Explaining Illinois' mess

For background info about why Illinois is in such a financial mess, www.illinoisisbroke.com is a good resource for journalists.

More Webinars, more discounts

Two more upcoming Poynter/NewsU Webinars where NINA members can get a $10 discount:

Online Advertising and News Site Credibility, Part of the APME credibility project. Feb. 24.

Mobile Media 101: Producing News with Your Smartphone. March 3.

If you're interested, contact me for the discount code.

And there's still time to get in on today's Webinar, "Multimedia Tools: Your 2010 Shopping List." (see previous post)

Facebook NINA / Webinar discount

Become a fan of the Northern Illinois Newspaper Association on Facebook, and learn about a special member discount for this Thursday's Poynter Webinar: "Multimedia Tools: Your 2010 Shopping List."

Including the majestic moose

For the journalist who wants to get away from it all: Iceland may become an international safe haven for investigative reporting.

Illinois Journalist of the Year

NIU is accepting nominations for its annual Illinois Journalist of the Year award. The award is presented annually by the NIU Department of Communication "to a person who has made a significant contribution to the mass media or, through them, to the public they serve, either as a result of a single accomplishment during the past year, or through a sustained effort over a longer period of time."

Any journalist employed by a mass medium, or an Illinois resident associated with a national medium serving the people of Illinois, is eligible to receive the award. The most recent honorees were Scott Strazzante, Chicago Tribune photojournalist (2008); and Bob Frisk, Daily Herald sports writer (2009).

The nomination deadline is March 1, 2010. Details and nomination form.

Radio silence

Here's a link to a story out of Burlington, Vt., but it's an issue the NINA board already has identified as an imminent problem in Illinois, too.

Without fanfare last spring, Burlington police encrypted their main broadcast channel, making it impossible to hear anything being discussed over the most commonly used police radio frequency. Several of Burlington’s lesser-used channels remain unencrypted, as does the city fire department’s channel.

The encryption came in response to what Police Chief Mike Schirling says was a growing problem: criminals, or teams of criminals, using police scanners and text messaging to anticipate and evade police. Someone listening to a scanner at home can track police, Schirling says, and relay their movements via text message to an accomplice breaking into cars or selling drugs on a street corner. The encryption will improve public safety and officer safety, the chief says.

Understood ... sort of. Couldn't the bad guys always track police, scanner or not? And then there's that little matter about the news media being able to inform the public of an emergency. Or serve as watchdog of government, including police departments that say, "Just trust us."

Those #%*! sticker ads

Pet Peeve Edition: Those sticker ads on front pages make me crazy. It's bad enough when a newspaper's flag or lead story is covered by a sticker advertising cheap beer or carpeting. (You have to peel the sticker off, and half the ink from the story underneath comes off with it.) But in election season, occasionally you'll get political ads stuck over the top of the front page -- vote for so-and-so.

To me, that crosses a significant ethical line. To many readers, it looks like an endorsement.