POLITICAL REPORTERS NEEDED TO FACT-CHECK SF CAMPAIGN ADS
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STORY: Investigate claims made in San Francisco political
advertisements before the fall 2008 election
APPLY BY: Ongoing through Election Day
TIME PERIOD: Labor Day to Election Day (10 weeks)
SEEKING: Experienced political reporters who know San Francisco
politics and government
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DESCRIPTION: It's election season, and your brain is the target of one
of the highest-stakes, most expensive influence campaigns in the
world. What's the quality of the information you're getting? Where can
you turn for a non-politicized breakdown of the facts, issues and
money behind those election advertisements? Not just for the grand-
scale national races, but at the local level?
This is an investigative reporting project to fact-check local
political advertisements (mail, Internet and broadcast), and the
issues and money behind them. We plan on targeting a few specific
issues and expanding our coverage opportunistically. This is not an
advocacy project. We will fact-check advertising from multiple sides
of any single issue. Our coverage is nonpartisan and serves the
voters, not vested political interests.
We are planning to produce one succinct, context-rich news article per
week from Labor Day to Election Day, fact-checking the latest election
ads. Potential topics include (but are not restricted to):
* Public power in SF -- This topic will desperately need clear
coverage as pro and con interests in local advocacy and commercial
news media spin the story beyond all recognition, amid a flood of
influence advertising from the Sierra Club and PG&E.
* Land use -- The mud is already flying over urban-planning
battles in the Haight and beyond.
* Real estate taxes -- A proposal would double transfer taxes for
properties valued in excess of $5 million, inviting heavy influence
advertising from both developers and reformers.
* "Readers' choice" -- Feedback from the public will drive
inquiries into the latest scurrilous election ads in most need of BS-
detection. We will be responsive to what the citizens of San Francisco
demand.
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QUALIFICATIONS:
* At least three years' experience in journalism covering politics and/
or government
* A thorough knowledge of San Francisco political clubs, political
leaders, power brokers, companies and other institutions
* A demonstrated ability to rise above partisan political concerns and
consider all sides of controversies
* The initiative to track down and interview political operatives face-
to-face
TO APPLY:
Send three to five clips, plus a resume, to edit [AT] artsandmedia.net.
Include telephone number and e-mail address for response. Also include
two journalistic references (e-mail and telephone numbers).
COMPENSATION:
$250 per story (approx. 50 cents per word) payable upon completion.
Ten stories total will be assigned; each writer may write several
stories upon approval.
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ABOUT NEWSDESK.ORG: Since 2000, Newsdesk.org has led commercial mass
media with groundbreaking, nonpoliticized coverage of veterans' health
care and PTSD; the 2004 presidential election and the 2003 San
Francisco mayoral runoff; the energy industry in the developing world;
genetically engineered agriculture, and much more. Newsdesk also is
the producer of News You Might Have Missed, a unique source for
important but overlooked news from around the world, published every
Wednesday since February 2002.
PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS:
- Spot.Us, a project funded by the Knight Foundation whose aim is to
create a Kiva.org-like microphilanthropy online clearinghouse for
journalism. The project is about two-thirds through raising the funds
for this project. Visit the beta site at http://wiki.spot.us/election.
- The Public Press, an effort by journalists, nonprofit planners and
other concerned citizens to create an alternative daily noncommercial
newspaper in San Francisco, in print and on the Web. The stories will
appear also at http://www.public-press.org.
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