the most money in their communities for reporters to pay attention to what’s happening at City Hall. And the police department. And the local utility. And so on. That’s why the slow demise of newspapers worries people like Clay Shirky, who argues it could take a very, very long time until anyone figures out how to consistently produce the kind of expensive, accountability journalism that newspapers funded but are cutting back:

Now this doesn’t mean that all newspapers go away. It does mean that a lot of them go away. … Which leaves us with a giant hole, and a very threatening one. And in the nightmare scenario that I’ve kind of been spinning at for the last couple years has been: Every town in this country of 500,000 or less just sinks into casual, endemic, civic corruption — that without somebody going down to the city council again today, just in case, that those places will simply revert to self-dealing. Not of epic, catastrophic sorts, but the sort that just takes five percent off the top. Newspapers have been our principal bulwark for that, and as they’re shrinking, that I think is where the threat is.

This YouTube video features Shirky’s entire talk — it’s worth a listen.

Shirky isn’t arguing that we need to save newspapers to preserve journalism — we just need to preserve journalism. And there’s the rub.

With all the doom and gloom we keep hearing about newspapers, you’d think no one ever reads them. Tell that to Aaron Blanco.

Six days ago, reporter Brian Chasnoff wrote a cool feature story about Blanco and his company, Brown Coffee Co., where Blanco roasts fresh coffee beans in small batches to unlock pungent, fruity flavors. I live in the neighborhood and have known Blanco for several years, and I volunteered to make an online video for the story. Photographer Lisa Krantz also stopped by the café to shoot some photos.

The story, photos and video were published Sunday. And since then, Blanco said new customers keep walking in the door. Today, someone brought a copy of the article and asked for Blanco’s autograph.

“It’s been great,” Blanco told me today when I bought a coffee — and later an espresso. “The article has drawn quite a bit of business my way.”

With so many layoffs in the news business, many people assume that readers have abandoned newspapers in droves. While print circulation is certainly down, news stories still make the rounds in print and on the Web. We have a money problem, not a readership problem.

Last year, I ran into another business owner who was profiled in the newspaper, and he had the same experience as Blanco. A talented intern at the San Antonio Express-News, Jaime Klein, wrote about an obscure barbershop downtown in the basement of the Sheraton Gunter Hotel. Here’s how the story started:

The Gunter Hotel’s basement was once a men’s refuge. In the 1950s, a man could feast at Rathskeller’s buffet, get steamed in the Turkish bath and then talk shop while getting a shave, haircut and shoeshine at the hotel’s barbershop. Before venturing home, he could stop on the main level to buy jewelry for his wife.

Most of the businesses closed in the 1960s, and the hotel’s housekeeping services now surround the barbershop — which turned 100 this year, the sole survivor of the “men’s center.”

Lee Bosman, the shop’s owner, was lucky enough to see some of what he calls the “golden days.” At 27, after retiring from the Navy and a short stint with aviation company Swearingen, he graduated from barber college and started at the shop in 1975. He never left.

I had never heard of the barbershop, so I stopped by for a shave and a shine. Bosman, the owner, was raving about the article. In fact, he had it framed. And, like Blanco, Bosman said new, curious customers visited the shop after the story was published.

Bosman told me he had doubted, at first, that a young intern from the newspaper would “get” his business. But she did.

“She did a really good job,” Bosman said.

I don’t think newspapers are perfect. But clearly they’re still making a difference — even at small cafés and barbershops.

NSFW, and funny as hell.

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.