Investigative Journalist in Houston, Texas
One of the golden rules of writing is show, don’t tell. The same holds true for stories based on public data. Check out this cool interactive map by Nolan Hicks and Yang Wang showing food stamp recipients by Zip code for the whole state of Texas.
What others are saying about watchdog journalism … Successful watchdog sites focus on audience engagement | Block By Block A healthy future for investigative journalism | Steve Buttry Memo to IRS: Get out of the way | American Journalism Review The end of the scoop | Hannah Waldram Finding new models for investigative journalism | …
Bob Costas’ grilling of accused Penn State child molester Jerry Sandusky should be mandatory viewing for all journalism students who want to learn how to handle a confrontational interview. Costas wielded a strong command of the facts. Listened intently to each answer. Asked focused questions and follow-up questions. And he wasn’t satisfied with vague proclamations …
Flustered locksmith dude: “Like, what are you doing? I don’t know … what’s going on?” Reporter uncovering locksmith scam: “My name is Brian Collister. I’m with the Trouble Shooters. I’m an investigative reporter. And you’re busted.”
Many thanks to Rick Casey, Bruce Kates, and the staff at KLRN’s Texas Week for having me on their show to talk about the Texas Highway Patrol Museum and its little-known purpose as a telemarketing operation. Check out our past news coverage of the museum, which is actually a telemarketing operation that spends only a …
The Texas Highway Patrol Museum sits on a prime piece of property near downtown San Antonio, across the street from Rosario’s Café y Cantina. Business is booming at Rosario’s, but not so much at the museum. It usually looks empty every time I drive by or hang out in King William. I’ve been curious what …
Reading Scott Huddleston’s latest update about the turmoil at the Alamo, I wondered how many people remember the roots of the problem and why the state of Texas got involved in the first place. I doubt casual readers know Scott deserves some of the credit for the changes — or the blame, depending on how …
What others are saying about watchdog journalism: Can YouTube save investigative journalism? | The Conversation Reaching more people through online video. Mundane reality behind the myth of the dashing, devil-may-care super sleuths | CUtoday Contrary to popular belief, investigative reporting is “boring hours in libraries, looking things up, tracing people, studying court reports, attending legal …
There’s nothing quite like Storify to document the craziness of a breaking news story. So here’s a timeline about the departure of Editor Robert Rivard and No. 2 Editor Brett Thacker, who both resigned in the span of two days. Their sudden departure shocked the newsroom. [View the story “Two top editors of the San …
Here’s what I’m looking at to get updates on where, exactly, wildfires are currently burning in Texas and how big they are. The information for this map comes from the Texas Forest Service and uses Google Maps, so you can zoom in on your area. Wunderground offers a similar map, with estimated smoke plumes based …