Lynn Walsh

A story written for the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA):

Using QR Codes to Your Advantage
Aug 27 2010
By Lynn Walsh, Texas Watchdog

QR codes are everywhere lately, on New York City garbage trucks, at music festivals and even in print advertisements.

QR or Quick Response codes are scanable bar codes that can be read by QR readers on mobile phones. Some codes just link to one website, others link to a whole list of contact information for an individual or a company.

Mobile QR apps are everywhere and most of them are free. It is also free to scan the QR codes and with plenty of QR code generators that are also free, there is no reason why journalists should not experiment with them as well.

As an individual there are plenty of ways to take advantage of QR codes. From generating one for a personal business card with all of your contact information in one code or having one specific to a website you work for-the possibilities are endless.

But how can QR Codes be used effectively by a news organization? Since QR codes are one of my new favorite things I have have a few suggestions:

1. News Scavenger Hunts. At station events use QR codes to link back to your station’s news coverage. Have fliers or printed boards with questions about recent news events or trivia that link back to stories the station has covered. The viewers would scan the code and be sent to view a story on the station website. It sends traffic back to the site while being a source of entertainment for viewers.

2. Added Value to News content. Sometimes a story could benefit from more than 15 seconds of coverage. Expand the stories on the web and create a QR code that is specific to that page of the site. When reporters are out in the field they can hand out the codes or even wear the code on clothing or a badge so people can easily find where more information is located.

3. Branding. Working for an online news publication that is new in a city can be hard at times–people may not recognize the name right away and you may not always have the time to explain it for longer than 10 seconds. Create a code that can go on a business card, press badge, clothing, microphones, cameras, etc. that can be scanned on the run. Have the code direct people to the site to learn who you are and what you cover.

4. Breaking News. Develop a code that goes directly to the station’s Twitter account or breaking news page of the website. Better yet-why not paint it on the news trucks? When people see a news van they normally wonder what the big story is–now you can tell them! Create a page on the site or a twitter account for each truck or car, make sure to update the account when it is out in the field and they could then be used for teasing stories that will air later or to create social media buzz around a story.

Technology is here to stay. Embracing it is going to only help us as journalists and the entire news industry.

Those are just some ideas I had but I would love to hear what you think? Let me know on Twitter @Lwalsh or e-mail, Lynn.K.Walsh@gmail.com. I truly believe the possibilities are endless.

A story produced for Texas Watchdog:

Covering Elections: TrentTV | Aired August 24 via newmediatv.org
Tue Aug 24 12:50:00 2010 CST
By Lee Ann O’Neal
Texas Watchdog logo

View today’s TrentTV episode on covering elections below. Hosts Mark Lisheron and Jennifer Peebles chatted with our live audience about backgrounding candidates, in-depth profiles, and issues coverage.
Texas Watchdog’s Lynn Walsh, usually behind the camera producing the show, will host the next TrentTV, a live discussion of watchdog stories on schools to air at 11:30 a.m. CST Sept. 28.

newmediatvorg on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

A story written for Texas Watchdog:

FOIA: Fun-Ongoing-Interesting-Activities
Aug 09 2010
By Lynn Walsh, Texas Watchdog

With deadline after deadline in a TV newsroom it can be laughable to think anyone would have time to file a freedom of Information act request.

On top of taking the time to file it correctly, there is always the time it takes to find the correct person to send it to, knowing what to ask for and of course waiting and keeping track of the response itself.

While a time crunch is a plausible excuse, it shouldn’t be yours. Here are some tips I have learned along the way on how to use the Freedom of Information Act and state-level public information laws to develop enterprise stories and add some spice to dailies.

1. Prepare Early

This may sound like a no-brainer but sometimes it helps to be reminded. There are certain documents that are filed on the same date every year-campaign finance reports, conflict of interest reports, etc. Keep a calendar of when the documents are due and prepare requests ahead of time that can be sent first thing on the due date.

2. Subscribe to e-mail lists

It can be annoying to have a inbox flooded with newsletters–but remember it only takes one click to delete them. Subscribe to what corresponds to your beat. E-mail newsletters will show you reports that are coming out, big trials, etc. Reports often stem from audits-request it. You may have a summary of the trial but why not request the whole court document?

3. Request Databases

Whether it is a salary database or a contract database, the information listed inside can be invaluable time and time again. Once you put in the request make sure you have access to those databases at all times. Details like salary, hire dates, contract totals a company has with a city or other government entity always add to the story and can help set your story a part from the competition.

4. E-mails/Communication

Was there a little argument at the City Council meeting? Heard rumors about construction bids being approved “in the dark?” Request all communication records: e-mail, written, phone, etc. from the players involved. Don’t forget about personal schedules, calendars, personal cell phones, personal e-mails….

Documents hold information that is hard to refute and they are always “on the record” when attained through FOIA or public information laws. Use this to your advantage!

A story written for the Radio Television Digital News Association:

When All You’ve Got Is Off-The-Record Info, Dig In These Spots
Aug 17 2010
By Lynn Walsh, Texas Watchdog

In local government rumors always seem to be flying around about personal and business connections between public officials and the community.

Conflicts of interest in local politics seem to always pop-up in conversations with sources, friends and other officials, but proving that there is a conflict of interest can sometimes seem impossible. People will tell you all the juicy details but then add that the information is “off the record.”

This leaves you with great information but nothing concrete to go on, so what do you do? Start looking at public documents, most of which are available without submitting public information requests. Below are examples of documents I turn to on a daily basis to add new information to stories or as enterprise follow-ups.

Campaign Finance Reports

These documents are gold mines of information that can help you add details to spice up a story. Who is contributing to the campaign? Do any of the contributors have contracts with the local agency? What is the official buying with campaigns funds? The key is to look at these documents even when they are not running–when major contracts are up for renewal or RFP’s (request for proposals) are submitted. The information can create great follow-up blog posts for your site or stand alone. The reports are also a great source of contact information for public officials and their politically active friends.

IRS 990′s

Nonprofits have to file an IRS 990 form with the government and most of the forms can be found online at Guidestar for free. The information listed can be invaluable when reporting on a nonprofit itself, but it can also be a source for potential conflict of interest stories. Look who sits on the board of directors. Are they getting paid for their service? Most public officials serve on nonprofit boards but which ones they serve it is not always common knowledge.

Property and Voter Registration Records

Sometimes these records are available for viewing online. Is a local official running for office and not registered to vote? Or maybe they are registered in a different state or county? Property records can be great for connecting two people to one another. Look to see who has property together, whether it is a business, a house or an apartment it can be proof that two people are connected.

E-mails

When you hear rumors of a business connection or possible conflicts of interest request e-mails and other forms of communication from accounts associated with the public officials involved during a specific time period. In the age of new technology don’t forget to include Twitter, Facebook, etc. Politicians are becoming more savy about what they do and do not write in e-mails but in high stress situations information can always slip.

The media uses these documents for national and state-wide races all the time, and during election season these stories show up everywhere. Do not forget about the local races and local politicians.

A story produced for Texas Watchdog:

What’s for lunch at HISD, and who’s chewing on it?
Mon Aug 23 13:53:00 2010 CST
By Lynn Walsh

As students in the Houston Independent School District head back to class this week new items will be dished out on their school lunch trays.
An article in the Houston Chronicle Sunday detailed some of the new items students may choose for lunch:

“Among the items debuting on Houston-area school lunch menus this academic year: yams, Brussels sprouts, acorn squash, edamame and bok choy. Sushi, Cuban pork tacos and spinach salads also will be served up as some area school districts try to meet increasing pressure to offer more nutritious school lunches. Old favorites, such as chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese, remain on most menus but have been overhauled to be healthier.”

The nutritional value of the food HISD serves students is not a new issue. HISD trustees regularly discuss food nutrition values at board meetings.

Trustee Anna Eastman has pushed Aramark, the food service company HISD has contracted this year for $5.8 million, to improve food nutritional values and make more food from scratch.

“You guys are looking at making your own yogurt next year, and it would be nice if we did not have the Trix yogurt anymore. Trix are for kids, but it is also sugary,” Eastman said at a board workshop meeting in May.

Earlier in the year, while an expanded breakfast program was being implemented at schools across the district, the debate over healthy food continued.

Eastman again encouraged Aramark to make more food from scratch. View her comments in the clip below.

The debate over healthy food in HISD has not been confined to board meetings and trustee conversations. Two blogs, First Class Breakfast? and The Lunch Tray weigh in on the food being served to HISD students.

First Class Breakfast? provides a history of the expanded breakfast program and pictures of what students are eating for breakfast at schools in HISD. The Lunch Tray, linked today by Off the Kuff and highlighted in the Chronicle story, looks at the nutritional value of school lunches across the country while using the Houston Independent School District as an example in many blog posts.

The debate over nutritional food options in HISD does not seem to be ceasing anytime soon. We want to know what you think. Are the new food options being offered enough?

Contact Lynn Walsh at at 713-228-2850 or lynn@texaswatchdog.org. Follow news about the Houston Independent School District on Twitter, #HISD.

A story written for RTDNA-Radio Television Digital News Association

Audio Tweets: The Future of Online Reporting?
Jul 29 2010
By Lynn Walsh, Texas Watchdog

A little bit of social media heaven revealed itself to me this week: audio tweeting.

It showed up as most social media news does, through my Mashable iPhone application.

But, this article on the technology and social media website is more than just a first look at how to send audio clips over social media sites. It reveals yet another tool journalists can use to better connect communities to the stories being reported every day.

Whether it is a quick sound bite or a descriptive audio clip-they can now be shared instantaneously with audiences across the world with just a few clicks.

While the possibilities of how journalists can use these services is endless, in my opinion; the greatest part is the ease of use.

Most reporters are already tweeting throughout the day as they run to and from interviews, press conferences, events, etc. Sometimes the messages are timely and deliver breaking news as it happens-other times the messages prepare the audience for what to expect in a story coming later that day or night.

Now, instead of describing the noise of the construction site or quoting a school board member during a meeting, journalists can actually share the sounds with their followers as they happen. No more typing out quotes in 140 characters or less-just hit record and the 15-second sound bite can be shared on Facebook and Twitter in less than a minute.

Some may argue sharing a compelling interview clip or providing too many details may reveal too much of the finished product-leaving listeners and viewers with nothing new to see later. I disagree.

Think about how many times you have been forced to choose between great sound bites, leaving the “leftover” sound to just be recorded over the next day. Now you not only have a way to let your source tell more of their story in their own words, but you can create a compelling, interesting and multimedia story that ropes listeners and viewers in throughout the day.

It could be an informative, day-long teaser for your audience. Plus-it is interesting, innovative and provides more levels of engagement for the community.

Another great reason to audio tweet: the possibility of increased transparency for the public. They are not just reading quotes you heard someone say, they are actually hearing the same sounds and comments you are, just a few seconds later.

As journalists across the country are expected to do more with less, new technologies can be overwhelming; I encourage you to not give-up. New technologies are allowing journalists to tell better stories that make a bigger impact in communities everywhere-embracing the changes and new technologies can help the world become more engaged and better informed.

The five services Mashable suggests are:

• Chir.ps
• AudioBoo
• Twaud.io
• Chirbit
• ShoutoMatic

The services all offer web-based platforms and AudiBoo also has both iPhone and Android applications. Short and longer recordings are both possible with the above services (Twaud.io will allow around 30 minutes of audio to be recorded and uploaded.)

Lynn Walsh is an investigative video journalist at Texas Watchdog, a nonprofit online journalism organization focusing on government accountability and transparency in Texas.

This story produced for Texas Watchdog:

HISD launches Myth Busters web page to ‘clarify misinformation’
Wed Jul 28 11:41:00 2010 CST
By Lynn Walsh

HISD is shaking up the way the district handles media relations and communications by adding a new page to its website titled “Myth Busters,” apparently intended to refute negative stories about the school system that appear in the local press.
The “Myth Busters” page appeared on the Houston Independent School District’s website over the weekend “to clarify misinformation or rumors,” the page reads. The new page has appeared less than three months after the school system hired a new communications director, one who recently said the system “may need to get better at communicating.”

Does the name “Myth Busters” sound familiar? It’s also the name — minus the space between words — of a popular TV show on the Discovery Channel that uses scientific experiments to verify or debunk urban legends and modern-day folklore, such as whether driving a car with the windows open uses more gas than driving it with the air conditioner running.

(The federal Transportation Security Administration also has a similar “Myth Busters” page on its website. According to online trademark databases, the Discovery Channel has sought, but not yet received, a trademark for the name “MythBusters.” A voicemail left with a Discovery spokeswoman Tuesday afternoon was not returned.)

HISD’s Myth Busters’ first post, published Friday, provided the district’s response to recent media reports that detailed possible funding shortfalls for summer school and other programs. “While principals may have to pay for some summer school costs out of their budgets, it will not be anywhere near the $19 million being reported in the media,” Myth Busters said.

The next post came Sunday, after Fox 26 reporter and Houston blogger Isiah Carey’s post on special education cuts in HISD. The level and quality of special ed services won’t suffer because of the cuts, Myth Busters said.

HISD did not return a call for comment on Monday. District spokesman Norm Uhl sent an e-mail to a reporter Tuesday apologizing for not returning the call.

The new web page “already resolves two myths — one regarding a reduction in special education teacher positions, and the other regarding funding for summer school, prekindergarten, and the Apollo 20 project,” the district said in a press release Tuesday.

In an interview with My Fox Houston, a local expert in social media raised concerns about the new website.

“They call it ‘Myth Busters.’ They’ve already established that everything they’re going to talk about is a myth,” Brian G. Smith, an assistant professor of communications at the University of Houston, told Fox. “Second of all, the problem is, they’re not putting any information on there where people can come back and give feedback and say, ‘Well, I heard this.’ There is no back and forth.”

HISD’s response? According to the Houston TV station:

“HISD would only respond with a written statement saying it’s working to ensure the community has up-to-date and accurate information about the district. It continues with, ‘As any large company knows, rumors can spread quickly and take on a life of their own, even when factually incorrect. The purpose of the new Myth Busters page on our website is to help clarify misinformation and dispel rumors.’”

The new pages come just months after HISD hired Aggie Alvez as new chief communications officer. She is responsible for overseeing six departments at HISD, including media relations.

Last month at an HISD board workshop meeting Alvez said, “I have received a few subtle messages that we may need to get better at communicating.” Some suggestions included new websites in different languages and more use of video.

“The mistrust has been engendered, people think that we are out there and we are talking the talk but not walking” the walk, Alvez said. “As the message gets filtered down it changes; what (the HISD trustees) say isn’t exactly what a teacher may hear in a classroom or a parent may hear.”

Watch Alvez’s entire comment in the video below.

Another change: HISD will not hold a media roundtable in August, and it is unclear whether the once-a-month question-and-answer sessions with HISD Superintendent Terry Grier will resume.
“We have a couple of press events associated with the beginning of the school year coming up,” Uhl said in an e-mail Tuesday. He didn’t elaborate and added, “more to come on that later.”

In the past, the press chats with Grier, which lasted up to two hours, happened once a month.

Texas Watchdog questioned HISD’s ban on the use of cameras during the media roundtables earlier this year. HISD said cameras were not allowed because they hampered dialogue. Back in April, Uhl elaborated:

“That is counterproductive to what we are trying to do,” Uhl said. “We want to get back to what it has always been, an open and honest conversation. It works better for reporters because they can get more information and ideas for future stories. Sometimes Grier will mention topics he is not ready to go on camera about.”

Texas Watchdog wants to know what you think about HISD’s new Myth Busters website. Do you believe the information is credible, or is it just another public relations tool for the district?

Let us know by leaving comments or sending us messages on Twitter, @TexasWatchdog or @LWalsh. Also, be sure to search #HISD on Twitter for the most recent school news in Houston.

Also reporting:
Houston Press
West University Examiner
My Fox Houston

A story produced for Texas Watchdog:

Metro outpaces HISD on transportation costs; Metro says trend is true nationally
Thu Jul 22 18:47:00 2010 CST
By Lynn Walsh

Metro spends more than $270,000 per bus in its fleet, more than seven times the roughly $37,000 per bus that HISD spends, according to a Houston Independent School District analysis that was produced this month.
“I know the cost per bus number difference is quite huge, but to be fair to Metro, they run more routes than we do so that probably explains a good portion of the difference,” said HISD Government Relations Director Rebecca Flores, who produced the analysis. Flores said she included capital costs for both HISD and Metro.

The Metropolitan Transit Authority took issue with the numbers underpinning Flores’ analysis, and said its buses have more amenities, travel more miles and require maintenance that school buses don’t require.

The HISD report said it costs Metro more than $371 million to operate annually, more than nine times the amount of money HISD spends on transportation, just over $41 million annually, the report says.

But according to Andy Skabowski, acting senior vice president of operations for Metro, the operating figure should not have included costs such as rail and the MetroLift service to transport people with disabilities. The more comparable figure is $195 million to operate Metro’s fleet of more than 1,232 buses, he said.

“The operating cost utilized in the HISD report was incorrect,” Skabowski said.

Skabowski questioned the figure HISD used to calculate how many miles per year its buses travel, saying they travel 49 million miles per year. HISD used a figure of 55 million miles, which Metro lists in its 2009 Annual Report.

Still, HISD was right about its overall thesis. According to the report, HISD does spend less money on transportation costs than Metro.

Even using Metro’s figures, the cost per bus would be about $158,000, still higher than HISD’s.

Skabowski said that nationwide the cost to maintain a transit bus is higher than the cost to maintain a school bus.

Why? Skabowski provided the following reasons in an e-mail:

* School buses are not designed for the type of service a transit bus operates. No air conditioning, they have a very basic suspension and minimal interior amenities.
* The mileage a transit bus runs in its 12 year life, (over 500,000 miles), the power plant (engine and transmission will require to be rebuilt in its lifetime. School buses never reach that mileage threshold in the 10 yr design life due to the low miles they are operated (around 100,000 miles).

Flores compiled the report after a comment at an HISD board workshop back in April:

Hisd says they have more buses than Metro and travel more miles than Metro BUT spend less money on transportation than Metro #Hisdless than a minute ago via Ping.fmLynn Walsh
lwalsh

HISD trustees requested more details and received the analysis three months later. HISD used Metro data from the beginning of October 2008 through the end of September 2009; the HISD figures are from the beginning of July 2008 until the end of June 2009.

Contact Lynn Walsh at at 713-228-2850 or lynn@texaswatchdog.org. Follow news about the Houston Independent School District on Twitter, #HISD.

Photo of a school bus by flickr user Michael (mx5tx), used via a Creative Commons license.

A story produced for Texas Watchdog:

Lee High School to get up to $1 million in structural repairs
Fri Jul 16 00:15:00 2010 CST
By Lynn Walsh

Lee High School will be repaired after Houston Independent School District trustees agreed to an emergency use of capital funds at the July board meeting earlier tonight.
The engineering firm Matrix Structural Engineers will lead the project, which could cost up to $1 million, after trustees passed the agenda item unanimously.

HISD administrators have said the school in District VIII is in need of structural repairs. A portion of the school has sunk 9 inches, HISD Superintendent Terry Grier said Thursday night.

Grier said this would not be a permanent fix and told trustees that the building will eventually need to be replaced. Grier on Monday questioned whether adding a planned running track to the campus in northwest Houston is the best investment right now. Trustees did not discuss the track Thursday night.

According to HISD, Lee High School was part of the 2007 Bond Program and received $5.5 million for renovation or repair work. The district says some of the work has already been completed but most is still in the design process.

This stabilization project, according to HISD, cannot be paid for with that pool of money, which was for “major building systems/ADA improvements,” not structural renovations.

According to the contract, Matrix will be responsible for obtaining contractors to stabilize the structure, continually monitoring the structural stability of the high school and assisting HISD in evaluating contractor proposals.

Also at Thursday’s meeting, Trustee Diana Dávila resigned. Find more background in this Houston Chronicle piece, and view video of Dávila’s statement below.

A story produced for Texas Watchdog:

An ethical quandary and our attempt to solve it
Thu Jul 1 20:01:00 2010 CST
By Trent Seibert

Texas Watchdog regularly posts clips to YouTube from Houston Independent School District meetings, which video journalist Lynn Walsh covers.

Last month, we got a request from HISD. Because of a technical difficulty, the district’s staff were unable to produce their usual in-house video of a June meeting of school district trustees, which the school system would normally save for archival purposes and make available to citizens who requested copies. Our reporter was at that meeting, doing some recording for our news website — could HISD have a copy of our footage, the school system asked?

That created a dilemma for us – one that we’re going to try to solve with this blog post.

On one hand, Texas Watchdog fully supports government transparency. We want citizens to be able to access recordings of what HISD trustees do. And certainly, as reporters, we can sympathize with HISD’s situation — we’ve all had tape recorders die, or their batteries die, in the middle of some important interview.

But here’s the tricky part: The idea of a news organization freely turning over unpublished material – whether it’s a recording or handwritten reporter’s notes – at the request of a government agency could set a terrible legal precedent, not only for us, but other news organizations.

We’d like to help HISD make its actions transparent to the public – and helping the school system might seem totally innocent and laudable to many of our readers. But imagine it’s not HISD making the request – imagine the next request comes from the police department, or FBI agents. And the tape isn’t a recording of a school board meeting. It’s video of a crime scene.

Journalists have gone to jail in this country to prevent being forced to turn over unpublished material in such situations. And Texas’ new first-ever reporter shield law, the Free Flow of Information Act, was created in the last session of the legislature to stop just such things. We don’t want to turn over our recording to HISD and set a bad example that is later used in court by some other government entity to argue that journalists somehow don’t mind giving out their source material – and that reporters at Texas Watchdog, or The Houston Chronicle, or KPRC-Channel 2 shouldn’t mind turning over their notes, too.

(Just to be clear, HISD asked us for the footage, and asked nicely. The school system at no time ever threatened us or threatened to force us to give up our video. And this note is not intended to suggest that HISD had any ulterior motive in asking us for the recording. We don’t have anything personally against HISD. We’re just trying to explain our thought process.)

In other words, we don’t feel like we can give HISD our meeting footage. But we are willing to try an alternative.

We’re not giving our meeting footage to HISD – we’re giving it to all of you, the reading public. We are posting on our YouTube page more footage than usual of the June meeting, where anyone with an Internet connection may access it, including HISD.

The clips are linked below:

An audio track from the meeting

Video Clip 1 of 10

Video Clip 2 of 10

Video Clip 3 of 10

Video Clip 4 of 10

Video Clip 5 of 10

Video Clip 6 of 10

Video Clip 7 of 10

Video Clip 8 of 10

Video Clip 9 of 10

Video Clip 10 of 10

Contact Trent Seibert at trent@texaswatchdog.org or 713-980-9776.