MOLLY HORAN

Divorced IL pols better be squeaky clean

2011-01-22T19:10:00.000-08:00

When Ilinois dems ousted [self-made millionaire] Lt. Governor candidate Scott Lee Cohen last year because [his divorce] papers revealed, among other things, steroid use and a history of violence against women, the party bet against one of their own before really knowing anything other than scandal equaled bad and thought Cohen could take one for the team.

When Ilinois republicans ousted [self-made millionaire] Jack Ryan because his divorce papers revealed that he enjoyed a more robust menu of sexual behaviors than most politicians are ever allowed, they gambled on conservative values and ultimately lost.

And when I say lost, I mean Alan Keyes.

Each candidate had already won the primary for their respective parties heading into a general election before the news broke on each of their scandals. Jack Ryan was the republican nominee running against Obama in the 2004 Illinois senate race. It was because of this scandal that the psychotic Alan Keyes was pit against Obama, and basically swore Obama into his senate seat the moment Keyes opened his mouth.

Should the media continue to acquire and expose candidates' divorce records? And should the two major political parties stop denouncing those that are caught "behaving badly" in their private lives? Do we, the public, have a right to know everything about someone who is running for office?

Consequentially, Scott Lee Cohen financed his own campaign as an independent for Illinois Governor against his former running mate, Pat Quinn, and may have competently swayed the election if he had become a more popular candidate (or been included in any of the debates).

His specialty was finger-pointing and smear in a series of hilarious ads that really didn't identify why he was the best choice for any reason other than he wasn't a puppy-killing tyrant or, Pat Quinn.

Jack Ryan founded a media company which publishes hyperlocal community newspapers (in print and online) in eight plush suburbs to the north and southwest of Chicago now. An interesting move by someone who blamed the Chicago media for his resignation from the Senate race in 2004.

In an interview with a Dartmouth College publication, Ryan told his alma mater about the implications of his situation and the troubled precedent set by it. He described his case as a new low for the political process, warning it obstructs the best people from the job of public office if we continue to expose details of personal lives divulged in divorce proceedings. Besides trying to prevent a crisis in the campaign , Ryan fought against the release of these documents because he thought (and rightly so) that it would harm his child later on.

In his divorce from actress Jeri Ryan (Star Trek), she claimed Jack brought her to sex clubs and asked her to participate in exhibitionism there. But she was in the sex club, where exhibitionism is routine, and one might wonder what else should she have expected? It was speculated that she was using this information in court to seek advantage in the custodial decisions regarding their son, and potentially a financial settlement.

It has been more or less established that Scott Lee Cohen was no prince, but even in his muddied past, there was no clear, proven, or documented evidence that he had ever been convicted of certain activities with sex workers that might have involved a sharp weapon, rather, he was only accused. In Cohen's case, it does seem that exposing his past in whatever means possible enabled the public to judge allegations that might have struck him out if found viable. The Illinois Dems decided swiftly that carrying another scandal would be too risky for Pat Quinn only after becoming governor himself in the manner that he did (Blago's impeachment).

However, the Illinois public would have been prevented from judging Cohen at the polls because of the Democratic party's decision if he were not a multi-millionaire able to make his own way in the financial black hole that is campaigning for statewide office in Illinois.

Had Jack Ryan continued in the race for Senate with the backing of the Illinois GOP, it's fathomable he might have defeated Barack Obama- even if he was trailing him at the time of his dropout. It's also fathomable that an unfair sex scandal drowned Obama's worthy opponent in the Senate race, and that Obama's then national exposure was attained in a cakewalk created by the Illinois Republican Party when they nominated a lemon.

Considering these outcomes, I'll ask again. Should the media continue to dig up candidates' divorce records? And should the two major political parties stop denouncing those that are caught "behaving badly" in their private lives? Do we, the public, have a right to know everything about someone who is running for office?

Hyperlocal Lincoln Park journalism comes true!

2009-11-17T12:23:00.001-08:00

Prompt a veteran reporter with the question, "are bloggers journalists?", and they'll likely make some statement that is quickly becoming a media maxim, "blog, blog, blog!"

Since the first day I faced down that question almost a year ago, the transplantation of print-reporters to web-reporters has been something of a newspaper mass exodus. This doesn't mean
that the news industry has become as barren as some skeptics argue; it just means that the delivery of crucial information has changed mechanics.

Though blogs-o-plenty of little utility clog the web, there are several newspaper-like platforms on the web called hyperlocal blogs that aim to deliver information of public interest.

Lincoln Park Now is the first to sprout in the ChicagoNow network, and I am polishing up my act as one of its two maiden co-authors with my DePaul journalim buddy, @Jenn Kloc.

Since launching three weeks ago, Lincoln Park Now has literally yanked some of the yesteryear's most vocal community members out of submission and connected us to those holding the cards today. And that's everybody. Promising a hyperlocal forum dedicated to both responsible truth and personal voice has been welcomed with open arms to ChicagoNow, and by anyone who asks, so, what is Lincoln Park Now?

Today Jenn and I had the chance to respond over the airwaves at WGN AM Radio 720 as guests on the fourth episode of ChicagoNow Radio, a weekly sample of ChicagoNow bloggers' own voices on posts of particular intrigue to Chicago radio listeners on Saturdays between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Host Bill Leff began by asking us about the genesis of Lincoln Park Now, to which we could only refer to plugging holes in mainstream journalism in a really vital but energizing way. By serving as an online platform to foster community engagement, we give ourselves carte blanche to both present a bundle of interesting online mentions of Lincoln Park - whether it be a heads up on what coming events might interest you, and to tie into bigger issues, like our talking points on the radio:

Lincoln Park possibly taking Fenger High School transfers,
good samaritan opportunities in 60614,
and a swirling controvery over a boutique puppy store now suing protestors for defamation over persisting puppy mill patronage accusations.

But Lincoln Park Now is growing to be bigger than even this, we say! Jenn and I bring to the table our more than Darwinian best in journalism; by respecting the audience's transition with the media to the limitless space for growth in a ferociously evolving media, we are fertilizing our digital strategy by being mindful of what matters and what has always mattered in community reporting.

Since graduation in June from DePaul, I have been devouring job postings in Chicago for a spot to show my skills, and though no 9 - 5 has yet to match my motives, joining ChicagoNow means amplifying my talent as it propels in a very public forum. Excellent, right?

Projects like these come up in all kinds of conversations in retaliation to skeptics about "what has happened to journalism." Many people expect hyperlocal coverage to appear in their traditional newsstand publications and favorite newscasts to prove that journalism "has been saved." What they will find is that this has been a year of bated breath... and soon the hiccups will dissipate. We've made it. Welcome to the flexi-media, where you, too, shape the stories of our lives.

Finally!

So I must confess, I love my new gig, and am readied to hammer away, illuminate cracks in the foundation, and post critical images on our page.

Did I also mention that besides striving for the meaningful, we also anticipate bringing new eyes to the civic scene and veteran perspectives on the issues, while continuing to ensure that if another Cookie Bar-type establishment announces an opening, we're all over that, too, with the kind of humor everyone needs to digest some of the more influencial happenings around the community.

So, Lincoln Park, it's on. Now.

Say what you mean, and mean what you say to us on:

LincolnParkNow@gmail.com, @LPNow on Twitter, and of course, the community itself.

From Molly Horan Media to DailyKos in 24 hours

2009-11-02T15:16:00.001-08:00

This afternoon I made a startling discovery, but this one was better for my health!

My report on Humana's latest scandal, their overdraft on morality take on "foot in the door" human resources, went viral, from Toronto to Los Angeles... and eventually DailyKos.

I reported on a job posting I noticed filed under "journalism" in Chicago. Humana seeks young, internet-savvy college students and recent grads to go to bat for them against public-option proponents online. To fulfill such duties, these temporary employees will recieve compensation for building a strong precense on the web.

These little lobbyists are promised a young journalist's foot in the door, but no apparent promise of access to the company's goods: health insurance. One has to ask where this foot in the door leads?

Spending on this kind of HR is partially why health insurance companies invented coverage exclusions for pre-existing conditions, or subsequently dropped coverage to those already insured customers spontaneously stricken with serious illnesses.

DailyKos selected its coverage of the story I broke among its editor's top recommendations for the day: Humana Trolls College Campuses for Whores . Also, The Progressive Curmudgeon®: Humana Trolls College Campuses For Whores" credits me for my story and reports further on the legislative restrictions for such advertising measures in the future, and the self-defeating prophecy of students accepting this kind of work. Did I mention the story has been featured on DailyKos?

Many have seen the former health insurance executive in Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story discuss his decision to leave his job as chief combat officer against the many vignettes in Moore's previous documentary, Sicko. His name is Wendell Potter, a former VP for public relations at Cigna, and in his former position, he served as mastermind behind the misleading campaigns which attract the kind of allies that Humana hopes to recruit to the Twittering position.

Funding for public relations,Wendell Potter explains, is yielded by the MEDICAL-LOSS RATIO.

In 1993, 95 percent of every premium dollar was paid out in claims.

Most recently, the medical loss ratio has declined to 80 percent, meaning 20 cents of every premium dollar is designated for marketing, sales, underwriting, payment for executives and big shareholders.

In order to achieve their target profits, the insurers deny claims, drop customers, deny new ones, deny coverage to pre-existing conditions, raise rates, and ultimately bring bankrupcy and untimely death upon some of their clientele.

Potter explains in further detail to Howard Dean on this MSNBC Countdown report:

To be fair and balanced, one realizes that the advocates for a public option are doing just the same. They are blogging (like I am blogging), tweeting, and hashing this out on Facebook and other social networking meccas. However, there is a difference.

I am not a paid lobbyist, I am a citizen desiring equal and fair access to quality health insurance. Most anyone pushing the "democratic party's agenda" is disclosing themselves and their purpose in doing so. Humana is not going to mandate that their legion's twitterverse is filled with variations of @IworkForHumana; they will disguise themselves as @FairHealthSystem and say things about the free market and confuse people into believing that freedom is synonymous with competition, and that the uninsured aren't making avail of already-existant resources: employment.

Not only do they confuse the people, they confuse the issue. They lie, they will lie, and they will be paid to lie. That is partisan reporting.

Telling the truth, no matter how liberal it sounds, is not political. It is responsible citizenship.

Humana pays to @pull the plug on #healthcare bill...

2009-11-02T00:49:00.000-08:00

Are you presently a college junior or senior sickened by all of this nationalized healthcare nonsense? Or, to paraphrase Humana, Do you have a healthy addiction to the intersection of social media and political discourse?

Even better if you're a college graduate, potentially even a skilled political communicator pedigreed in spin and capitalist jargin. Or a major metro daily newspaper.

Potato, potahto. You have an extraordinary talent for defending health insurance companies, and Google Analytics could rank you among Megan Fox or Ultimate Cage Fighting if someone would only give you a chance.

Take a deep breath and sit down. I have news. Just what the doctor ordered, apple-a-day keeps the doctor away-like genius news.

There may be a future in it for you. At least, a three-month future in it for you.

Humana, Inc, seeks work-from-dorm republicans to "intersect" with "web 2.0 channels" about health care policy.

That is not all. The relationship between Humana and journalism took a nasty, skeletal fall out of the closet in Detroit this week as the Wall Street Journal reports that Humana not only dropped heavy change to advertise beside a Detroit Free Press web-series on Medicare, they influenced the publication's editors to produce such a story, beside which their advertisement would run.

Product placement strategy is usually okay until the credit is maxxed out on your credibility card. The Detroit Free Press editorial board has consigned its news judgment department on Wall Street, and I don't like it.

In Detroit, that's called pimping, I'm pretty sure.

Two-steps forward by the publication's web producing with the searchable database feature of Medicare plans, what we like to call "data journalism," or "why IT kids are the new entry-level reporter." The one-step-back kicks in when you realize that this isn't the "democratization of information," my wisened old DePaul professor, Dr. Bruce Evensen, called it. It's advertiser-driven, politically motivated scare-mongering.

In plain English, Humana wants the elderly to fear their medicare changes and buy some Humana coverage. The link is right there.

But one last glass raised in the air for this zinger: even though Humana paid to advertise beside the story, at last glance, Blue Cross Blue Shield was dancing the marketing electric slide on the page!

If you would like to get in on this tour-de-force campaign Humana is using to cripple health, democracy, and journalism as we know it, fret not, my compatriot, I remind you, they are hiring!

The announcement begins,

"Humana Inc., headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, is one of the nation's largest publicly traded health benefits companies."

The language is difficult to dislike.

It's national.......patriotic!
One of the largest..... big papa!
publicly-traded...... like stocks and stuff!
health benefit company..... sell health at a steep price to select individuals company!

Gaining employment from my ideal employer doing my ideal position is very unlikely, but searching for my dream job certainly didn't warrent this nightmare.

I like journalism, and health, and public policy, and social media, and lets face it, sometimes I hop on Facebook like it just came back from war and I thought I'd never see it again. Furthermore, my network knows just how frequently I make jabs at the anti-nationalized-healthcare people because as someone who is STILL an aspiring journalist,

I AM NOT AFRAID OF SPEAKING, OR TWEETING, OR MAKING DISAPPOINTED FACIAL GESTURES ABOUT HEALTH CARE POLICY.

Policy provoking debate with words like nationalized, universal, and public option denoting what kind of system will best protect the most people, or everyone, from health care exclusion, makes the issue non-partisan.

The issue is of human morality. We are all pre-existing conditions before we are pre-eminent scholars on health insurance policy. It should've been in the constitution or something, but the drafters probably didn't realize their idealism would erode so masterfully.

According to Humana.recruitmax dot dot dot, they've got the perfect "assignment capsule" if you're "a fit."

At the very least, I like to circulate job opportunities. Best wishes!

Role: Political Communications Specialist (part-time, limited-term)
Location: Chicago, Ill. or work-at-home

Are you a fit?Interested in politics and political communication? Have a way with words? Know your way around Facebook, Twitter and the blogosphere?

Assignment Capsule:

Put your skills to work where politics, communication and public relations intersect. You will:

• Help manage and track a variety of online (“Web 2.0”) channels

• Build a strategic new media and social media presence • Contribute content for both traditional and new media • Get a “foot in the door” and gain valuable experience in one of today’s most challenging and fast-paced public policy arenas – health care

Key Competencies

•Communications Knowledge: You have an understanding of integrated communications planning and are good at using tactical tools, e.g. writing for different media, to resolve communications challenges.

• Implementation/Execution: You are good at organizing and managing multiple priorities and/or projects by using appropriate methodologies and tools.

• Innovate: You introduce new ideas and processes which improve performance and productivity.

• Is Accountable: You meet clearly stated expectations and take responsibility for achieving results.

Role Essentials- Minimum Junior-year status toward a four-year college degree

• Knowledge of new/social media (“Web 2.0”) technologies, techniques and tactics

• Strong organizational skills, a gift for writing, and abundant creativity

Role Desirables-

Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Journalism, Political Science, Public Relations, or related fields

• 2-3 years experience

• An interest in politics and government

Reporting RelationshipsReports to the Manager of Strategic Communications in the Government Relations Department.

Additional InformationIn this role you will be working part-time (20 hours per week)In this role you will work for a limited period of time (through Dec. 31, 2009)

How is it already July?

2009-07-07T12:19:00.000-07:00

How does the self become sufficient?

Post-graduation real world anxieties aside, I will admit that I am in no hurry to cloister myself in an office. When I'm put to a passionate task I am sure there'll be no other place for me than right on its head, but.

I'm taking time to catch up with a few things. My freckles are also on parade - which means I've luckily gotten some playtime, too! Beyond short afternoons in my favorite part-time job office... I've been cranking the digital journo wheel.

My internship co-supervisor, Don, called my work "just gravy" yesterday when discussing how to hammer out some semblance of a schedule. I've been doing some small doses of research and tagging along for Carol and Don's shoots, just to keep myself aware and finish testing the mainstream journalistic waters. At least I have a few heroes around to make sure to do so with integrity!

A few afternoon and late night BreakingTweets/BT-Chicago posts on the Illinois budget, the future MI6 head's speedo-stroll through his wife's Facebook photos page, and an abducted Irish aid worker in Darfur have all trickled down from my byline this last week.

I'm also sharpening my focus on the Irish American Newspaper's social media platforms on Twitter and Facebook. I plan to write another article or column for the publication for August... in fact, am going to find my sources this afternoon!

The biggest news on this site will drop when I've secured a job for this year.

Hope big hopes for me!

Thanks for visiting MollyHoranMedia, and don't forget, if you're looking for a writer who knows how to dig and who to call, visit my resume page.

Pen and paper in hand, student journalists all fueled up!

2009-06-07T23:42:00.001-07:00

Consider the tireless toddler who cannot be restrained. This young creature discovers mobility and will travel at lightening speed for the sheer joy of meeting its potential.

Galloping to a likely infinity, the student journalist pursues its subjects sometimes as aimlessly as the wee one, but with as much conviction as any.

Delighting me recently was a conversation I had with a press representative from the 9th Ward Alderman Anthony Beale's office about the kids who are calling her all the time.

"The student journalists are doing a better job than the major papers," she told me, commenting that part of the reason her job exists is that a newsletter needs to be produced for their ward. Beale's ward has a disproportionately high population of elderly residents whose access to online press releases can be described as an example of the digital divide.

I'm encouraged by the watchdog role of the media increasing, according to some, even though opinion is split.

A recent commute home planted me beside a few lawyers from the Federal Courts downtown who, when asked, reminisced of the days when beat reporters would mob around the courthouses. There's been a remarkable absence these days of that kind of coverage, so my neighboring Metra passenger explained.

If citizen journalists are picking up some of the slack, I think there is something to be said for their training to take place, too. If we're in a time of revolution, access to education is key.

Let all the infant bloggers mature to hard-hitting web reporters through free access to journalistic training!

Great thing is, journalists are always ready to share information., and maybe this new wave will break find new methods of breaking barriers around some politicians.

It seems the cries of youth are loudest, these days, anyway.

From Student to Reporter: The Senior Capstone Media Project

2009-06-07T22:51:00.000-07:00

This set of interviews with Dr. Lou Rutigliano, Tracy Samantha Schmitt, and Dr. Bruce Evensen plots an optimistic direction for investigative reporting on the web.

It's a time to keep your eyes open. And while you're at it, keep an eye on Molly Horan Media.

It's only just beginning.

Meeting Oaxaca in Chicago

2009-06-06T22:02:00.000-07:00

As planes fly overhead from Midway airport southwest, I'm crossing into new terrain, too.

It is Friday evening in Chicago in June. The destination is obvious for most young professionals out to have a good time: meet friends, old or new, - have a drink, make a memory.

But my adventure transported me to Tlacolula, a small village in Oaxaca, Mexico, and began in a basement on the southwest side of Chicago, one block west of the 5700 block of Austin.

Presuming I was meeting with a source, one source, I was met with a family sitting together around a table in the 7 o'clock light. An assembly line of friends and relatives gathered with scissors and paper in hand were working to make beautiful an event they are planning. Crafting their decorations by hand, en masse, their welcoming to me promised a night of ethnographic bliss, a taste of Tlacocula's Mezcal, and a palpable aura of love I will never be able to shake.

It's probably a good time to tell you this isn't one of those cliche tales of appreciating differences.

The mission was to report on an issue plaguing another country through the eyes of its local immigrant population.

I hadn't planned a list of questions. I went in with an objective: find the impact of political, trade, and economic issues in Oaxaca I've heard about, read about, and traced to, at that point, no particular person in our city.

By picking the state of Oaxaca instead of merely Mexico, I did place a far fetched goal in front of me. Yes, I trusted I would find a group from Oaxaca eventually, but I thought it would undoubtedly reveal itself through my political research.

Making contact by phone through broken Spanish across a chain of Oaxacan leaders in the Midwest diverted me from dowry political insight to the human experience I wanted to know about. It was their calling to God that linked all of of my interviewees, and their worship was something I'd never before seen.

I walked into the basement under the shared umbrella of Christianity, Catholicism even. Was it strike one against my report? Didn't I think a Oaxacan would not practice Catholicism? Speak Zapoteco? This was Catholic assembly and English was spoken.

But the service was for Tlacolula, and its "El Senor" (town crucifix) which had come back from Oaxaca last year to Chicago home of my source, Jose Guadalupe Marcian. And their mission, to build a home for El Senor, taught me from the moment we met that thirty years or so into their establishment in Chicago, they are still seeking home away from home. It is as much for their home town J.C. as it was for them.

What I read on paper, on screen, and inferred from the countless eyebrow raises I encountered when asking the dozens of pedestrian Mexicans if they'd ever met a Oaxaqueno in Chicago: "NO" - I knew so little about them after thinking I'd known so much.

I met new friends, drank their Mezclan (always have two if you have one), and heard about home, their two-faced friend, and got the feeling it was a group of loving people and on their best behavior.

The crazy thing driving away that night was that I sensed the welcoming outpour of amistad transformed our meeting into what I can only call ethnographic... having won their trust, they won mine, and "Best behavior" didn't refer to them, it spoke for humanity.

How news is made: Chitown style...

2009-06-02T15:36:00.000-07:00

The Windy Citizen is commonly referred to as Chicago's Digg, where locally-based web reporting is voted on daily. The result of this voting, user-generated page layout, can break new voices on forefront of Chicago journalism.

A great example of this is today's report (announced by officials at the DePaul Center) of findings on gay men in Chicago infected with HIV. Half of them didn't know they were infected until participating in the study.

This news was broken by Alex Parker, the public health reporter for Chitown Daily News. Last I looked it was within a short scroll down the list of Windy Citizen's top stories.

From grant-funded to "voted up" news. This is the kind of democratic dialect the for-profit news media doesn't seem to speak.

Why do you think that is?

From the grandfunded to the crowd-sourced...

2009-06-02T15:31:00.001-07:00

Last year I fell in love.

I was deeply infatuated with grant-funded, web-based investigative journalism. The community and political spheres were finally being treated with well-intentioned money.

These funds don't last forever, and nor does any trend in the new media lately.

What began as small staff reporting teams have branched into networks of citizen journalists being recruited to carry on the mission of investigative journalism. One of my beloved j-school professors (Bruce Evensen!!!) calls this "the social responsibility of journalism... to uncover the hidden situation."

Two examples:

National: Propublica

And Chicago's Chitown Daily News

Muckety Muck Muck

2009-06-02T15:10:00.000-07:00

You just read something rather irksome in the news and you're like "Ugh. I wish I knew who was responsible."

Or, let's be fair. Someone just did something a good samaritan would do and you want to be like Mike, or do something socially just. How do you find out what social ties a humanitarian-celebrity has?

There's a Muckety for that! Muckety what, who?

The tools available to journalists online now can be no better represented by what the datasphere presents to us on Muckety.com

This is an interactive data map that bestows you, at the whim of a double click, a web of handshakes between people in power. Clicking a name enables you to find out all about their business relationships and/or relationships to other people in powerful positions.

EXAMPLE: Muckety. Muckety.com

Loving it, and here's an example why.

Exploring the paths of power and influence? You can do it by Chicago, or Illinois, or by name, or by company, or by anything.

Here's DePaul's.

Springfield's new media megaphone: Capitol Fax

2009-06-02T14:59:00.000-07:00

So there's this guy everyone defers to for analysis and commentary on what happens hour to hour in the Illinois house. He's kind of like the Bob Costas of government, love him or not.

Those who run with the pack (or alongside throwing rubbish) know all about The Capitol Fax blog, Mr. Rich Miller daily dose of ringside political commentary. It's factual and editorialized, but ya'know, I don't mind a little coffee in my milk, and I don't mind a little jump-start to my thought process about what "they" are doing "down there" in Springfield.

You might. Do ya?

Here's today's LATE AFTERNOON UPDATE.

The Chicago Daily Observer on Race and Politics in Chicago, duh!

2009-06-02T14:48:00.000-07:00

The Illinois State Government Pollyanna'ed us.

The Chicago Tribune's "watchdog" in a concerted (but competitive) effort with the Chicago Sun-Times is agenda setting for our state with its public service campaign for reforming Illinois politics.

You know,... the DEALings of our elected officials with their campaign finances, and the relative CONCEALING.

For now, the state officials have their way.

I journey to critique political coverage in Illinois for my final hoorah as an undergraduate DePaul journalism student.

Though I (til-I'm-blue-in-the-face) applaud the work of our media pillars in Chicago, I have come to revere what the internet has done for mediating politics right outta Chicago.

Example:

The Chicago Daily Observer posted in April that those bracing for retirement from the City Council chambers might create a "clout vaccuum" on the basis of race.

Not only is this detailed report a new set of eyes on the clout of Chicago's aldermatic roster, the commentary that follows is exactly what I hope for in the new media world. Intelligent dissent, and fact-correction!

It is curious to learn how many years is the combined service of white vs black and Hispanic alderman!

The Waterfront Café.. a shoreside smash!

2009-06-02T14:29:00.000-07:00

We gravitate toward two things in Chicago: The lake shore anything, and delicious Chicago grub.

Here's my latest video on the new Waterfront Café (formerly the Doghaus Cafe) in Berger Park... the Granville border of the lake in Edgewater. (6219 North Sheridan Road)

What did I find? Diversity and openness.. a refreshing urban experience on the cosmo shore.

Thanks to Frank and Jeffrey.

The Chicago Political Scene - How DePaul thinks.

2009-06-01T15:10:00.000-07:00

In the last few months, Illinois has been quaking with political scandals at every level of government. Is that worth your attention?

The response to these events has been collective by the legacy and new media that hammer out political coverage of our state that is screaming "fire" louder every day.

College students at large may not be as engaged as the journalism student community, but we share an equal stake in our shared civic space.

Please respond to this post by explaining to me if you know about these stories, and if so, where you learned about them, how much they interest you, and how satisfied you are by the current coverage of Illinois politics.

- The Illinois Reform Commission legislation proposed to the State of Illinois government.

- The campaign by Chicago media columnists to support this legislation

- Cook County Board President Todd Stroger fighting with County Board over sales tax repeal

-Parking meter mayhem in Chicago

Also, let me know which of the following news sources you do/do not consult:

DePaulia, RedEye, The Windy Citizen, Chicagobreakingnews.com, Chitown Daily News, Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Tribune.

Thanks!

Metropolis Coffee Company, A Multimedia Effect - by Molly Horan

2009-05-19T12:57:00.000-07:00

The voice of Jeff Dreyfuss, the sights of Metropolis...

Jeff Dreyfuss is the co-owner of the Metropolis Coffee Company café (1039 W. Granville Ave) and roasting house wholesale distribution wing of the operation.

He's a linguist, and a passionate seeker.

Hear his take on the meeting place of the Edgewater community, in what might be "the most diverse zip code by ethnicity anywhere.

Tony Blair empathizes with Mayor Daley when it comes to seeking Summer Games - Chicago 2016

2009-05-19T12:54:00.000-07:00

In conjunction with my internship at Chicago's British-Consulate General's office, I was able

to attend a Chicago Council on Global Affairs event hosting the former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. Speaking about his recent work with interfaith diplomacy, Blair's talk was riveting and perhaps optimistic to a fault.

My reporter's eyebrow raised by witnessing the cordiality between himself and Mayor Daley, who introduced Blair, and had some wisdom to gain from time with the man who had won an Olympic games for his country.

My writer's hand couldn't sit still all evening.

May 1, 2009, Molly Horan for the DePaulia:

Tony Blair empathizes with Mayor Daley when it comes to seeking Summer Games - Chicago 2016

DePaul Online

2009-05-19T11:29:00.000-07:00

Here arrive my volumes of DePaul Online blog posts, digitizing the good life of Blue Demon scholars!

During my senior year as a DePaul digital journalist, I was asked to manage a beat for the DePaul Online site under the direction of Tracy Schmit, the Chicago Tribune's Editorial Director for Chicago Now, a Tribune network of Chicago's snazziest bloggers. The highlight of the course was when my watchdog look into campus media management during a breaking news story was posted to Chicago's Best Blogs. After months of exhibiting the fabulous academic menu of DePaul University minors, I had learned to digitally edit DePaul information, via video, photo essays, and hyperlinked DePaul love.

March 11, 2009:
Law Student sips up the latest on Intellectual Property from the Blogosphere

March 9, 2009:
Embarking on the DePaul Digitized: ITunes, Demon Tracks, Ning, Oh My!

March 1, 2009
DePaul Marketing Student Mike Land brokering business and writing a paper

February 27, 2009
PostSecret Coming to DePaul with a flurry of Facebook fun

February 25, 2009
Ash Wednesday DePaul Style

February 24, 2009
What about Tribune's Eric Zorn on Chicago Journalism Town Hall?

February 12, 2009
The Writing Center flirts with future fellows

February 10, 2009
Visit From Northern Ireland - Derry, to DePaul, the artists paints the pain away

February 10, 2009
Sensei Says: Declare a minor and make connections: A Senior Peer Advisory Post

February 10, 2009
Shamrocked DePaul (Video): Irish Studies Minors and
The Irish Society Presidents parlay passion to profession

February 4, 2009
The Do-er and Do-Gooder DePaulian: Double Minoring

February 4, 2009
Finding my Carbon Copy at DePaul - (and a new savante Facebook friend!)

January 28, 2009
Photography Minor, To Make Pictures

January 27, 2009
So much fun. "Do You Remember 5th Grade" presented by DePaul Activity Board. A 90's quiz show I call "Late Twentieth Century Studies"

January 26, 2009
To the Dead Sea and Beyond: DePaul to the Middle East via Study Abroad and Minoring

January 21, 2009
President Obama, YES WE ARE. The studious route to community organization a la DePaul

January 19, 2009
Pro-Proser, not to be confused with Pro-Poser: Why a Professional Writing Minor cuts the corporate edge

January 14, 2009
Want to be more interesting? Get interested! (Finding, and then branding yourself via DePaul's minors - why and how!)

A killing in my hometown? Yes, I'll break my tip.

2009-03-23T23:35:00.001-07:00

As a lifelong resident of Homewood, a south burb of Chicago, I felt naturally concerned tonight about the sight of crime scene tape blocking off an entire stretch of road running along the Metra, Amtrak, and Canadian National Railway tracks on Harwood Avenue.

This alert heightens after reading these words on chicagobreakingnews.com:
"an unidentified body was found on the Canadian Railway Tracks in Homewood."

Sketchy information about the incident followed; that it occured on the CN Railway tracks and therefore fell under their jurisdiction. This was verified by a citizen comment stating, "locals heard 5 gunshots."

This evening at 9:30 p.m., I was alarmed by swirling police lights flashing out of the barricaded scene along the tracks at the north end of Homewood's Metra station. Passing again by vehicle at 12:15 a.m., the scene appeared to signal someone might have died, and that Metra could be delayed during the morning commute into Chicago.

Police were occupied on or at least beside the east side of the tracks, far enough away from Metra's rails to suggest they were uninvolved in the incident.

As a curious resident and merciless reporter, I called the Homewood Police for a statement as I sped my way onto Chicago Breaking News for the word. Homewood Police made no comments, just as I expected, as I read that the jurisdiction of the crime did belong to Canadian National Railway Police.

So I start dialing again.

Maybe RTA knows something?

Nope. Not a thing.

Metra Police? They say they can't comment, but that service won't be interrupted.

Soon after my investigative calls, I was talking to Jeff at the Tribune breaking news desk at around 12:45 a.m. I thought he should know that a Canadian Railway Police officer was responsible for the "resolved" shooting.

My source wasn't on the record, but an hour later, the Tribune's report is up on the web:

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/03/body-found-on-cn-tracks-in-homewood.html

Christopher Latham, the Tribune reporter, discussed my the break of the information over the phone with me during the last few minutes (at 2 o'clock in the morning -geesh! ) and determined that the CN spokesperson was sharing the story with him simultaneously to my call into the Tribune breaking news desk. - though the CN spokesperson had no comment for him during three previous phone calls this evening.

He thanked me for turning my tip into the Tribune and wished me the best as a student journalist, soon to graduate,... and ready to turn my livelihood into a livin'.

There's a way; there's Will's way...

2009-02-26T22:18:00.000-08:00

Will Sullivan is found art.

Seated in the digital news throne of St. Louis, Will Sullivan models at least one that functions.

Critiquing news sites is both an academic duty and hobby of DePaul student journalists. It can dig up factual goldmines, like the following:

His is the best city news site I've seen. Content is abundant without hitting a saturation point before you blink twice. And it's stylish, without undermining its credibility. The design says they care enough about their profits slash readers to make the browse a pleasing visual pinch.

It all started with a need to know something totally unrelated: how much journalists are paid for online work right now in Chicagoland.

Admittedly, I wondered what a young reporter might make (or lose), after browsing the Chitown Daily News' proposed $2 million online newsroom.

Side stepping guided me to this PayScale chart of journalist's salaries. When I was finished staring at a future food-stamp qualifying station in life, I learned about online news teams - thanks to Will Sullivan's Jounerdism Blog.

This thorough job description list arms a graduating journalist with a long to-learn list, it suggests that there just might be a shot OUT of hell; levitating future newsrooms somewhere ABOVE the current media inferno.

As this new jounerd reader scrolled to his downpage stats- it read like 10-1 scoreboard at the bottom of the eighth. Looks like bases loaded for Sullivan and his winning streak will go on.

The finder's fee for this information is quite competitive. Keep reading my tips, credit my work, and leave your feedback.

Lunchtime Congregation

2009-02-25T13:08:00.001-08:00

Today is a holy day for Catholics, who congregated in the concourse level of the DePaul Center for a 12:00 p.m. Ash Wednesday musical mass.

Ryan Daliege, a junior Finance major with a minor in Spanish, has been serving in mass for his 3 years at DePaul. He was greeting congregants and posing for my photos during the preparations for the service today.

For an area that seats maximum capactity 125, the crowd approximated more than that, representing DePaul's community and the general public.

Monsignor and one alter server were preparing the host as an usher distributed programs for 15 minutes before the event. Worshippers filed into their seats, reminding DePaulians that faith escapes St. Vincent's chapel walls.

I shot this video as the pianist struck the keys, the congregation stood, and last minute attendees rushed in to answer a call to worship, the hymn, "The Cross of Jesus."

If you're interested in praying with the Catholic Campus Ministry, services are scheduled on the Loop campus every 12:00 p.m. on weekdays in the Lewis Center Chapel while just a few L stops north another service is held in the St. Louise de Marillac Chapel in the Student Center's first floor. Sunday mass is held every Sunday in St. Vincent de Paul Church on the southeast side of campus at Webster and Sheffield.

Today you get get ashed at 5:00 p.m. at both Chicago campuses.

This means lent is here. Though the economy might have forced some sacrifices onto you already, catholic or not, it's never a bad time to re-instate your defaulted New Year resolutions!

Eric Zorn Responds To Chicago Journalist Town Hall Meeting

2009-02-24T10:33:00.000-08:00

As online journos are overusing the word "viral", the web 2.0 adjective-du-jour, the problems plaguing the business have become septic. Decade long careers are losing their vitals. The condition is critical, threatening every limb of the industry. It turns out the online news has less immunity than originally believed.

Chicago Tribune's Eric Zorn proposed a similar model... to the pay-per-use online news access proposal discussed lately in every media circle, bistro, institute, conglomerate, blogosphere, and the like.

At a recent Chicago Journalism Town Hall meeting, Zorn compared his solution to a cable-TV subscription billing system; a set monthly fee that would open access to the content of a suggested 50 news sites. His column appeared in print today beneath the headline, "Would you pay $10 for this column?"

Wouldja?

Opposing the subscription model usually derives of ideals about the "free Internet." Mine includes concern for low-income web readers: those who have tuned into dot com news in recent months. Alienating to them, this system would also signal a regression in democracy, but those are my ideals.

If university students can bypass the e-register, I'm completely down for it. Couldn't Internet Access Providers subsidize some of this? Aren't they the bookies, winning either way?

A breakdown of reporters' fees would also boost Zorn's proposal, like when compensation for musical artists was spelled out by iTunes while constructing its empire, finally appeasing the anxiety of Napster addicts who believed downloading music increased fan bases, record sales, and concert going.

Whether that argument had a leg to stand on or not, the music industry didn't bankrupt, but the Sun-Times Newsgroup group might.

I can already envision partnerships. Imagine entering Starbucks on free swag Tuesday, parting with your Chai Tea and a web-redeemable freebie: "log onto ChicagoTribune.com for a free review of our fave, the looping Sia album."

And/Or:

Consider the profits Apple (iPhone), Blackberry, Comcast, and AT&T have amassed just through the Facebook and its applications alone. My Facebook/Twitter/News-surfing habits are the primary factors influencing my next phone upgrade. If I shopped for Internet Access as frequently as I shop for mobile phones (usually when I'm about to go transatlantic), I would (in a world without monopolies) select a multimedia-fierce ISP.

So where was my invitation to the Allegro Hotel?

Call me, Eric Zorn. I want in on the penny chase.

To whistleblow or not?

2009-02-23T09:10:00.000-08:00

I covered the following breaking story of a bomb threat at DePaul University's Lincoln Park campus for a DePaul online journalism class collaboration, DePaul Online, on Feb. 19 - 20, 2009. It was selected to run on Chicago's Best Blogs, the predecessor beta site for the Chicago Tribune Media Group's ChicagoNow, and my reporting contributed to the cover story of that week's issue of the campus newspaper, the DePaulia.

When the bomb threat was resolved, all was calming on campus when I was alerted to the investigation of another threat: a shooter threatening imminent action, and I reported to our class blog the efforts I witnesses in this investigation.

The departments of Media Relations and Public Safety were non-compliant to this story- the Public Safety department refuted the claim that any threat had been made and that any investigation was underway, and the next morning, the Media Relations department went on the record to claim it was a "grossly inaccurate" report.

The update in which I reveal myself as the 'reliable source' was done to protect the identity of the uniformed Public Safety officer who provided the information I reported, and who had also involved me directly in the reported events.

It was clear why DePaul's communication channels wanted the search to remain confidential, but they were already handling campus-wide scrutiny over the inefficient distribution of alerts to the University community during that day's bomb threat. It would have tarnished the Utopian image of DePaul to have brushed against any publicized allegations of school violence, and as a result, created a chaotic atmosphere that could have escalated the threat they were investigating.

The University handled the situation as they thought appropriate, and though that is not my concern, it does not matter whether or not they admitted the situation actually happened because my word was credible, and witnesses later came forward to me to verify their experience of the investigation for a school shooter that afternoon.

Several days passed, however, while I stewed over the University refusing to budge on their position, and when I went to discuss it with Public Safety personally (as a fellow reporter had originally dialed into them), their director pressured me- as if I had witnessed a crime- to reveal the name of his officer who had leaked the story to me. I could have easily done so, as I was definitely alarmed by his having used to me to enter a women's bathroom alone to ensure a gunman wasn't hiding in it- only afterward telling me why I was asked to assist-

But I didn't reveal my source, nor will I ever. Also, I later learned a student employee on the opposite end of campus was ordered by the manager to hide in a locked closet at the same time I was asked to inspect a women's restroom because information was circulating about a potential school shooter.

::::::::::::::::::::::

Last evening I posted an update to the bomb threat report stating that a reliable source shared information about a search for a potential shooter at Lincoln Park Campus. The report says the threat received was not being taken seriously by those who knew, but that it was being thoroughly investigated by campus safety in conjunction with Chicago Police. I was told this information directly by a uniformed member of DePaul Public Safety as I was asked to assist in checking a women's bathroom for occupants.

DePaul media relations also clarified what measures were taken during the bomb scare that were printed in the RedEye as "public alerts" other than e-mail. They contacted police when they learned of the threat. CPD decided to call for a precautionary evacuation. The "public alert system" utilized beyond e-mails to the university community included the loudspeaker and the electronic message board system installed within the library. Personal notifications were distributed via e-mail, in addition to the campus alert posted to the front page of the DePaul website.

2 comments:

Margie McConnell said...: I'm going to go ahead and say that I was outraged yesterday and again this morning when I thought about the situation... My roommates and I couldn't stop talking about how ridiculous it is that we have an emergency alert system and none of us knew about a bomb threat. I feel almost offended that this didn't constitute as an emergency. Wouldn't it have been a nice thing to know if you were heading to class anywhere near the library??

I found out about the threat from a news feed on Twitter before I found out from DePaul... pretty pathetic.; February 20, 2009 6:23 PM
Tracy Samantha Schmidt said...: Molly, fabulous reporting on all of this. Thank you for clarifying what you saw Thursday night.

As a journalist working in a 24/7 environment, you will face a lot of pressure to get the story fast. In breaking news situations, you may not always report the story perfectly the first time around. That's why being transparent through the entire process is key.

Well done Molly.

There are no words...

2009-02-23T08:37:00.000-08:00

Please enjoy my first original digital video production, "Adieu," for DC210: Digital Cinema Production 1.