First, some good news! The Treasure Island Special Report that ran in the SF Public Press this summer was selected for a SPJ NorCal 2010 Excellence in Journalism Award in the Explanatory Journalism category! Go team!

And after more than six months of word wrangling, a piece by Peter Byrne about the problematic investments by the University of California Regents, which I helped edit and coordinate — and which I did a little reporting for — was published on Spot.Us in August. The Sacramento News & Review ran this version of it, and California Watch gave it a nod here. There’s also talk of it being published in a couple other venues.

HYPHEN MAGAZINE

Tons of action on this front:

• In August, we were invited to serve as a mentor for NewU, a Unity and Ford Foundation initiative to support minority media entrepreneurs. Congrats to AAJA’s Toan Lam of Go, Inspire, Go! for winning the $5,000 seed money for producing some seriously inspiring stories!

• Mr. Hyphen, our signature fundraiser/philanthropy event that celebrates Asian American male community leaders, takes place on Nov. 6. You’ll be dazzled by the quality of the contestants, who are representing organizations such as the Center for Asian American Media, United Playaz and the Mabuhay Health Center.

• I’ll be in Los Angeles this week for the Kaiser National Diversity Conference, where I’ll be speaking on a panel about ethnic media.

• Issue 22 drops in December, and it’s never too late to support us with your tax-deductible donation!

NEW-ISH STORIES

Yahoo! News

Bay Area writers on Litquake, making history and the diversity of South Asian-American poetry

California Lawyer

Lawyers Meditate to Elevate Skills

East Bay Express

Retail Climate Delays Jack London Market

Passion Is Not Enough to Sustain a Business

Feeding the Demand for Mid-century Modern

The Crime Report

One Vision One Life

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And while we’re on the innovations tip, Hacks/Hackers is putting together a “storytelling/hacking” event called Hacks/Hackers Unite from May 21-23 at KQED in San Francisco. The idea behind the project is to build the killer storytelling app for the iPad and other tablet devices. The best efforts will be featured on KQED’s web site.

And finally, some recently published stories:

Retail Is Detail Says Noah Alper
Serial entrepreneur and Noah’s Bagels founder believes even the most miniscule things are incredibly important.
East Bay Express | April 28, 2010

Oakland Rezoning Could Make Things Easier for Business
Small groceries won’t be treated like large supermarkets, and yoga studios and stadiums won’t be lumped together.
East Bay Express | April 28, 2010

Some Lawyers Want to Keep Debt Collection Out of the Courts
The New York Times | April 23, 2010

New Conditions of Probation
In Texas, one county’s experiment in evidence-based probation reform has cut recidivism and revocations, saved money and served as a model for other jurisdictions.
Miller-McCune | May/June 2010

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Here are the details:

“Data to Diamonds: How to Mine Data, Build Maps, and Generate Great Story Ideas Along the Way”

Saturday, May 1

3:30-4:40pm

University of San Francisco

Registration at Fromm Hall

As more data, statistics and public records become digitally available, how do we begin to tell stories based on this material in a way that is easily understandable and useful to the public? This is a hands-on, skills-building workshop that will teach reporters how to:

*Locate and access digital data while also gaining a better view of how to gain access to information that still isn’t widely available

*Find narratives among the numbers

*Combine databases with storytelling

*Create visual representations of data using free web tools

Speakers:
Burt Herman, Hacks/Hackers (moderator)
Burt Herman is founder of Hacks/Hackers, a nationwide organization of journalists and technologists, and co-founder of Publitweet, a real-time curation platform. As a bureau chief and correspondent for The Associated Press for a dozen years, he reported from Europe, the former Soviet Union, Asia, the Middle East and the U.S. Burt was a 2008-9 Knight journalism fellow at Stanford University.

Michele Horaney, MAPLight.org
Michele M. Horaney APR is communications director at MAPLight.org. Previously, she was manager of public affairs at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. Earlier in her career, she was an editor and reporter at the Marin Independent-Journal in Novato, CA, and at newspapers in Illinois. She is accredited by the Public Relations Society of America.

Jim Morris, Center for Public Integrity’s Data Mine Project
Jim Morris has been a journalist since 1978, focusing on public health, labor and the environment. He has won more than 50 awards for his work. He directs the Center for Public Integrity’s Data Mine project, which highlights federal data sets needlessly being withheld from the public.

Len De Groot, Knight Ditigal Media Center
Len De Groot is a Digital Media Trainer for at the Knight Digital Media Center at the Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. Previously, he was the graphics director for WSFL-TV and the Sun-Sentinel newspaper in South Florida, created and directed news graphics for print, interactive graphics for the paper’s Web site and animated news graphics and packages for a morning television news show and television station promotions.

More information about the conference (including a downloadable schedule) is viewable here.

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Now in its third year, Journalism Innovations is the West Coast’s premiere showcase for groundbreaking journalism ideas, media innovation and community networking. Produced by the Society of Professional Journalists-Northern California, Independent Arts and Media, The University of San Francisco, and the G.W. Williams Center for Independent Journalism, Journalism Innovations is playing a vital part in shaping the next phase of the industry.

This event, combined this year with the SPJ Region 11 Spring Conference, will bring in hundreds of working journalists, educators, advocates, citizen media-makers, inventors, recruiters, students and job seekers.  Join the leaders shaping the future of news. Register today, or sponsor to gain high-profile exposure for your organization! Visit the conference website or join our Facebook group for the latest details.

Download a schedule here.

BONUS! All attendees will be registered in a drawing to win free registration for this year’s national SPJ convention in Las Vegas.

DOUBLE BONUS! RemakeCamp unconference on intersection of media & technology follows immediately after JI3 on Sunday, May 2.

When: April 30-May 2

Where: University of San Francisco campus.

How much: Sliding scale. Register online today!

– via Society of Professional Journalists — Northern California.

“Your Views on Local News”

A Town Hall Forum

Community members will have a chance to discuss their views about the local news with a dozen leading figures in journalism, education, business and politics at a town hall meeting produced by the Society of Professional Journalists, Northern California Chapter, on Thursday, March 25.

“Your Views on Local News – A Town Hall Forum” will take place from 5:30-7:30 pm in the Koret Auditorium of the main San Francisco Public Library in Civic Center. Admission is free.

We’ll discuss how the current crisis in the news industry creates opportunities for the public to help shape new kinds of journalism that contribute to a vibrant democracy. The conversation will explore strategies and business models for ensuring robust and reliable news coverage in a changing economic, technological and social environment.

Participants will include:

- Craig Aaron, senior program director, FreePress

- Mark Adkins, president, the San Francisco Chronicle

- David Callaway, editor in chief, MarketWatch.com

- Sandy Close, executive director, New America Media

- Paul Connolly, senior vice president, the TCC Group, manager of the Challenge Fund for Journalism

- Ron Dellums, Oakland mayor and former congressman

- Glenn Frankel, Pulitzer Prize-winning Stanford professor and former Washington Post London Bureau chief

- Lisa Frazier, publisher, Bay Area News Project

- Dr. Dina Ibrahim, assistant professor for Broadcast and Electronic Communications, San Francisco State

- Pat Kenealy, managing director, IDG Ventures SF

- Barry Parr, media analyst and entrepreneurial publisher, Coastsider.com

- Venise Wagner, Journalism Department chair, San Francisco State

Sandip Roy and Hana Baba of public radio station KALW-FM will moderate. The program will be recorded and broadcast by SFGTV, San Francisco’s government channel.

Thurs., Nov. 12
,  6 pm – 8 pm

Bloomberg/San Francisco bureau office

Pier 3, Suite 101

Childhood Obesity: Strategies and Solutions from Bay Area Experts

Stories about food, nutrition, and the health impacts of eating are all over the media lately. The topic is especially significant for kids, who continue to tip the scales more than their peers even a decade ago and risk heading into adulthood with medical conditions that used to be for adults only. What can be done? Bay Area experts are doing some good work to solve this problem; our speakers are among this group, and share some insights and recent work that will inspire story ideas that will resonate with your readers and listeners.

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Re-making the news Across the Border

Discussing International news coverage with Franc Contreras and Laura Villafuerte

Wednesday, Nov. 18, 6:30 pm-8:30 pm

Harney Science Center, Room 127

University of San Francisco

For nearly 15 years, journalist Franc Contreras has been reporting on Mexico for major international news media organizations, covering virtually every major political and economic story that has taken place since 1996 –including two presidential elections, investigations on human rights abuses, immigration to and from Mexico, and Mexico’s so-called war on drugs. Franc’s reporting often delves deep into the social causes behind these important stories. He also has reported from most countries in Central America, Argentina, Colombia, Haiti and Venezuela.  Franc is currently a Mexico correspondent for Al Jazeera English Television.

Laura Villafuerte began her journalism career in 1992 anchoring a daily cultural and social affairs program for the Mexican Radio Institute (IMER), a non-profit network heard across Mexico. She worked for several years as a news reporter and editor, and studied how the national news media helped the Institutional Revolutionary Party.

For more info on both events:

Events « Society of Professional Journalists – Northern California.

The Northern California Chapter of The Society of Professional Journalists and honorary chairs Robert J. Rosenthal, Executive Director of the Center for Investigative Reporting, & Brenda Payton, Independent Journalist INVITE YOU TO THE 2008 – 2009 Excellence in Journalism Awards Dinner

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

JILLIAN’S AT THE METREON

101 4th St., San Francisco

6 p.m. – No-Host Cocktails

7 p.m. – Dinner

Tickets:SPJ Members: $33, Non-members: $43

After Oct. 23, 2009: SPJ Members: $38, Non-members: $53

Purchase tickets online.

Make Checks Payable to SPJ/Norcal

Mail to: SPJ Dinner1305 18th St. #7, San Francisco, CA 94107

For more information: spjdinner@gmail.com

– via 2008-09 Excellence in Journalism Awards Dinner « Society of Professional Journalists – Northern California.

Thursday, Oct. 15, 6 to 8 pm
San Francisco Chronicle
100 Fifth Street
San Francisco
Accessible via BART (Powell St. station) and car (parking garages nearby)

ADMISSION:
$5 for SPJ and AHCJ members; $7 for nonmembers

Please RSVP to Bay.Area.AHCJ@gmail.com so we know how much seating to set up. Light refreshments will be served.

DETAILS:
FOI and Public Records Workshop: Smart Tips for Journalists

In these times of shrinking budgets and staff, reporters are more challenged than ever to get the information — especially public information — they need for thorough stories. What changes — if any — have occurred under the Obama Administration that make it easier to have requests for documents honored in a timely manner? Our speakers will provide background, examples, and smart strategies on these topics:

How FOI has changed (if it has) from the Bush to Obama administrations, examples of recent lawsuits, and how to navigate FOI hurdles.

How the California Public Records Act has changed in the last year, examples of what precipitated legal action, how to make requests, and what to if you get no response or have difficulty getting records.

What a reporter can do to translate hundreds of thousands of records into a digestible and comprehensive database.

The panel
Marcia Hoffman is a staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. She works on government transparency, civil liberties, and intellectual property issues and co-established EFF’s FOIA Litigation for Accountable Government (FLAG) Project. Documents made public though her work have been reported by the New York Times, Washington Post, National Public Radio, Fox News, and CNN, among others.

Michael Risher is a staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, where he handles a wide range of cases involving freedom of expression, open government, criminal justice, and other civil liberties issues.

Philip Reese is a reporter on the projects and investigations team of the Sacramento Bee. He specializes in data analysis and has been with The Bee for five years. After reviewing hundreds of thousands of records, Reese figured out a way to develop a comprehensible database on emergency room visits to hospitals.

The panel will be moderated by health care reporter Laurie Udesky, whose articles and multimedia pieces on health and public policy have appeared in The Lancet, Salon.com, and on Consumer Health Interactive, among other news outlets. She has won national and regional awards for her work.

Remember to RSVP at Bay.Area.AHCJ@gmail.com.