The Teamsters and their allies continue to attempt to smear The NewStandard’s reporting. Here we present a follow-up letter by union press secretary Galen Munroe, then a response from TNS staff.
» Continue reading "More on the Teamsters vs. Mexican Truck(er)s Hubbub"
Shortly after our article on the NAFTA Mexican trucking program ran, I received a stern warning from the communications team at the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. I was informed by their media coordinator during a phone call that the article had basically foreclosed any possibilities of future interviews with the Teamsters. He told me that the phone call was to give us advanced notice of an official response to our story, and in the meantime, we were encouraged to reconsider the headline – the main part of the story to which they objected.
They were very concerned, they said, that the word " ‘Racism’ " in the title of the article unfairly implied that the opposition to the trucking program was, well, racist. This despite our tactful flanking of the term in quotation marks, and the fact that it was drawn from a quoted source in the body of our story.
» Continue reading "Perspectives, agendas and borders"
We've spent months working to revamp the Daily Dispatch mailing that goes out to all Basic and Premium Members of The NewStandard/PeoplesNetworks. And there's still LOTS more in the works. But for now, the major changes include:
But that's really just the beginning (and the hard part). In coming weeks and months, we'll be adding lots, allowing you to:
We are ALWAYS interested in your feedback and ideas regarding the Daily Dispatch. Please send all comments to support (at) newstandardnews (dot) net
If you aren't already receiving the Daily Dispatch, now is the time to
Note: This entry was originally posted under the byline Brian Dominick accidentally. Jessica Azulay wrote it.
I was reading on low-wage work in the United States put out by the think tank, Inclusion, when all of a sudden, a sentence stopped me:
"Some 44 million workers – about one out of every three – held low-wage jobs paying much less than the rest of us are paid."
The "rest of us."
I had been reading along, very interested to know that as someone who makes less than $11 an hour, that I was part of a much larger segment of the US workforce than I had realized. Then, all at once, I felt excluded – and by a think tank that calls itself "Inclusion."
» Continue reading "'The Rest of Us'"
Our article on progressive responses to the prevailing free-trade agenda concluded with a note of uncertainty: a workable alternative has yet to emerge in the debate over US trade policy. At least not in official arenas.
But we did come across efforts outside the Beltway to move toward a more sustainable trade model, showing that the fair-trade system may be bearing fruit on a grassroots level. Though it has yet to boom on a global scale, we thought our readers might appreciate a glimpse (or a second-look, if you’re already a fair-trade consumer) into this ripening side-story.
» Continue reading "Putting 'fair trade' principles to work"
1. CORPORATE MEDIA EATS OUR DUST
2. I KNOW SOMETHING YOU DON'T KNOW
3. GIVE THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA THE FINGER - Click www.newstandardnews.net
4. THE NEWS I TRUST ISN'T OWNED BY CORPORATIONS
5. OWN YOUR NEWS
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Since TNS reported last week on the late flow of money from big retailers to aldermen opposed to Chicago's living-wage law, corporate donors have added almost $60,000 in campaign funds for Tuesday's City Council election.
Wal-Mart sent another $50,000 into the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce's pockets the day before voters went to the polls. The Chamber took over the lead in doling out corporate cash from the Illinois Retail Merchants Association. IRMA threw in only $5,000 more to a candidate who voted against last summer's living-wage bill, while the Chamber split $51,500 between seven incumbents and a challenger since Thursday.
The Chamber also gave $3,500 to supporters of the living-wage bill.
All told, Wal-Mart and Target channeled $130,000 to the two trade groups in the two weeks before the election, and those groups spent at least $170,000 on friendly aldermen since January. More disclosures are likely because candidates have two business days to report contributions, and some incumbents have been slow to report the corporate cash.
Congratulations to Lantz Powell, the winner of our first TNS T-shirt contest.
And a huge thank you to all of the designers for participating and to our readers for helping decide the winner.
We know you want to get your hands on an exclusive TNS T-shirt, so we’ll let you know soon how you can.
Given the article we published this week documenting the millions of Americans who work without paid sick days, we could not help but reflect on our situation at TNS. One of the many advantages of being a collectively-run organization is that we at TNS can craft policies that are as worker-friendly as possible. When it came to devising our sick policy, rather than turning to a boss to set the rules, we were able to ask ourselves what we needed and then figure out a way to make that work within the constraints of our organization.
In discussing our paid sick day policy, we found that some advocacy groups were calling for seven sick days per year. We decided to follow suit, but added a twist of our own.
» Continue reading "TNS Reflects on Sick Day Policy "
Don't get stuck with a T-shirt you'll never wear. Weigh in today on your favorite T-shirt design so you can sport the NewStandard name in style.
Simply give us your feedback by posting a comment below. Please be respectful of these artists, who have graciously volunteered their talents and effort for this competition.
The TNS collective will weigh your input and post the final results shortly. High-quality screen-printed shirts will be made available to members later this year.
Our whole staff thanks each artist for making this a truly difficult decision.
Just click each image to see a larger version.
» Continue reading "Weigh in on TNS T-Shirt Contest"
Scouring legislation when reporting on a new bill seems like a corner post of journalistic practice. Obtaining these bills before they become available online, however, can be ridiculously difficult and frustrating.
The press offices of various lawmakers always seem surprised and a little put off when I decline the press release they want to feed me about a new bill instead of the actual bill itself. They often act as if just finding the bill and attaching it to an email is burdensome – and may take hours. And often, it does.
The impression that requesting legislation from lawmakers is a rare occurrence leads us to ask: aren’t other reporters reading bills before they report on them? Or are they simply regurgitating press releases? And if no one in the office can find a piece of legislation quickly, what are the members of Congress going on when they vote?
It never gets any easier to kill a story idea because TNS just doesn’t have enough staff – there’s only five us steering this ship – to cover everything that deserves attention. Here’s another story that goes to the graveyard without a TNS investigation:
This week, the Humane Society of the United States and the Ocean Conservancy filed a lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service "for failing to protect three endangered whale species: right whales, humpbacks and fin whales."
» Continue reading "Through the Cracks: Endangered Whale Protection "
The leading US-based news organizations – the and the – violated their respective sourcing policies (and any semblance of reason) in reporting on US claims of "evidence" that Iranian officials are behind attacks on US forces in Iraq. In fact, most major outlets shoved their own policies aside like crazed shoppers on Black Friday, rushing to be first to report unsubstantiated, anonymously sourced allegations that put the US further on a war footing with Iran.
Neither the AP nor the Times explained to their readers – as is policy at both corporations – why the three anonymous sources who presented a highly orchestrated press briefing on Sunday insisted on and were granted anonymity. Here are the relevant rules:
–From the ""We must explain in the story why the source requested anonymity. And, when it's relevant, we must describe the source's motive for disclosing the information.
Whenever anonymity is granted, it should be the subject of energetic negotiation to arrive at phrasing that will tell the reader as much as possible about the placement and motivation of the source...
–New York Times
» Continue reading "Corporate Media Tramples Own Sourcing Rules on Iran Claims"
Some say that the odds of convincing Congress to pursue impeachment are so slim that the focus should be on more pressing issues, such as pulling US troops out of Iraq. Sanford Levinson said impeachment advocates "are in effect supporting a strategy doomed not only to fail but also to be perceived by most of the country as a dangerous distraction from the pressing problems facing the country."
But others say impeachment is key. Elizabeth de la Vega, a prosecutor who wrote United States v. George W. Bush et al, which presents evidence incriminating the president to a hypothetical grand jury, said not pursuing impeachment is like "painting your kitchen when you have a tornado coming through the house."
We want to know what you think. Are and wasting their resources? Should activists push for impeachment, or are we all better off if they work on other issues they care about, like the Iraq war or poverty?
Activists and lawyers admitted that winning over Congress members is an uphill battle. What do you think they would need to do get Congress to change their minds? And is it worth it?
In reporting the movement to impeach the president, I interviewed lawyers who said that theoretically, George W. Bush could be vulnerable to a wide array of punishments and lawsuits if members of Congress, and the public at large, suspect him of breaking the law.
A German prosecutor is seeking a criminal into former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other administration officials over abuse at Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo. That prosecutor could also seek charges for Bush as commander in chief of the military.
On US soil, prosecutors could also pursue charges against Bush and other administration officials. John Bonifaz, co-founder of After Downing Street, said that as an example, a "courageous prosecutor" could gather military families as plaintiffs in a case over deception leading into the war in Iraq.
But those I interviewed admitted that lawsuits against Bush are not likely to withstand .
Congress members can also censure the president, a symbolic gesture that could show the president the level of disapproval directed at him.
Michael Seidman at the Georgetown Law Center said that using its power of the purse, Congress could even cut off funding for executive branch services such as Air Force One.
Our daily commentary yesterday was an about a settlement with drug company Eli Lilly in which the plaintiffs agreed to help the company obscure evidence that could help have helped future plaintiffs like them.
The author does a pretty good run-down of how this evidence was first hidden, then uncovered through a lawsuit, then hidden again, and then revealed through a new lawsuit. But I wanted to point readers to reporting we did recently on even-less-publicized efforts by Eli Lilly to hide documents showing possible wrong-doing from the public. Check it out: Wiki Writer Goes to Court Over Freedom to Link.
On February 1, the Arizona Daily Star that a state senator is seeking to "expand existing requirements" for doctors to report data on women receiving abortions to the state Department of Health. In addition to age, race and marital status, it "would mandate that doctors collect and report information such as the reason for the abortion … and other intimate personal information about the woman."
Responding to a quote in that article by Eleanor Eisenberg, executive director of NARAL Pro-choice Arizona, who said the bill "imposes incredibly onerous and burdensome requirements," a blogger at wrote: "of course it does—that’s the point."
If you find this shocking, don’t. Several states, including Arizona, already require doctors to report various pieces of information about abortions they perform, as a call to the , which researches reproductive issues, reveals.
» Continue reading "Misled by Bad Reporting"
It's not every day in this business that you can say for certain that you caught the Los Angeles Police Department, or pretty much anyone else, in an outright lie (even though you frequently do). But today, one of the nation's most infamous law-enforcement organizations called me up and presented just such an opportunity on a silver platter.
A press officer whose name I didn't catch (because she hung up on me when I stood up for TNS) called to complain about our "coverage" of an incident in which LAPD personnel allegedly beat a handcuffed man to death in front of multiple witnesses. Gabriel Voilles put together a bulletin on the matter for our In Other News... section this morning. This officer was very upset by it, immediately accusing TNS of printing lies.
» Continue reading "LAPD Brightens My Day with Big Fat Lie"
Last year, we promised big changes at The NewStandard, and we delivered with lots of new features we hope make our site more useful to you. Now that we’ve revitalized our site, our next goal is to reach out to as many people as possible and make them regular readers and supporters.
We have another make-or-break membership drive coming up in April, and our biggest challenge is figuring out how to attract more readers to TNS and how to convince readers to donate once they become regulars.
From your letters and survey responses, we’ve learned that TNS readers have a wide range of interests, experiences and expertise. That’s why we need your help.
» Continue reading "TNS Needs Your Input -- Brainstorm With Us"