Shop Talk

The panelists discuss legislation in Illinois (SB 3773) requiring charities that receive state money to follow the state's Freedom of Information Act.

Financial statements and e-mails are among the items that would be subject to FOIA requests. Not-for-profits feel the plan would create confusion and burden organizations with extra work. In addition, they point out they are private entities.

The panelists discuss the retraction aired over the weekend by This American Life.

TAL in January aired an adaptation of storyteller Mike Daisey's one-man stage show The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs. The show looks into abuses at Apple factories in China.  It became TAL's most popular podcast, but host Ira Glass said he has since discovered Daisey fabricated certain people and incidents.

The panelists talk about Sunshine Week, which is being observed this week.

Sunshine Week is described as a national initiative to promote a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information. It's held to coincide with the March 16 anniversary of the birth of James Madison. Sunshine Week was launched by the American Society of News Editors in 2005.

This week's topic is about a survey of Americans' trust of news sources.

The Poynter Institute reports the survey was commissioned by Craiglist founder Craig Newmark. A polling firm interviewed 1,001 people. Land line phones and cell phones were called.

The survey found newspapers are the most trusted source of news -- 22% of respondents considered newspapers to be credible.  21% chose cable and network news.

The panelists discuss proposals in several states to reduce or eliminate funding for public broadcasting.

The public media magazine Current reports such funding cuts are being discussed in Rhode Island, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Idaho, and Kansas. In addition, there has been talk about slashing funding for Iowa Public Television.

The panelists discuss the problems the Society of Environmental Journalists have encountered in recent years with the US EPA.

The SEJ says the federal agency asks for questions in writing ahead of time, it wants to know what kind of story the reporter is working on, and it's slow to respond to requests for information. The journalism group says the EPA rarely makes available the expert who could be most helpful with the story.

The panelists discuss a pair of plans to bring greater transparency to Illinois government.

One allows cameras and microphones in the state's trial courtrooms. Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Kilbride announced late last month he will allow the technology to be used on an experimental basis. The Illinois News Broadcaster's Association and other media groups have said for many years that this would be a way to improve coverage of the judicial system.

The panelists debate whether journalists should be concerned about news makers using social media to circumvent reporters.

The starting point for the discussion is a New York Times piece by David Carr, who wrote about Rupert Murdoch's use of Twitter. Murdoch has only recently started tweeting and has used the platform to sound off on a wide variety of topics.

Some journalists fear news makers will use social media to eliminate the middleman - ie, reporters - and simply distribute their thoughts and information directly to the audience.

This week's discussion is about KWQC-TV from the Quad Cities and a Scottish Terrier named Chief from Burlington.

Chief's owner said someone came into his yard and kicked the dog, causing severe trauma. The TV station planned to come down to Burlington to do a story but changed its mind after Chief died. That led to creation of a Facebook page called Justice for Chief, which was used to urge the station to do story reporting that there is animal abuser in the community.

The panelists discuss Gatehouse Media's decision to have all of its newspapers laid out in one of two central locations.

Copy editors across Illinois are losing their jobs as a result of the change. The company's stock increased a full penny after the decision was announced.