Looking forward to the future of journalism

Six useful tips for shooting better video of anything

Cow poo pens on Vimeo

Cow poo pens from Angela Grant on Vimeo. Angela Grant, the first full-time video guru at the San Antonio Express-News, gave me some fantastic tips for anyone who wants to improve their skills in shooting and editing video. If you’re tired of uploading shaky cell phone clips to YouTube, these pointers are for you. Angela … Read more

Good read: Book review of ‘Telling True Stories’

Telling True Stories, a book about journalism

“Telling True Stories” is a collection of essays by the most thoughtful and talented people in the business. It’s essentially a how-to book written by giants like Tom Wolfe, who wrote the “The Right Stuff;” David Halberstam, who wrote “The Best and the Brightest;” and Gay Talese, who wrote legendary celebrity profiles such as “Frank … Read more

La Villita for sale: Can Texas officials talk about closed-door meetings?

La Villita for sale in San Antonio

Express-News Reporter Guillermo Garcia broke a story last week about a confidential city plan to sell La Villita and Market Square. The plan disturbed some city councilmembers, who told Guillermo about a closed-door meeting in which the deal was discussed: Inner-city Councilwoman Mary Alice Cisneros was put on the defensive this week after revelations that … Read more

Open records: Financials of Texas charities

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is unveiling a new Web site where you can soon look up the “990” tax forms of nonprofit organizations in Texas. The 990 is a good starting point when you want to know more about a tax-exempt charity and what it does with its money. You can find out how … Read more

Top five books every student journalist should own right now

Best books for journalism students

The best way to learn journalism is by doing it. But some journalism books so deftly explain the nuts and bolts of the craft, they should be read by every journalism student, and re-read every few years when those students become working journalists. Here are my top picks: “The Art and Craft of Feature Writing,” … Read more