Something’s afoot at the LA Daily News

This is interesting:

The Los Angeles Daily News is seeking reporters for an innovative citizen journalism project that will produce online and print products. We’re looking for energetic journalists who can do it all. Jobs involve reporting and writing stories, basic photography, editing and organizing reader submissions, meeting with community groups and managing Web sites. Salary is based experience.

Apply via e-mail only. Send a cover letter, resume and six to 10 work samples to newsjobs@dailynews.com. Please put “community reporter” in the subject line.

My Magic 8-Ball says “blog-based online-only/mostly journalism to try and recapture the readers fleeing traditional print for the Internet.” (It’s a very special Magic 8-Ball.)

SPJ Awards 2005: The High Desert winners list

Well, Peter and I just got back from tonight’s Society of Professional Journalists award dinner in Riverside. It’s always interesting seeing all the journalists in attendance, particularly what everyone feels is the dress code; there were folks there who looked like they were at prom, while there were others in jeans and ratty sweaters. (I split the difference, myself.)

The Daily Press, Desert Dispatch and Hesperia Star all had winners at this year’s awards in the circulation under 50,000 division:

Peter won third place in the News Photo division for his memorable “Pacific Storm” photo, of a flooded Rock Springs Road:

I picked up second place in Best Feature Story for They Ain’t Scared of No Ghost, second place in Best Law Enforcement/Legal Affairs Story for High-Flying in Hesperia and third place in Government/Political Story for Is Hesperia Casino Really Terminated?

This is my second award for a law enforcement story in two years, which I suspect will give a deceiving picture of what I was covering at the Hesperia Star in years to come. It’s also my second casino-related award, which is more indicative.

I didn’t bring my notebook with me to record what all the Daily Press and Desert Dispatch reporters won for, but fortunately, someone from the DP did: Local journalists bring home awards. (The staff reporter missed that Justin Boggs got both second and third place in the cultural/diversity writing category, though — he was at our table.)

Judges’ comments should be up on the official SPJ site next week, and I’ll link to them when they’re posted.

Deadline to register to vote in June 6 election

A press release from the San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters:

The deadline to register to vote in the June 6 Direct Primary Election is May 22.

You must be registered within the county in which you live at least 15 days before the election. If you are registered in the county but have moved to another address in the county, you can request an address change in writing, or if you have changed your name, you need to re-register. Voter registration forms are available at DMV offices, Social Security offices, post offices, libraries, city halls, political party headquarters, and from the Registrar of Voters office.

Registered voters who wish to vote by mail must also apply for an absentee/mail ballot soon. It is not necessary to be “absent” to request an absentee /mail ballot. This option is available to all voters. All absentee ballot applications for the June 6 Direct Primary Election must be in the hands of the Registrar of Voters no later than 5:00 p.m. on May 30, 2006.

Absentee applications are available on the back cover of the sample ballot, on the Internet at http://www.sbcrov.com, or from the Registrar of Voters office Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

In lieu of the pre-printed application, an eligible voter may send a letter of request that must contain all of the following information:

1. Voter’s Name
2. Name of the Election for which the ballot is requested
3. Voter’s residence address
4. Where the ballot is to be mailed if different from the residence address
5. Voter’s signature

Mail requests to: Registrar of Voters, 777 E. Rialto Avenue, San Bernardino, CA 92415-0770 or fax to: (909) 387-2022. For more information, call (909) 387-8300 / Toll Free (800) 881-VOTE / TDD (909) 387-2788.

I know that local and regional politics aren’t as sexy as national politics, but I strongly believe they have much more day to day impact on Americans. And since so few people tend to vote, one person’s vote carries quite a bit more weight.

Eighth grade AVID Symposium

I just got back a little while ago from the Eighth Grade AVID Symposium for rising ninth graders. It was a pool of about 150 students from Hesperia Junior High School and Ranchero Middle School and was held at the Novack Center.

I followed a doctor, who followed a former police chief, so it was a bit intimidating getting up to tell kids about the value of a college education, especially as I was the one thing between them and their pizza lunch.

But I hammered on the theme that few people know what they want to do with their lives. I wanted to be a DJ and only a B-106 disc jockey in DC got me to go to Virginia Tech instead of the Columbia School of Broadcasting. I went on to discover I hated being stuck in a booth that smelled like BO, coffee, cigarettes and old nacho cheese, and stumbled into journalism, where I clicked. But I also created Web pages for the Los Angeles Times Syndicate, did PR (and some videogame testing) for Blizzard Entertainment. While there were some questions about the journalism thing, it was, unsurprisingly, Blizzard that was the most interesting thing for them. (And hey, more girl middle schoolers wanted to talk about World of Warcraft than boys did. Go, go gamer girls!) I pimped the Blizzard Jobs page, especially its document that talks about how to get a job in the videogame industry (which I did a rewrite on when I was at Blizzard) and JournalismJobs.com and other career-specific resources.

All told, it went better than Career Day at Hesperia High School but not quite as well as reading at Topaz Elementary School. Middle schoolers, particularly hungry middle schoolers, are a tough crowd.

I’m already getting tired of Election 2006

It’s only May, and I already want to scream. It’s not the candidates (yet), it’s the ridiculous shell game of fake grass roots activists.

Real grass roots folks are great, and interesting for a journalist. Unfortunately, in this modern world (with its highly organized political machines at every level of government), they’re vastly outnumbered by fake grass roots folks who all speak off the prepared talking points sent out by the various political groups (even the groups that deny that they’re actually groups). The bad news, though, is that fake grass roots people aren’t as practiced speakers as the actual political professionals, and they will stick very close to the script, giving the game away.

If people would just come in and say, “hey, I’m here from (fill in the group), and we have some issues we’d like to discuss with you,” that’d be great, and it would be building an honest relationship. As it is, I’m half-inclined to ignore their whole point of view entirely because they lie to my face and expect me not to notice. Don’t insult my intelligence.

Six months to Election Day …

• It turns out there’s a name for this: Astroturfing.