Bernice Yeung

Last year, I joined the board of Hyphen magazine. After a multiple-year hiatus from the organization, it’s been pretty amazing to return to the fold and see how it’s grown from something that a bunch of us dreamed up in Annie and Titania’s kitchen into an award-winning entity.

Still, as an independent publication run by an all-volunteer staff, it remains a labor of love for the many people affiliated with Hyphen. Your support — whether through a tax-deductible donation or through spreading the word about us — is especially appreciated at a time when the entire journalism industry is searching for strategies to keep the publication of newspapers and magazines viable.

Back in 2002, when we were just getting Hyphen off the ground, I used to joke that we should’ve made an accompanying reality TV show to chronicle the drama, hilarity and hi-jinks that ensued in those early days. But we stuck it out and figured out a way to start a magazine from scratch with zero funds because we were driven by a common desire to see more diverse images and read more complex stories about Asian America.

After all these years, this desire for a broader and more nuanced documentation of American life is what continues to motivate my support for Hyphen. I hope you’ll join me in whatever way you can.

READ here.

DONATE here.

A big thanks to Hyphen’s fiscal sponsor, Independent Arts & Media!

Strategies and Solutions from Bay Area Experts

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.

Another hyperlocal news site launches. This one in my own backyard!

Here’s a bit of background on Oakland Local:

Oakland Local is an independent, non-profit community news and information hub, connecting community and news. Our site combines original investigative and feature reporting with community news and information about Oakland non-profit organizations, community groups and engaged citizens.

– via What is Oakland Local? | Oakland Local.

David Carr writes about the release of a 100-page report on the future of newsrooms and journalism in today’s NYT. Commissioned by the Columbia University Journalism School, the report recommends:

… tinkering with the tax structure to accommodate nonprofit status for news-gathering organizations, persuading philanthropic foundations to fill the funding gap in more permanent ways, involving universities in news gathering, and opening up databases to make them more useful for both pro and pro-am efforts.

The report, “The Reconstruction of American Journalism,” also proposes that the government should throw down some cash-money to support public interest journalism:

“We are just suggesting that certain kinds of reporting are a public good and should be funded as such,” Mr. Downie said. “There are plenty of precedents and I don’t think that government support necessarily means government control.”

He knows that the very idea of government-financed media will put some people in a tizzy, but said, “We are at something of a pivot point, a very real crisis that is happening right now.”

Well, I, for one, don’t see why there’d be a tizzy over government-funded journalism in the public interest (we already have workable examples from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and National Public Radio). What I’m in a tizzy about is this continued insistence on a purely market-driven model of journalism.

– via The Media Equation – What Would It Take to Support a Newsroom? – NYTimes.com.

2009 Excellence in Journalism Awards Dinner

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.

There’s a new online pub in town! It’ll cover “design for a shareable world.” I personally feel like they’re tapping into the zeitgeist… Congrats Jeremy and Neal!

Some words from the founders:

Shareable.net tells the unfolding story of sharing. We cover the people, places, and projects that are bringing a shareable world to life. And share tools, tips, and how-to’s to make a shareable world real in your life.
In a shareable world, things like car sharing, tool libraries, and cohousing can bring us together, make life easier, and free us to focus on the important things in life. When we share, not only is a better life possible, but so is a healthier planet and society.

The successes of Freecycle, open source software, Wikipedia, Kiva, Burning Man, and Creative Commons also tell a more positive story about human nature and our future than we might hear elsewhere.

They show what’s possible when given the chance to share our stuff, skills, knowledge, money, and creativity. They show that we do not just act for our own good, but take great pleasure in contributing to the common good. They show powerful ways of organizing ourselves that will help us overcome the social and environmental challenges we face. They show that a new world is emerging, one where everyone has a chance to share, where the more you share the more respect you get, and where life is made easier because we are eager to help each other.

We tell this story because a shareable world might be just what we need to enjoy life to its fullest and save the planet in the process. And it’s already here. Shareable.net is your invitation to live in it.

– via Shareable: Learn About Us.

Congratulations to the winners!

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SPJ ANNOUNCES 2009 EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM AWARD WINNERS

HOLLY KERNAN OF KALW PUBLIC RADIO GETS TOP AWARD

Since its inception 24 years ago, SPJ’s Excellence in Journalism Awards competition has always sought to recognize those whose work reflects the organization’s ideals of integrity, initiative and achievement.

— Excellence in Journalism Competition « Society of Professional Journalists – Northern California.

Your local AHCJ and SPJ chapters have teamed up to present our next event:
FOI and Public Records Workshop: Smart Tips for Journalists

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.