a good week for scu journalists

First this: I got two emails from Jack yesterday. The first was a link to this NYT story about the wiretap attempt at Sen. Mary Landrieu's office (D -La) in New Orleans. Jack took issue with the following quote, from the father of the kid who had been arrested for the alleged tampering:

“He is an outstanding young man doing investigative journalism,” Mr. O’Keefe said of his son. “He studies a different form of journalism, and he pushes the limits a bit. What they were up to, I have no idea.”

To which Jack responded:

The father's quote infuriates me. Apparently his "reporter" son has never heard of Food Lion v. ABC. Wiretapping a senator is no "investigative journalism" I'd ever practice.

And hooray for that. Jack also linked to the photo credit on a USA Today story on the same issue: Photo by Pat Semansky. (He also got a photo credit in the NYT piece.)

Which prompted Jack's second email:

Last night, Jeremy (Herb) and I were talking after dinner about TSC alums. And I got to thinking about three of us: Jeremy, roaming around the halls of the Capitol and chasing down Barney Frank about the financial crisis for the Boston Globe; Pat Semansky, racing to an impromptu press gathering with the ACORN pranksters for the AP; and me, frantically writing a page one story on deadline for USA Today. And it's only Wednesday!

Who says SCU doesn't teach you anything about journalism?

Finally, Jack's page one story. Apparently, he met his deadline. Here's the link. bk

life continues to follow capstone

Two years ago Kristin Swenson spent hours upon hours reporting and writing a long-form piece on KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) Schools in the San Francisco Bay Area. She hung out in the classrooms, the schoolyards, the cafeterias, talked to students, teachers and principals. And when she was through, she was left with almost as many questions about the program as answers. Clearly, she put a debate on the table.

In today's San Francisco Chronicle, education writer Nanette Asimov comes to many of the same conclusions, and wonders about many of the same issues that Kristin did: teacher burn-out; high drop out rate; disciplinary measures; and whether the program's overwhelming success with the students who stick it out can be replicated in other schools. Like Kristin, she finds that the verdict is still out.

Speaking of Kristin, be sure to read her comment (there are two) on this post. Natalie's too.

And speaking of students, check out Pat Semansky's photo essay on New Orleans post-katrina in the SCU alumni magazine.

More later. Maybe. bk