Investigative Journalist in Houston, Texas
Even people living outside Texas have heard of Don’t Mess with Texas, the public relations campaign by the Texas Department of Transportation. TxDOT wants to persuade litter bugs to stop throwing trash out of their cars. Buy what exactly do people tell TxDOT when they report a litterer? In her newspaper column today, Peggy Fikac …
The crackly radio chatter of police, firefighters and paramedics doing their jobs has always been a lively soundtrack in the newsroom. But Columnist Scott Stroud explains how the scanner traffic in San Antonio is about to grow quieter: Related: Fake Steve Jobs misses the real point Starting today, reporters at the Express-News and other local …
What others are saying about watchdog journalism: Read more: Meet Chris Lykins, the funny weather guy at the Express-News
Investigative Reporters and Editors is in the middle of a fundraising campaign. If you care about watchdog journalism, you might want to think about helping the cause. I first heard about IRE from Ken Dilanian, who was an investigative reporter for the San Antonio Express-News in the mid-1990s. I was a skinny dude with a …
If you’re researching a topic related to the federal government, chances are the Government Accountability Office has already looked into the issue and published a detailed report about it. Now the GAO, the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress, is going all social media on us by setting up accounts on Twitter and YouTube. Related: A …
News University gave a recent Webinar hosted by Matt Thompson about effective ways to design and write a successful blog with a robust community. Thompson offered key tips for reporters, who are often told to go forth and blog but don’t receive much guidance about what makes a good blog. Many journalists, who have spent …
What others are saying about watchdog journalism: Reflections of a Newsosaur: Alan Mutter interviews venture capitalist John Thornton, who put up $1 million of his own money to help fund the Texas Tribune, a Web-based, nonprofit news organization that recently hired five top-notch journalists. Frank Rich: The real reason why Walter Cronkite was the most …
Using the Texas Public Information Act, reporter Karisa King obtained a huge database that tracks property tax protests in Bexar County and San Antonio. She analyzed the data and here’s what she found: Everybody wants lower property taxes. But those with the least ability to pay rarely protest their appraised values, while owners of upscale …
Today’s front page of the San Antonio Express-News was dominated by stories that all relied on public records: Karisa King analyzed a public database that tracks property tax disputes in Bexar County. “Everybody wants lower property taxes. But those with the least ability to pay rarely protest their appraised values, while owners of upscale homes …
What others are saying about watchdog journalism: The Nonprofit Road: Reaction to the Texas Tribune‘s surprising acquisition of Texas Weekly, and its hiring of five reporters who prize enterprise journalism. Temple Talk: John Temple continues profiling Pulitzer-prize winning journalists who have left the business during tough times for newspapers. Silverton Saves its Paper: Cool video …