Old Stories – reposted from beat vertical

I’m adding this post to Mod 3 … just in case this is where it was supposed to be! It was originally made to beat vertical last evening.

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One idea I am considering for an article is to explore the daily, weekly, and seasonal routines of the homeless man I recently interviewed. It would serve as a means to portray the man and his wherewithal to persevere as well as provide information about useful community resources. This could be developed as a profile or perhaps as a “behind the scene” story. It could also be tailored to the Athens community (giving information about resources and the spirit of compassion here) or to a broader audience in terms of standing for the many and varied stories of homeless individuals anywhere and the types of help they need.

Some stories of interest, retrieved from NewsBank (my new best friend!) are below:

One pre-2013 article of interest is: “Beggars without golden voices”. Columbus Monthly (OH) – April 12, 2011. We probably all remember Ted Williams, a homeless panhandler who was discovered by a Columbus, Ohio videographer to have an unexpected quality – a deep and resounding radio-type voice. He quickly became known as the man with a golden voice. In addition to changing this man’s life, the story also challenged public assumptions of homeless individuals and panhandlers as an unredeemable lot.

This article used the Ted Williams story as a jumping off point to provoke compassion for a broader array of homeless people and panhandlers. It profiled several individuals in the Columbus area and provided some insights into their lifestyles and struggles. I would classify it as a story intended to raise awareness. This is probably just as relevant today and perhaps even more so since the sheer number of articles on panhandling has increased tremendously in recent years – likely indicative of its increasing incidence or problematic nature to the public. At the same time, I think the article lacked an action component. Readers may be moved to sympathy but left feeling helpless as to what they should do, what can be done, etc.

A second pre-2013 article of interest is “Long Way Home – Whatever happened to ending homelessness?” Written by Jonathan Walters, this appeared in Governing Magazine in 2012. The overall message of this detailed article was that there had been more promises regarding ending or reducing homelessness than there had been actual progress.

The article cited gains made, mostly in the form of understanding the complexity of causative factors. But it also highlighted forces – mostly governmental or structural in nature – that were impeding progress. This is a very instructive article. Regarding its relevance to us today, I would say two things – one is that as long as there are homeless individuals among us, the information is relevant; the other is that this article could provide ideas to follow up on. For instance, several promising approaches/programs were cited, and it could be helpful to see how they’ve fared out.

The third story I’ll present is from the opinion section of Athen’s Banner Herald. The title is “It’s hard to ignore homelessness when it has a human face,” written by an Athenian named Conoly Hester; published in April 2005. The author writes of uneasiness encountering homeless people on the streets of Athens and follows with a story of getting to know and coming to admire one particular individual. It speaks from the heart and is emotionally provocative. It is a story that is ever-relevant, regardless of time period. It is also particularly relevant to Athens for two reasons – one that it talks about support systems and compassion with the Athens community; a second being that it cites a figure of 436 homeless people in Athens in 2005. That figure is significantly lower today!

And just in case the last story does not qualify for this assignment (since it’s an opinion piece!), I’ll add one from 2011 that supports the idea that the number of homeless individuals is, in fact, declining in Athens. This March 2011 article in the Banner Herald was titled, “Count of homeless finds 407“. The article cites a figure closer to 500 in years previous to 2011. Taken together with information in the Hester piece above, it looks like there was a peak somewhere between 2005 and 2011. From previous research, I learned that this year’s figure stood at 225. In a previous post (Where I’m at) I wrote about errors inherent in the counting system; however … the downward direction seems indisputable!

Fashion and Lifestyle Organizations

Athens Fashion Collective
Southern Bon Vivant (formerly known as Make it Work Molly)
My_Athens and My Athens Style
Atlanta Magazine
Various tattoo parlors (considering a piece on tattoos and tattoo art): Labyrinth , Pain and Wonder, Walk the Line, Chico Lou’s, Midnight Iguana
Muslim Student Association (for potential burkini ban story)
UGA Dept. of Fashion Merchandising
Fashion Design Student Association at UGA
Student Merchandising Association at UGA

Old News on Startups

Jump-Start Job Creation through Startup Businesses

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pennsylvania) October 3, 2010 Sunday

While most believe that small businesses drive the economy, a recent study from the National Bureau of Economic Research showed that the biggest contributor to net job growth isn’t small businesses but new businesses, more specifically, startup firms. Business startups accounted for all of the net new jobs created in the U.S. between 1980 and 2005. Older and larger firms create jobs, but they also eliminate jobs through layoffs, plant closing, and bankruptcies. Pittsburgh has gone from one of the most entrepreneurial places to one of the least. It has one of the lowest rates of startup businesses compared to other regions.

Silicon Valley economy more diversified

Contra Costa Times

Silicon Valley’s startup culture is much more diversified than it was before, spread out across a broader range of high tech. This makes it less vulnerable to a bubble burst, according to the BLS. Only 1 in 6 high tech firms from 2000 still exist. But those that did survive, doubled in size. The companies now are a lot more stable and profitable.

Helping Small Businesses Survive, Succeed

The Maryland Gazette

Hollis Minor is a business counselor for the Maryland Small Business Development Center. After owning four businesses of her own, she offers advice on loan packaging, business and marketing-plan development, strategic planning, and earning certifications. Of the businesses she consults, 40 percent are startups and 20 percent have been hard hit by the economy and struggling. The other 40 percent are looking to get to the “next level.” She attributes the number of startups to layoffs that forced workers to become entrepreneurial.

I feel like these local stories on startups mirror the kinds of stories that might work in Athens. Downtown Athens is filled with local businesses and is also home to the tech incubator, FourAthens.

Old Stories

Story 1: Race for a Cause: Charity Fitness Events

Link: http://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/charity-races
Date Published: June 20, 2012
Summary: This “article” was actually a little disappointing: it’s merely a list of charity races (some themed) and how much they cost for participants. (I thought it would tell a story.) Races include the Color Run, the Denver Gorilla Run, and the Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon Series, among others.
Interesting/Relevant Today: Marginally. I don’t know that all of these races are still taking place. I know some of them, like the Color Run, are.

Story 2: Bannatyne’s Helps Member Train for Charity Iron Man Triathlon

Link: http://www.recognitionpr.co.uk/clients/id/8573
Date Published: February 8, 2012
Summary: This article was better because it actually was a story. This is a story out of Britain describing how a fitness facility, Bannatyne’s Health Club, helped a 55-year-old man, Ian Donaldson, train to race in the Ironman (they misspelled it in their article: it’s one word, not two) to raise funds for Clic Sargent, a charity that helps children with cancer. Donaldson had participated in charitable races before, but never the Ironman triathlon, which is very rigorous and lasts between 12 and 14 hours. The article also included a link at the end whereby readers could donate to Donaldson’s cause.
Interesting/Relevant Today: Not necessarily. It’s a nice human-interest story, but nothing more.

Story 3: Charity Races Mix Fitness and Fundraising

Link: http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/fitness_articles.asp?id=1181
Date Published: September 10, 2008
Summary: This article was the best of all. Instead of being just a list of charity races (Article 1) or one racer’s specific story (Article 2), this article talked about charity races in general (many themed) and told readers how to get involved in one. It’s a little sad that the oldest article I chose is actually the most relevant.
Interesting/Relevant Today: Definitely. It holds timeless tips that are still applicable today.

Old Stories

For my first story on this beat, I am interested in pursuing the idea of religiously-inspired fashion choices. The controversy over the burkini ban in France makes this topic timely, but old stories I researched demonstrate that tension in the world of Islamic fashion has existed for years.

Islamic fashion industry copes with growing pains; Supporters try to provide design choices; detractors call it exploitative. By Shaheen Pasha, Reuters. Published March 5, 2011. Located via LexisNexis.

This article opens with a scene from a Dubai fashion show featuring Islamic fashion. This lede serves as a segue to discussing the world of Islamic high fashion, which was estimated in 2011 to be worth $96 billion globally. Pasha writes that that this world is highly divided between those who would prefer that Islamic fashion feature only traditional clothing such as abayas, while others expand the category to include modest shirts, skirts, etc. decorated with traditional symbols. As different sects of Islam promote various requirements for clothing and modesty, this is not a controversy that is likely to disappear, and is as such highly relevant to my beat.

Forced to be secular (letter to the editor). By Naftalie Lavie to The Globe and Mail (Canada). Published December 20, 2003. Located via LexisNexis.

This letter to the editor demonstrates the outrage of many Muslims and non-Muslims worldwide concerning France’s ban on religious symbols (passed 2004). Lavie illustrated the feelings of many by writing “if the state tries to suppress individual fashion statements, it is not ‘protecting secular principles,’ but engaging in oppression.” As this ban is the root of the “burkini ban” controversy today, this article is useful in demonstrating how long public debate has raged over this topic.

Here’s News for Cowboys: Bandanna Can Be Religious. By Elaine Sciolino for the New York Times. January 21, 2004. Located via LexisNexis.

This article, written at the passing of France’s anti-religious symbols law, illustrates the vaugeness and (arguably) inequity inherent in the ban. “Islamic head scarves, Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses” will be banned, as will any other “ostensibly religious” outward symbol (including, potentially, a bandanna or beard). The turban of the Sikhs, on the other hand, would be permitted if it were to remain “discreet.” This article is useful for understanding the particular’s of France’s law, a law which is still in the news today.

Module 3: Research

Introduction: Knowledge is rarely just a Google away. You need to be able to find stories and sources from social media, from official online sources, and from previous stories, many of which are hidden in online databases.

Learning objectives:

Use social media to find experts and people engaged in your beat both locally and globally.
Use the Web to find news sites, organizations, and previous stories written about your beat.
Use news databases to find archival stories about your beat.

Steps to completion:

Background:

Watch this video about doing database research:

Find three older stories (pre-2013) from your beat using Lexis-Nexis and/or NewsBank. Write a blog post summarizing the stories and they are interesting or relevant today using the appropriate category and the tag “old stories” by August 31.
Find a total of 10 sources (individuals, local experts, national experts) on social media and embed their profiles in a blog post on your beat vertical using the appropriate category and the tag “social media” by Sept. 2
Find five organizations (news media, think tanks, nonprofits, businesses, local government, etc.) producing information useful and relevant for your beat. Post links (use hyperlinks, don’t paste in URLs) using the appropriate category and the tag “organizations” by Sept. 2.

Reflective:

Class discussion August 30: Research scavenger hunt and categories
Class discussion September 1: Interviews and story brainstorming

Exploratory

Follow-up research: Find five more stories from any time period relevant to your beat as you define it. Summarize them in a short blog post in your beat vertical using the tag “more research” by Sept. 5.
Come up with at least 10 story ideas for your beat and list them in one-sentence summaries in a blog post on your beat vertical titled “brainstorming” by Sept. 5.