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CNN.com Asia writes that the popularity of texting in China is throwing the communist goverment into conniptions. Texters accused of “rumor mongering” or spreading “information harmful to the state” can face 10 days in jail and a hefty fine. With 500 million cell phones in China, it doesn’t really seem practical to jail everybody. The story notes that China has vowed to liberalize its free speech policies as a host of the 2008 Olympics. Just wait until those “bourgeois” Westerners get into the country, with their crazy free speech ideas and wild ideas about democracy! Hope the censors have their heart attack medicine ready. Thanks to the “Journalism and the World” blog for the lead on this piece.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to my Reader! It’s hard to explain Christmas in Florida to someone who’s shoveling a foot of snow off his sidewalk. The season is a unique experience when you can go swimming at the beach on Christmas Day. Roy Peter Clark, dean of the Poynter Institute of Media Studies, has a very musical description of what it’s all about here during this special time of the year. It’s very funny, and you might even end up humming the tune afterwards!
If you’re an average Internet user, you get 40 spam e-mails a day offering some device or pill that will produce a longer penis, or bigger breasts. Aren’t you tired to having to deal with such crap EVERY DAY?! EVERY HOUR? It’s easy to lose your perspective with such an onslaught of garbage. Was the Internet really invented for this? One blogger reminds us to keep our sense of humor about it all.
The St. Petersburg Times ran my latest story in today’s edition of the Neighborhood Times. It’s about the 40th anniversary of the Old Roman Catholic Church in Florida.
The 2nd Annual Cushing Niles Dolbeare Media Awards recognize print journalists who do an exemplary job of illuminating the affordable housing crisis in the United States. The awards will honor first-prize winners with a $2,500 prize. Winners will be recognized during a reception on February 25, 2008 in Washington, DC. Honorable mentions will also be recognized.
The awards are named in honor of the late Cushing N. Dolbeare, long-time housing advocate and founder of the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC). The goal of the awards is to recognize print journalists who make a dedicated effort to inform the public about the inequities in housing and to add to the understanding of the disparities between the well-housed and the poorly or un-housed in a community, and to encourage journalists who do not normally cover low income housing issues to do so.
The awards are presented by NLIHC and were made possible by a grant from Andre Shashaty, editor-in-chief of Affordable Housing Finance magazine, a publication of Hanley Wood, LLC.
Categories:
1. Single story
- Daily Newspaper (circulation less than 100,000)
- Daily Newspaper (circulation 100,000 or more)
- Non-Daily Newspaper or Magazine
2. Series of articles
- Daily Newspaper (circulation less than 100,000)
- Daily Newspaper (circulation 100,000 or more)
- Non-Daily Newspaper or Magazine
3. Editorials
- Daily newspaper or non-daily newspaper or magazine, any circulation size
Rules:
- Entries must be published between January 1 and December 31, 2007.
- Entries must be postmarked no later than January 7, 2008.
- Authors may nominate themselves or be nominated by others.
- Each entry should include three copies each of the completed entry form, statement (see details below) and the work to be considered, as well as the $35 fee. Checks and money orders should be made payable to: National Low Income Housing Coalition.
- On the entry form, include the date of publication of the work being entered. Be sure the name of each journalist who worked on the entry is listed on the entry form. Entry forms are available www.nlihc.org/cndma.
- There will be only one winner in each category. No ties will be awarded. If a team of writers wins, members of the team must share the $2,500 prize.
- Contestants may enter as many categories as desired. Each entry should include the $35 fee.
- Each article or editorial entered must include the name of the newspaper or magazine and the date it was published.
- Entries should measure no more than 8.5X11 inches with each story isolated in a legible type-size at least as large as originally used. Legibility is essential.
- If a full newspaper page is required to make clear the full scope and impact of the material entered, it should be appended as a supplement to the entry and should be reduced in size to fit on an 8.5X11 page.
- We prefer original clips but photocopies of original material are acceptable. You may also reformat a story’s original and unaltered electronic type so the material fits better on an 8.5X11 inches page.
- Incomplete entries will be disqualified. Entrant will not be notified of such disqualification nor will their entry fee be refunded.
- Material submitted for the contest will not be returned. Winning entries may be reproduced or posted on the NLIHC website for educational or other purposes.
Statement:
The statement may be written by the author of the work being considered or the person who is nominating an author for consideration. The statement should include:
- A summary of the story or series.
- A discussion of any major findings and/or subsequent results.
- A short review of the process followed to get the story, including information about the circumstances that prompted the story, the length of time taken to report, write and edit, and an account of any difficulties or unique aspects that arose while obtaining the story.
- Any significant challenge to the honesty, accuracy or fairness of an entry, such as published letters, corrections, retractions, as well as responses by the newspaper or magazine.
Eligibility:
All work must focus on the issue of safe, affordable housing and the shortage or inability/struggle to attain adequate housing in the United States.
Entries must show the impact on communities as a whole, not simply on individual families, and clearly illustrate NLIHC’s mission to address needs and solutions of affordable housing.
Entries are limited to articles and editorials published in a publication intended for the general public.
Housing industry publications including real estate, construction, resident and other housing-related publications are not eligible for consideration. Hanley Wood LLC publications are not eligible.
Entries must be published between January 1 and December 31, 2007.
Photography is not eligible for consideration.
Judging Criteria:
- Depth of research and documentation
- Style
- Accuracy and Completeness
- Readability
- Interest
- Social, cultural or political context
- Reporting challenges and impact (as described in statement required with each entry)
- Demonstrate clear understanding of affordable housing issues
- Demonstrate how the article or series had an impact or prompted action on the issue (as described in statement required with each entry)
- Creativity in coverage of solutions to affordable housing crisis
The judging panel will include be made up of at least 50% journalists.
For more information, please contact:
Nicole Letourneau, nicole@nlihc.org, 202-662-1530 x227
Erika Lewis, erika@nlihc.org, 202-662-1530 x222
