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Community journalism in theory and practice

Hey, kids, let's build an online book about how to do community journalism!


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Essential reading

Here are some sites (and books) you should check out to learn more about the topic:

Dan Gillmor on Grassroots Journalism, Etc. - Sort of the Godfather of community journalism; quit a flagship job as high-tech columnist at the San Jose Mecury News to build some as yet not public new-journalism thing.

Mitch Ratcliffe - High-tech reporter often discusses new ways of doing journalism.


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Five-alarm fire in Jamaica Plain

Neal reports:

The First Baptist Church on Centre St is being consumed by a five alarm fire. I can see it in the distance from my window, I counted six helicopters hovering above my neighborhood until a few minutes ago.

The church is the large stucco landmark on Centre St next to JP licks with the big tower. Last time I was over there, I noticed that they had a huge temporary trailer on the front lawn, big enough to hold services in so I assume it was undergoing renovations. Its always sad when we lose these old buildings.


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Life in a dome

If you ever buy a domed house, be prepared to invest some major time and/or money in rebuilding your roof:

... I finally finished the shingling in August of 2004. I did not work on the roof at all from mid-November 2003 to May 2004 though, so I only spent about 8 months on it. Of course, this was almost every dry week night and Saturday for 8 months. I have no guess as to the number of hours I spent. A rough guess is based on the number of triangles I had (80) and the time to do each one. I suspect I spent about an hour removing the old triangle stuff, and hour with the spacers/sheathing and an hour roofing it. So that would be about 240 hours total. However it doesn't count all the time spent with flashing, moving ladders, collecting debris, etc. ...

And once you're done, don't be surprised if some flying squirrels (but no talking moose) use the disruption to move into your second-floor wall.


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On the street

As he struggles against the brutal windchill on the way to work this morning, Matthias hears one of his Somerville co-residents yelling at her two tiny dogs that keep coming close to getting in people's ways:

... "Regahd the way. Regahd the way! Regahd the way foah the people." ...

Now he's left wondering: Why was she using "regahd" that way?


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Taking in the sea air

Leslie and friends ride around on the new Silver Line waterfront extension, checking out all the new stations, like the one at the federal courthouse:

...It was quite elaborate with embossed metal panels, and a huge upper concourse with violet UFO-style lighting. The escalators go up to a bright, glass-enclosed entry kiosk. Since it was a holiday, there hadn't been much traffic on the further reaches of the line, but quite a few people actually got on at the Courthouse Station for the trip under the channel to South Station. ...


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Sunset over the Dedham Mountains

sunset

We were driving down Centre Street in West Roxbury this afternoon, headed toward Dedham, when I looked up and saw one of those optical illusions that make you think you live in Colorado - low-lying clouds that looked like a mountain range. "Hey, look at that," I said to Greta, "Don't those clouds look like mountains?"

Of course, being six, she hasn't learned yet to meekly accept adult pronouncements (and here's hoping she never does): "How do you know they're NOT mountains?" Um, because I just know there aren't any mountains in Dedham, I told her, but somehow, that just didn't seem like the right answer - there SHOULD be mountains there!


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Snitchin' on Stop Snitchin'

John wonders how much effort it would take for an enterprising reporter at one of the local dailies to interview the sort of person who sells Stop Snitchin' t-shirts. To make their jobs easier, he provides a link to a shop that sells them - conveniently located across the street from the Dorchester courthouse.


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Is this really too much to ask?

The Globe today reports that Deval Patrick is thinking of running for governor.

As with their extensive coverage of Boston City Council candidate Sam Yoon, however, the Globe never asks (or reports) why.

Grr! It's such a simple question: "Why do you want to be governor/city councillor/dog catcher?" Why can't the Globe reporters get their noses out of their inside-baseball asses for a moment (Oooh, "he could be Barack Obama of Massachusetts", they quote one insider - who happens to be the guy's advisor, yeah, real objective analysis there) and give us answers to the Five W's first?


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A flight with John Kerry

Nat reports he flew back from Paris on the same plane as John Kerry - and that he waited for his baggage at Logan just like everybody else:

Senator John Kerry: No, that's not my bag. Mine is blue, and it's wrapped in cellophane.

Police Escort: Senator, this one is blue and wrapped in cellophane.

Senator John Kerry: I think it has someone else's name on it.

Nat: Excuse me, Senator.

Police Escort: You're right, it says "Property of Belinda someone." ...


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